This morning's General Audience began at 10:00am in Saint Peter's Basilica where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from various parts of Italy and from every corner of the world.
In his speech, the Pope continued his catechesis on the family, focusing his meditation on the dimension of welcome with special reference to the upcoming opening of the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Mercy (Jn 10:9-10b).
Following the customary summaries of his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. He then issued a call on the occasion of the World Day of the rights of infants which will be celebrated tomorrow, and a call for prayers for the gift of monastic vocations in the life of the Church.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
With this reflection, we are on the threshold of the Jubilee, it is very near. Before us stands the door, but not only the holy door, another door too: the great door of the Father's Mercy - and this is a beautiful door! - which welcomes our repentance and offers us the grace of forgiveness. The door is generously open; all it takes is a bit of courage on our part to cross the threshold. Every one of us has things weighing upon us from within. We are all sinners! Let us take advantage of this coming time to cross the threshold of the mercy of God which never gets tired of forgiving, never tires but waits for us. He looks upon us, he is always beside us. Take courage! Let us enter the door!
All families and the entire Church received great encouragement to come to the threshold of this open door during the Synod of Bishops which was celebrated in October of this year. The Church was encouraged to open her doors, to go out with the Lord to meet her sons and daughters on the journey; sometimes they are uncertain, sometimes they are lost, especially in these difficult times. Christian families in particular were encouraged to open the door to the Lord who is waiting to enter, bringing with him his blessing and his friendship. If the Lord's door of mercy is always open, including the doors of our churches, of our communities, of our parishes, of our institutions, of our dioceses, they should be open because in this way everyone can go out and proclaim the mercy of God. The Jubilee signifies the Lord's great door of God's mercy but also the little doors of our houses which are open to allow the Lord to enter - or often to allow the Lord to go out - he who is a prisoner of our structures, of our egoism and of many other things.
The Lord never forces the door: he even asks permission to enter. The Book of Revelation says: I stand at the door and knock. If someone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to him, eat with him and he will eat with me (Rev 3:20). Let us imagine the Lord who knocks at the door of our hearts! In the last great vision spoken of in the Book of Revelation, the City of God is prophesied thus: Her doors will never be closed during the day, which means forever, because it will never again be night (Rev 21:25). There are places in the world where doors are never locked, there are still some such places; but there are many places where armour-plated doors have become the norm. We should never surrender ourselves to the idea of having to apply this system to all our lives, to the life of a family, of a city, of a society. And much less to the life of the Church. That would be terrible! An inhospitable Church, like a family that is closed in upon itself, would kill the Gospel and harden the world. Let there never be armour-plated doors in the Church, never! Everything should be open!
The symbolic management of the doors - of the thresholds, the passages, the borders - has become a crucial affair. The door should be guarded, surely, but no one should ever be pushed away. The door should never be forced; on the contrary, we should always ask permission, for hospitality shines in the freedom of welcome and is obscured in the arrogance of invasion. The door opens frequently, to see whether there is someone outside waiting and who perhaps doesn't have the courage, perhaps not even the strength to knock. How many people have lost their confidence, don't have the courage to knock at the door of our Christian hearts, at the doors of our churches ... and they are there, they don't have the courage, we have taken away their confidence: please may such a thing never happen. The door says many things about the house, and also about the Church. Management of the door requires attentive discernment and, at the same time, it should inspire great trust. I want to say a word of thanks for all the doorkeepers: of our condominiums, our civic institutions, of our churches. Often, the kindness and the gentle nature of the porters are able to offer an image of humanity and of welcome within the house, even at the entrance. We need to learn from these men and women who are custodians of the places of encounter and of welcome within the city of man! To all of you, keepers of many doors, either doors of habitations, or doors of churches, thank you very much! Always with a smile, always demonstrating the welcome that awaits within the house, the welcome within the church; in this way, people feel happy and welcome in that place.
In truth, we know very well that we ourselves are custodians and servants of God's Door, and what is God's Door called? Jesus! He illuminates us in every door of life, including those of our birth and our death. He alone has affirmed this: I am the door: if someone enters through me, he will be saved; he will come in and go out and find pasture (Jn 10:9). Jesus is the door that allows us to go in and out, for God's sheep fold is a shelter, not a prison! The house of God is a shelter, not a prison, and the door is named Jesus! If the door is closed, we say: Lord, open the door. Jesus is the door and he makes us go in and out. Those who seek to avoid the door are thieves: it's curious, thieves are always looking for ways to enter by another door, through a window, through the roof but not by the door, because they have evil intentions, and they sneak into the sheepfold in order to deceive the sheep and take advantage of them. We must pass through the door and listen to the voice of Jesus: we listen to the tone of his voice, we are secure, we are saved. We can enter without fear and go out without any danger. In this beautiful discourse, Jesus also speaks about a guardian who has the task of opening the way to the good Shepherd (cf Jn 10:2). If the guardian hears the voice of the Shepherd, he will open, and allow all the sheep that the Shepherd is carrying to enter, all of them including those who are lost in the woods, to whom the Good Shepherd has gone out in order to bring them back. The sheep are not chosen by the shepherd, neither are they chosen by the parish secretary, nor by the secretariat of the Parish Council; the sheep are all sent out, they are chosen by the Good Shepherd. The guardian - even he - is obedient to the voice of the Shepherd. See, we can say that we should be like the shepherd. The Church is the doorkeeper of the Lord's house, not the proprietor of the Lord's house.
