God can bring comfort where our reason alone cannot, Pope Francis said Thursday at his Jubilee prayer vigil to "dry the tears" of physical and spiritual sufferers.
"In moments of sadness, of suffering from illness, from the anguish of persecution and the pain of mourning, each of us seeks a word of comfort," he said. "We feel the strong need for someone to be close and to feel compassion for us".
At times like these the mind fills with questions but the answers don't come, and reason alone cannot guide us in the face of such questions, he said.
This is when "we need the reasons of the heart, the only ones that can help us understand the mystery that surrounds our loneliness," Francis said.
"We see so much sadness in the many faces we meet," the pope said. "How many tears are being shed at every instant throughout the world - each different from the next, all together forming an ocean of desolation calling for mercy, compassion, and comfort".
"The bitterest tears are those caused by human wickedness," Francis said.
"The tears of those who have seen loved ones torn away from them - the tears of grandparents, of mothers and fathers, of children" .
"We need mercy, we need the consolation that comes from the Lord," he said. "We all need it, and this is our misery but also our greatness - to invoke the comfort of God, who comes in tenderness to dry our tears".
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