“Mercy restores everything; it restores dignity to each person”. Based on this conviction, Pope Francis explained during the Chrism Mass that “effusive gratitude is the proper response: we have to go party, to put on our best clothes, to cast off the rancour of the elder brother, to rejoice and give thanks… Only in this way, participating fully in such rejoicing, is it possible to think straight, to ask for forgiveness, and see more clearly how to make up for the evil we have committed”. “It would be good for us – Pope Francis suggested – to ask ourselves: after going to confession, do I rejoice?”. “Or do I move on immediately to the next thing, as we would after going to the doctor, when we hear that the test results are not so bad and put them back in their envelope?”. “And when I give alms – Pope Francis continued -, do I give time to the person who receives them to express their gratitude, do I celebrate the smile and the blessings that the poor offer, or do I continue on in haste with my own affairs after tossing in a coin?”.