“A Christian who refuses to be drawn by the Father to Jesus is a Christian who lives like an orphan”. Pope Francis said this in his homily for the Mass he celebrated at Casa Santa Marta this morning. A heart open to God, he said, can accept the “novelty” generated by the Spirit. The Pope began his reflection by focusing on the Jews and their scepticism about Jesus described in today’s Gospel reading, as Vatican Radio reports. That question “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly”, which the Scribes and the Pharisees repeated in many different ways, was actually coming from blind hearts. They were blind to the faith, as Jesus himself explained to his audience: “You do not believe, because you are not among my sheep”. Being part of God’s flock is a grace, but requires an open heart. It is the Father, he explained, “Who draws the hearts to Jesus”. The hardness of the hearts of the Scribes and the Pharisees, who see Jesus’ works but refuse to acknowledge that He is the Messiah, is a “drama” which “continues all the way to Calvary”, and also after His Resurrection. Not even the witness of those who saw the Risen Christ is able to convince those who refuse to believe. “They are orphans”, the Pope said, because “they have denied their Father”. “These doctors of the law had closed hearts, they thought they were their own masters, but in fact they were orphans because they had no relationship with the Father. They talked about their fathers”, but they “were orphans” in their hearts “because they would not let themselves be drawn to the Father. This is the drama – these people had a closed heart”. Barnabas, by contrast, – the Pope said referring to the first reading – is not scandalized by the conversion of the pagans in Antioch, but “accepts this novelty” and “lets himself be drawn by the Father to Jesus”. A humble prayer we can say as sons and daughters is: ‘Father, draw me to Jesus; Father, help me to know Jesus’, and the Father will send us His Spirit to open our hearts and lead us to Jesus. A Christian who refuses to be drawn by the Father to Jesus – Pope Francis concluded – is a Christian who lives like an orphan; and we have a Father, we are not orphans”.