This morning's General Audience began at 10:00am in the Paul VI Hall. The Holy Father, Pope Francis met there with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from various parts of Italy and all corners of the world.
During his catechesis, the Pope continued his cycle of catecheses on the family, focusing once more on the figure of the father.
Following the summaries of His teaching, presented in various languages, the Holy Father spoke particular greetings to each of the groups of faithful present. Then, the Pope issued a special call for an end to fratricidal violence among the people of Ukraine.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the imparting of the Apostolic Blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, I want to unfold the second part of the reflection on the figure of the father in a family. Last week, I spoke about the danger of being absent fathers; today I want to look at a more positive aspect. Even Saint Joseph was tempted to leave Mary, when he learned that she was pregnant, but the angel of the Lord intervened and revealed to him the plan of God and the mission for him to be a foster father; and Joseph, a just man took Mary to be his wife (Mt 1:24) and became the father of the family of Nazareth.
Every family needs a father. Today we will look at the value of a father's role, and I want to begin with a few expressions that can be found in the Book of Proverbs, words that a father might speak to his own son: My son, if your heart would be wise, my own heart would be filled with joy. I will exalt within my heart when your lips speak words that are right (Proverbs 23:15-16). No one can better express this joy than a father who acknowledges having passed on to his son that which really matters in life: that is to say a wise heart. Such a father does not say: I am proud of you because you yourself are equal to me, because you are repeating the things that I myself say and do. No, he doesn't just say something. He tells him something much more important, which we can interpret as: I will be happy each time that I see you acting wisely, and I will be emotionally moved every time that I hear you speak with righteousness. This is what I have always wanted to leave you, so that it might truly become a part of you: the ability to feel and to act, to speak and to judge wisely and with righteousness. And in order for you to be like this, I taught you things that you did not know, I corrected mistakes that you did not see. I made it possible for you to feel a deep and discrete affection, which perhaps you did not fully recognize when you were young and uncertain. I have given you a testimony of rigor and firmness which perhaps you did not understand, when you sought only complicity and protection. I gave you myself, in the first place, testing my own wisdom of heart, and always vigilant about the excesses of exercises of sentiments and resentments, in order to bear the weight of the inevitable incomprehension and to find the right words to make myself understood. Now, continues the father, when I see that you are seeking to be like this with your own sons, and with all peoples, I am moved. I am happy to be your father. These are the words of a wise father, a mature father.
A father knows very well the cost of passing on this inheritance: how close, how sweet, how firm. But, what consolation and what recompense we receive, when our sons pay honor to this inheritance! It is a joy that rewards all our labours, that overcomes every lack of understanding and heals every wound.
The first necessity, therefore, is this: that the father be present in his family. That he be close to his wife, to share everything, joy and sorrow, labours and hopes. And that he be close to his children as they grow: when they are at play, when they are committed, when they are carefree and when they are worried, when they are capable of expressing themselves and when they are silent, when they are brave and when they are afraid, when they make mistakes and when they find their way; a father who is present, always present. To be present is not the same as to control! Overbearing fathers stifle their children instead of allowing them to grow.
The Gospel speaks to us of the exemplarity of our Father who is in Heaven – the only one, says Jesus, who can be truly called Good Father (cf Mark 10:18). Everyone knows that extraordinary parable called the Prodigal Son, or better of the Merciful Father, which is found in Luke’s Gospel (cf Luke 15:11-32). How much dignity and how much tenderness there is in the father’s waiting at the door of his home, waiting for his son to return! Fathers should be patient, many times there is nothing else that can be done other than to wait. Pray and wait with patience, gentleness, magnanimity and mercy.
A good father is able to wait and to forgive from the depth of his heart. Of course, he is also able to correct with firmness: he is not a weak, compliant and sentimental father. The father who is able to correct without discouraging is the same one who is able to protect tirelessly. Once, I heard a father, in a meeting with married couples, say: I sometimes, must hit my child a little, but never in the face, to not degrade him. How beautiful! He knows the sense of dignity! He must punish but does it justly and moves forward.
Therefore, if there is someone who can explain in depth the prayer of the Our Father, taught by Jesus, it is in fact one who lives paternity personally. Without the grace that comes from the Father who is in Heaven, fathers lose courage and abandon the field. However children are in need of finding fathers who wait for them when they return from their failures. They will do everything not to admit it, to keep such things hidden, but they need them and not finding them opens within them, wounds that are difficult to heal.
The Church, our Mother, is committed to supporting the good and generous presence of fathers in families with all her strength, because for the new generations, they are irreplaceable custodians and mediators of faith in goodness, in justice and in the protection of God, like Saint Joseph.
Following this teaching, the Holy Father's catechesis was summarized in various languages, and he himself spoke particular greetings to each group of faithful who were present for the Audience. To English-speaking pilgrims, His Holiness said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Wales, Finland, Sri Lanka and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!
At the conclusion of the General Audience, the Holy Father also added another call for the people of Ukraine:
Once again, my thoughts go out to the beloved Ukrainian people. Unfortunately, the situation is peggiorative and the opposition between the various sides is getting worse. Let us pray above all for the victims, many of whom are civilians, and for their families, and let us call upon the Lord, that this horrible fratricidal violence may cease as quickly as possible. I renew my heartfelt appeal that every effort be made - even at international levels - toward the resumption of dialogue, the only possible way to reestablish peace and concord in that tormented land. Brothers and sisters, when I hear the words victory or defeat, I feel great suffering, great sadness of heart. These are not words of justice, the only just word is peace. This is the only just word. I think of you, Ukrainian brothers and sisters ... Think about it, this is a war between Christians! All of you have received the same baptism! You are fighting between Christians. Think about this scandal, and let us all pray, for prayer is our protest before God in a time of war.
