This morning`s
General Audience began at 10:30 in Saint Peter`s Square. The Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups
of pilgrims and the faithful who had come from all over Italy and from every
part of the world.
During his catechesis,
spoken in Italian, Pope Francis focused his mediation on the catholicity of the
Church.
Following the
syntheses of the catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father expressed
greetings to the various groups of the faithful who were present. The General Audience concluded with the
recitation of the Our Father and the
imparting of the Apostolic Blessing.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the
General Audience
Dear brothers and
sisters, good morning! I see that
today there is terrible weather; you are very courageous. Bravo!
I believe in one
holy, catholic Church … Today we pause to reflect on this aspect of the
Church: we call it catholic and this is the Year of catholicity. First of all, what does the word catholic
mean? It is derived from the Greek word kath’olòn which
means according to everyone, the
totality. In what sense does this
totality apply to the Church? In what
sense can we say that the Church is catholic?
I would say there are three basic meanings.
First, the Church is catholic because it is the space, the house
in which we assemble to proclaim the entirety
of the faith, in which the salvation Christ brought is offered to all
people. The Church creates the encounter
with the mercy of God which transforms us because Jesus Christ is present, he
who gives us the true confession of faith, the fullness of sacramental life,
the authenticity of the ordained ministry.
In the Church, all of us find that which is needed in order to grow, to
live as Christians, to become saints, to walk through every place and time.
For example, we can say that it’s like life in a family: in a
family, every one of us is given everything we need in order to grow, to
mature, to live. We don’t grow on our
own, we don’t walk on our own, isolated from everyone else, but we walk and we
grow in a community, in a family. It’s
the same with the Church! In the Church,
we can listen to the Word of God, assured that it is the message that the Lord
has given to us; in the Church we can meet the Lord in the Sacraments which are
the open windows through which we receive the light of God, from which we draw
the very life of God; in the Church we learn to live in communion, in the love
that comes from God. All of us can ask
ourselves today: how do I live as part of the Church? When I go to Church, do I think of myself
being in a stadium or at a football game?
Do I feel as though I’m at a cinema No, it’s something totally different. How do I go to Church? How do I welcome the gifts that the Church
offers to me, for my growth, so that I can grow and mature as a Christian? Do I participate in the life of the community
or do I go to church and close myself within my own problems, isolating myself
from others? In this first sense, the Church is catholic because it is everyone’s
house. We are all children of the Church
and we are all part of that house.
A second meaning: the Church is catholic because it is universal, it is spread through every
part of the world and announces the gospel to every man and every woman. The Church is not a group of elite, it is not
concerned only with a few. The Church is
never closed, it is sent to all people, to the whole of mankind. The Church is present in the smallest parts
of itself. Everyone can say: in my
parish, the Catholic Church is present, because even this little parish is part
of the universal Church, even this little parish has the fullness of Christ’s
gifts , the faith, the Sacraments, the ministry: it is in communion with the
Bishop, with the Pope and it is open to all, without distinction. The Church doesn’t only exist in the shadow
of a bell tower, it embraces all peoples, those who profess the same faith,
share the same Eucharist, are served by the same pastor. We feel connected in communion with the whole
Church, with all the small and large Catholic communities throughout the
world! This is good! We also feel that we are on a mission,
whether we’re in a small or a large community, all of us should open our doors
and go out to others for the sake of the gospel. Let us ask ourselves: what do I do to
communicate the joy of meeting Jesus to others, the joy of belonging to the
Church? Announcing and bearing witness
to the faith is not a little thing, it applies also to me, to you, to all of
us!
A third and final thought: the Church is catholic because it is
the House of harmony where unity and diversity can exist side by
side in order to enrich each other. Let
us consider the image of a symphony: it is in tune, it creates harmony even
with different instruments being played together; each one maintains its own
unmistakable timbre and its own characteristic sounds united in a common
purpose. Then, there is the one who
leads, the director, and the players who play together in harmony, but they don’t drown out the sound of any one instrument;
the individuality of each one is therefore valued and maximized!
It’s a beautiful image, to consider the Church like a grand
orchestra in which there is variety. We
are not all equal and we don’t all have to be equal. We are all different, different, each with
our own qualities. And this is beautiful
in the Church: each contributes that which God has given in order to enrich the
others. Among the various components, there
is diversity, but it is a diversity that does not enter into conflict, it does
not counteract; it is a variety that is based on the harmony of the Holy
Spirit; and he is the true Maestro, he
himself is harmony. Here too, let us ask
ourselves: in our communities, do we live in harmony or do we compete among
ourselves? In my parish community, in my
movement, where I am part of the Church, is there gossip? If there is gossiping there is no harmony,
there is competition. This is not the
Church. The Church is harmony in
everything: there should never be gossip, one against another, never
competition! Let us accept the other,
let us accept the fact that there will be variety, that others will be
different, that this one thinks differently from that one – but in the same
faith, it is possible to think in different fashions – or do we want to conform
everyone? Uniformity of this kind kills
life. The life of the Church is variety,
and when we want to create uniformity for everyone, we kill the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. Let us pray to the Holy
Spirit, the author of unity in variety, the author of this harmony, that he
might make us ever more catholic, members
of this Church that is catholic and universal!
Thank you.
Syntheses
of this catechesis were then shared in various languages before the Holy Father
offered greetings to the pilgrims who had gathered in the Square. To the English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I cordially greet all the
English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, including those from
England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Ghana, Nigeria, Australia,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States. My particular
greeting goes to the new students of the Pontifical Beda College. Upon all of
you, and your families, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!
Following his greetings to the Italian-speaking pilgrims, the Holy
Father concluded:
My thoughts are especially fixed upon
the youth, the sick and upon newly-weds.
I thank you all for your presence at this gathering. I encourage you all to be on the lookout for
the wounds of Jesus, paying particular attention to the poor and those who are
most in need.
With special affection, I greet the
Bishops of the Churches from Alexandria, Ethiopia and Eritrea, who are
particularly united in prayer and in sorrow for so many of the children of
their lands who have lost their lives in last week’s tragedy off the coast of
Lampedusa.
The
General Audience was concluded with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and the
imparting of the Apostolic Blessing.
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