” “”Jesus respects our freedom": this is, according to Benedict XVI, the first lesson of the human life of Judas the Iscariot, which was the focus, along with the apostle Matthias elected in lieu of him, of the catechesis of today’s general audience. To conclude "the gallery of the apostles’ portraits", the Pontiff, in front of the 30 thousand devotees gathered in Saint Peter’s Square, commented that “Judas’s betrayal remains a mystery. But Jesus treated him as a friend; in his invitations to follow Him on the way of the beatitudes, he was not forcing his will or warning him against the temptations of Satan, thus respecting human freedom”. A freedom that allows for many "opportunities to pervert the heart”. “The only way to steer clear of them warned Benedict XVI consists in not cultivating a merely individualistic, independent view of things, but instead in putting oneself always on the side of Jesus, taking His point of view. We must try, day by day, to achieve a full communion with Him”. (to be continued)” “