During his catechesis, the Pope continued his cycle of catecheses on the family, focusing once more on the figure of the father.
Following the summaries of His teaching, presented in various languages, the Holy Father spoke particular greetings to each of the groups of faithful present. Then, the Pope issued a special call for an end to fratricidal violence among the people of Ukraine.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the imparting of the Apostolic Blessing.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, I want to unfold the second part of the reflection on the figure of the father in a family. Last week, I spoke about the danger of being absent fathers; today I want to look at a more positive aspect. Even Saint Joseph was tempted to leave Mary, when he learned that she was pregnant, but the angel of the Lord intervened and revealed to him the plan of God and the mission for him to be a foster father; and Joseph, a just man took Mary to be his wife (Mt 1:24) and became the father of the family of Nazareth.
Every family needs a father. Today we will look at the value of a father's role, and I want to begin with a few expressions that can be found in the Book of Proverbs, words that a father might speak to his own son: My son, if your heart would be wise, my own heart would be filled with joy. I will exalt within my heart when your lips speak words that are right (Proverbs 23:15-16). No one can better express this joy than a father who acknowledges having passed on to his son that which really matters in life: that is to say a wise heart. Such a father does not say: I am proud of you because you yourself are equal to me, because you are repeating the things that I myself say and do. No, he doesn't just say something. He tells him something much more important, which we can interpret as: I will be happy each time that I see you acting wisely, and I will be emotionally moved every time that I hear you speak with righteousness. This is what I have always wanted to leave you, so that it might truly become a part of you: the ability to feel and to act, to speak and to judge wisely and with righteousness. And in order for you to be like this, I taught you things that you did not know, I corrected mistakes that you did not see. I made it possible for you to feel a deep and discrete affection, which perhaps you did not fully recognize when you were young and uncertain. I have given you a testimony of rigor and firmness which perhaps you did not understand, when you sought only complicity and protection. I gave you myself, in the first place, testing my own wisdom of heart, and always vigilant about the excesses of exercises of sentiments and resentments, in order to bear the weight of the inevitable incomprehension and to find the right words to make myself understood. Now, continues the father, when I see that you are seeking to be like this with your own sons, and with all peoples, I am moved. I am happy to be your father. These are the words of a wise father, a mature father.
A father knows very well the cost of passing on this inheritance: how close, how sweet, how firm. But, what consolation and what recompense we receive, when our sons pay honor to this inheritance! It is a joy that rewards all our labours, that overcomes every lack of understanding and heals every wound.
The first necessity, therefore, is this: that the father be present in his family. That he be close to his wife, to share everything, joy and sorrow, labours and hopes. And that he be close to his children as they grow: when they are at play, when they are committed, when they are carefree and when they are worried, when they are capable of expressing themselves and when they are silent, when they are brave and when they are afraid, when they make mistakes and when they find their way; a father who is present, always present. To be present is not the same as to control! Overbearing fathers stifle their children instead of allowing them to grow.
The Gospel speaks to us of the exemplarity of our Father who is in Heaven – the only one, says Jesus, who can be truly called Good Father (cf Mark 10:18). Everyone knows that extraordinary parable called the Prodigal Son, or better of the Merciful Father, which is found in Luke’s Gospel (cf Luke 15:11-32). How much dignity and how much tenderness there is in the father’s waiting at the door of his home, waiting for his son to return! Fathers should be patient, many times there is nothing else that can be done other than to wait. Pray and wait with patience, gentleness, magnanimity and mercy.
A good father is able to wait and to forgive from the depth of his heart. Of course, he is also able to correct with firmness: he is not a weak, compliant and sentimental father. The father who is able to correct without discouraging is the same one who is able to protect tirelessly. Once, I heard a father, in a meeting with married couples, say: I sometimes, must hit my child a little, but never in the face, to not degrade him. How beautiful! He knows the sense of dignity! He must punish but does it justly and moves forward.
Therefore, if there is someone who can explain in depth the prayer of the Our Father, taught by Jesus, it is in fact one who lives paternity personally. Without the grace that comes from the Father who is in Heaven, fathers lose courage and abandon the field. However children are in need of finding fathers who wait for them when they return from their failures. They will do everything not to admit it, to keep such things hidden, but they need them and not finding them opens within them, wounds that are difficult to heal.
The Church, our Mother, is committed to supporting the good and generous presence of fathers in families with all her strength, because for the new generations, they are irreplaceable custodians and mediators of faith in goodness, in justice and in the protection of God, like Saint Joseph.
Following this teaching, the Holy Father's catechesis was summarized in various languages, and he himself spoke particular greetings to each group of faithful who were present for the Audience. To English-speaking pilgrims, His Holiness said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Wales, Finland, Sri Lanka and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!
At the conclusion of the General Audience, the Holy Father also added another call for the people of Ukraine:
Once again, my thoughts go out to the beloved Ukrainian people. Unfortunately, the situation is peggiorative and the opposition between the various sides is getting worse. Let us pray above all for the victims, many of whom are civilians, and for their families, and let us call upon the Lord, that this horrible fratricidal violence may cease as quickly as possible. I renew my heartfelt appeal that every effort be made - even at international levels - toward the resumption of dialogue, the only possible way to reestablish peace and concord in that tormented land. Brothers and sisters, when I hear the words victory or defeat, I feel great suffering, great sadness of heart. These are not words of justice, the only just word is peace. This is the only just word. I think of you, Ukrainian brothers and sisters ... Think about it, this is a war between Christians! All of you have received the same baptism! You are fighting between Christians. Think about this scandal, and let us all pray, for prayer is our protest before God in a time of war.
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