Be like a child to receive God's comfort, says Pope

Pope Francis in Tbilisi

Just as a loving mother takes on the burdens and woes of her children, so God, in his infinite love for us, "takes upon himself our sins and troubles," the Pope said on Saturday.

Preaching at a Mass in Tbilisi, on the second day of his visit to Georgia, Pope Francis said that God is ever-ready to offer us consolation in times of need. The door to receive this is our heart - which we can keep open through daily reading of the Gospel, silent prayers in adoration, confession and receiving the Eucharist.

"When we are united, in communion," is when God consoles us best, and the Church is "the house of consolation," added Pope Francis. Her mission is to receive God's comfort and bring it to others.

The key to fulfilling His mandate is to become, as Jesus has said, like little children. "God is not known through grand ideas and extensive study but rather through the littleness of a humble and trusting heart," said Pope Francis, referring to the teaching of St Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, whose feast was on 1 October.

"A child has nothing to give and everything to receive. The one who becomes like a little child is poor in self but rich in God," said the Pope.

This message of God's consolation can be brought by Christians to the afflicted, to the "Countless people [who] suffer trials and injustice and live in anxiety."

Although God's comfort cannot take away our problems, it "gives us the power to love, to peacefully bear pain," he said.