The Holy Family of Nazareth knows well what it means to have an open or closed door, for one expecting a child, for one in need of shelter, for one who must escape from danger. May Christian families make the threshold of their homes into small but great signs of the Word of God’s Mercy and His welcome. It is in fact in this way that the Church must be recognized, in every corner of the world: as the custodian of a God that knocks, as the welcome of a God that does not close the door in your face, with the excuse that you do not belong in the house. We approach the Jubilee with this spirit: There will be the Holy Door, but it will be the door of God’s great mercy! May it also be the door of our heart for us all to receive God’s forgiveness and for us in turn to forgive, welcoming all those that knock on our door.
As is his custom, the Holy Father's catechesis was translated into various languages, and He shared particular greetings with each of the groups of pilgrims in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, the Pope said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England and the United States of America. My special greeting goes to the El Shaddai prayer fellowship and the orthopaedic surgeons of the Ivins Society. Upon you and your families I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace. God bless you all!
After the final greetings to pilgrims in attendance at today's General Audience, the Holy Father made the following appeal:
The day after tomorrow, we will commemorate the World Day of Children's Rights. It is everyone's duty to care for our children and to place concern for them ahead of all other criteria, so that they will never again be subjected to any form of servitude and mistreatment, or to any form of exploitation. I hope that the international Community will be able to attentively watch out for the living conditions of children, especially in cases where they are exposed to recruitment by arms groups; and that it will help families to guarantee for every boy and every girl, the right to go to school and to an education.
On November 21, the Church will celebrate the Presentation of Blessed Mary in the Temple. On this occasion, I wish to thank the Lord for the gift of the vocations of men and women who, in monasteries and hermitages, have dedicated their lives to God. Let us not be lacking in spiritual and material closeness, so that cloistered communities can carry out their important mission in prayer and in active silence.
In his speech, the Pope continued his catechesis on the family, focusing his meditation on the dimension of welcome with special reference to the upcoming opening of the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Mercy (Jn 10:9-10b).
Following the customary summaries of his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. He then issued a call on the occasion of the World Day of the rights of infants which will be celebrated tomorrow, and a call for prayers for the gift of monastic vocations in the life of the Church.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
With this reflection, we are on the threshold of the Jubilee, it is very near. Before us stands the door, but not only the holy door, another door too: the great door of the Father's Mercy - and this is a beautiful door! - which welcomes our repentance and offers us the grace of forgiveness. The door is generously open; all it takes is a bit of courage on our part to cross the threshold. Every one of us has things weighing upon us from within. We are all sinners! Let us take advantage of this coming time to cross the threshold of the mercy of God which never gets tired of forgiving, never tires but waits for us. He looks upon us, he is always beside us. Take courage! Let us enter the door!
All families and the entire Church received great encouragement to come to the threshold of this open door during the Synod of Bishops which was celebrated in October of this year. The Church was encouraged to open her doors, to go out with the Lord to meet her sons and daughters on the journey; sometimes they are uncertain, sometimes they are lost, especially in these difficult times. Christian families in particular were encouraged to open the door to the Lord who is waiting to enter, bringing with him his blessing and his friendship. If the Lord's door of mercy is always open, including the doors of our churches, of our communities, of our parishes, of our institutions, of our dioceses, they should be open because in this way everyone can go out and proclaim the mercy of God. The Jubilee signifies the Lord's great door of God's mercy but also the little doors of our houses which are open to allow the Lord to enter - or often to allow the Lord to go out - he who is a prisoner of our structures, of our egoism and of many other things.
The Lord never forces the door: he even asks permission to enter. The Book of Revelation says: I stand at the door and knock. If someone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to him, eat with him and he will eat with me (Rev 3:20). Let us imagine the Lord who knocks at the door of our hearts! In the last great vision spoken of in the Book of Revelation, the City of God is prophesied thus: Her doors will never be closed during the day, which means forever, because it will never again be night (Rev 21:25). There are places in the world where doors are never locked, there are still some such places; but there are many places where armour-plated doors have become the norm. We should never surrender ourselves to the idea of having to apply this system to all our lives, to the life of a family, of a city, of a society. And much less to the life of the Church. That would be terrible! An inhospitable Church, like a family that is closed in upon itself, would kill the Gospel and harden the world. Let there never be armour-plated doors in the Church, never! Everything should be open!
