Not all love comes from God, but God is “true love”. This reflection, inspired by today’s liturgy, was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at the morning Mass he celebrated today in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, as reported by Vatican Radio. God – the Pope remarked – loves us always, He loves us first, even if we are sinners. John stresses this aspect of God’s love: He loves us “first”. An example of this is the Gospel reading about the multiplication of loaves in today’s liturgy: Jesus saw the crowd and “had compassion”, which – Pope Francis explained – is not the same as “having pity”. This is because Jesus’ love for his people “leads Him to ‘suffer with’ them, to get involved in their lives”. This love of God, which always precedes human love, has countless examples, which the Pope cited, from Zacchaeus, to Nathanael, to the prodigal son: “When we have something in our hearts and we want to ask the Lord for forgiveness, it is He who is waiting for us to forgive us. This Year of Mercy is also about this: we know that the Lord is waiting for us, each one of us! Why? To embrace us. Nothing more. To tell us: ‘My son, my daughter, I love you. I let my Son be crucified for you. This is the price of my love’. This is the gift of my love”.