Pope Francis: Have we strayed? Our loving Father waits for us

Apr 17, 2025

By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"We can have hope because we know the Father is waiting for us..."

As Pope Francis recovers in the Vatican after being discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Sunday, 23 March, he offered this comforting reminder in the text he had prepared for the Wednesday General Audience, which he asked the Holy See Press Office to publish.

Since his medical team discharged the Pope, recommending two months of rest for a proper convalescence, the Press Office continues to distribute the catecheses prepared for the Audience, as it did during his hospitalization.

The Prodigal Son
In his catechesis, focusing on encounters in Jesus' life, the Pope reflected on the parable of the Prodigal Son, revealing God’s boundless mercy as a father welcomes his wayward child home.

The Gospel, Pope Francis underscores, offers a message of hope, "because it tells us that no matter how or where we’ve gotten lost, God always comes looking for us!"

"Maybe we’ve gone astray like a sheep that wandered off the path to graze, or fell behind due to exhaustion," he acknowledges, but this does not prevent or impede the Lord seeking us.

When we have made mistakes, such experiences, Pope Francis recognizes, often "give rise to a distorted belief within us—that we can only be in a relationship as servants, as if we have to atone for some guilt or as if true love doesn’t exist."

What true love looks like
"Only those who truly love us," he suggests, "can free us from this false view of love," noting, "in our relationship with God, we experience just that."

The Pope also discusses the lessons faithful can learn regarding the older son, who, the Pope observes, always stayed home with the father, yet was distant from him.

Leaves the door open for us
"Yet when you remain in a relationship unwillingly," Pope Francis warns, "you begin to harbor anger, which sooner or later explodes." Paradoxically, he points out, it’s the older son who ends up at risk of being left outside, because he doesn’t share in the father’s joy.

Regardless, the Holy Father reminds that his father also goes out to meet him, without scolding or lecturing him. "He just wants him to feel loved," and therefore, the Pope notes, "invites him in and leaves the door open."

"That door remains open for us, too," the Holy Father reassures, "And this is precisely the reason for our hope: we can have hope because we know the Father is waiting for us, sees us from afar, and always leaves the door open."

Pope Francis concludes by calling on all faithful to ask themselves: "where are we in this beautiful story? And let us ask God the Father for the grace to find our way home, too."--Vatican News