The symbolic management of the doors - of the thresholds, the passages, the borders - has become a crucial affair. The door should be guarded, surely, but no one should ever be pushed away. The door should never be forced; on the contrary, we should always ask permission, for hospitality shines in the freedom of welcome and is obscured in the arrogance of invasion. The door opens frequently, to see whether there is someone outside waiting and who perhaps doesn't have the courage, perhaps not even the strength to knock. How many people have lost their confidence, don't have the courage to knock at the door of our Christian hearts, at the doors of our churches ... and they are there, they don't have the courage, we have taken away their confidence: please may such a thing never happen. The door says many things about the house, and also about the Church. Management of the door requires attentive discernment and, at the same time, it should inspire great trust. I want to say a word of thanks for all the doorkeepers: of our condominiums, our civic institutions, of our churches. Often, the kindness and the gentle nature of the porters are able to offer an image of humanity and of welcome within the house, even at the entrance. We need to learn from these men and women who are custodians of the places of encounter and of welcome within the city of man! To all of you, keepers of many doors, either doors of habitations, or doors of churches, thank you very much! Always with a smile, always demonstrating the welcome that awaits within the house, the welcome within the church; in this way, people feel happy and welcome in that place.
In truth, we know very well that we ourselves are custodians and servants of God's Door, and what is God's Door called? Jesus! He illuminates us in every door of life, including those of our birth and our death. He alone has affirmed this: I am the door: if someone enters through me, he will be saved; he will come in and go out and find pasture (Jn 10:9). Jesus is the door that allows us to go in and out, for God's sheep fold is a shelter, not a prison! The house of God is a shelter, not a prison, and the door is named Jesus! If the door is closed, we say: Lord, open the door. Jesus is the door and he makes us go in and out. Those who seek to avoid the door are thieves: it's curious, thieves are always looking for ways to enter by another door, through a window, through the roof but not by the door, because they have evil intentions, and they sneak into the sheepfold in order to deceive the sheep and take advantage of them. We must pass through the door and listen to the voice of Jesus: we listen to the tone of his voice, we are secure, we are saved. We can enter without fear and go out without any danger. In this beautiful discourse, Jesus also speaks about a guardian who has the task of opening the way to the good Shepherd (cf Jn 10:2). If the guardian hears the voice of the Shepherd, he will open, and allow all the sheep that the Shepherd is carrying to enter, all of them including those who are lost in the woods, to whom the Good Shepherd has gone out in order to bring them back. The sheep are not chosen by the shepherd, neither are they chosen by the parish secretary, nor by the secretariat of the Parish Council; the sheep are all sent out, they are chosen by the Good Shepherd. The guardian - even he - is obedient to the voice of the Shepherd. See, we can say that we should be like the shepherd. The Church is the doorkeeper of the Lord's house, not the proprietor of the Lord's house.
The Holy Family of Nazareth knows well what it means to have an open or closed door, for one expecting a child, for one in need of shelter, for one who must escape from danger. May Christian families make the threshold of their homes into small but great signs of the Word of God’s Mercy and His welcome. It is in fact in this way that the Church must be recognized, in every corner of the world: as the custodian of a God that knocks, as the welcome of a God that does not close the door in your face, with the excuse that you do not belong in the house. We approach the Jubilee with this spirit: There will be the Holy Door, but it will be the door of God’s great mercy! May it also be the door of our heart for us all to receive God’s forgiveness and for us in turn to forgive, welcoming all those that knock on our door.
As is his custom, the Holy Father's catechesis was translated into various languages, and He shared particular greetings with each of the groups of pilgrims in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, the Pope said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England and the United States of America. My special greeting goes to the El Shaddai prayer fellowship and the orthopaedic surgeons of the Ivins Society. Upon you and your families I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace. God bless you all!
After the final greetings to pilgrims in attendance at today's General Audience, the Holy Father made the following appeal:
The day after tomorrow, we will commemorate the World Day of Children's Rights. It is everyone's duty to care for our children and to place concern for them ahead of all other criteria, so that they will never again be subjected to any form of servitude and mistreatment, or to any form of exploitation. I hope that the international Community will be able to attentively watch out for the living conditions of children, especially in cases where they are exposed to recruitment by arms groups; and that it will help families to guarantee for every boy and every girl, the right to go to school and to an education.
On November 21, the Church will celebrate the Presentation of Blessed Mary in the Temple. On this occasion, I wish to thank the Lord for the gift of the vocations of men and women who, in monasteries and hermitages, have dedicated their lives to God. Let us not be lacking in spiritual and material closeness, so that cloistered communities can carry out their important mission in prayer and in active silence.
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