'God wants his ministers to be merciful'

Speaking on Tuesday morning during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis urged the Christians not to put one’s own convictions or a list of commandments before the Lord's mercy.

Francis explained using the book of Jonah.

“it really was a miracle, because in this case he abandons his stubbornness, his rigidity, to obey the will of God, and he did what the Lord commanded him," Pope Francis said.

Remarking on the fact that the city of Nineveh converts thanks to Jonah’s preaching.

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So, Pope Francis observed, the story of Jonah and Nineveh unfolds in three chapters:

1. Jonah’s resistance to the mission the Lord entrusts him with.

2. Jonah's obedience and the ensuing miracle.

3. There is resistance to God’s mercy.

The Pope went on to say that Jesus too was misunderstood because of his mercy.He recalled that Jesus lived with the Doctors of Law who did not understand why he did not let the adulteress be stoned, they did not understand why he dined with publicans and sinners, They did not understand mercy.

Pope Francis said that the Psalm that we prayed today tells us to "wait for the Lord because with the Lord there is mercy, and redemption."

"Where the Lord is there is mercy," Francis concluded.

"As we approach the Year of Mercy, let us pray the Lord to help us understand his heart, to understand what 'mercy' means, what it means when He says: 'I want mercy, not sacrifice!” he said.