Today's General Audience began at 10:00am in Saint Peter's Square, where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from Italy and from every corner of the world.
During his discourse, the Pope continued his cycle of teachings on the theme of the family, including today a meditation on the family as the environment in which we learn to live the gift of mutual forgiveness.
After having presented summaries of his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
The Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which has recently been concluded, reflected deeply on the vocation and the mission of the family in the life of the Church and in modern-day society. It was an occasion of grace. At the end of the meeting, the Synod Fathers entrusted to me the text of their conclusions. My desire was that this text should be published because we have all participated n the work that has been accomplished together over the past two years. This is not the moment to examine these conclusions, on which I myself must now meditate.
In the meanwhile, however, life does not stop, especially the life of families! You, dear families, are constantly on a journey. Already, you have written and continue to write in the pages of concrete life, the beauty of the gospel of the family. In a world that at times becomes barren of life and love, you speak every day of the great gift of marriage and family.
Today, I want to focus on this aspect: that the family is a large exercise gymnasium for practicing the gift of mutual forgiveness without which no love can endure. Without giving of ourselves and without forgiving one another, love cannot remain, it will not last. In the prayer that He himself taught us - the Our Father - Jesus asked the Father: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And at the end of the prayer, he said: If you forgive others their sins, your Father in heaven will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive you (Mt 6:12, 14-15). We cannot live without forgiving, or at least we cannot live well, especially in a family. Every day, we wrong one another. We should always be mindful of these mistakes, due to our frailty and our egoism. But what is required of us is to heal the wounds that we have inflicted, to re-weave the broken threads in our families. If we wait too long, everything becomes more difficult. There is a simple secret for healing these wounds and for dismissing the charges. Do not allow a day to end without saying I'm sorry, without making peace between a husband and a wife, between parents and children, between brothers and sisters ... between sister-in-law and mother-in-law! If we learn to ask one another immediately for forgiveness and to give the gift of mutual forgiveness, we will heal the wounds, marriages will be strengthened and our family homes will become ever more solid, able to resist the shock of our little and not so little weaknesses. It is not necessary to make great speeches in order for this to come about; it is enough to give a hug: hug one another and all is finished, all can begin again. Don't ever finish a day at war with someone else!
If we learn to live in this way within our families, we will also live in this way outside our family settings, wherever we should find ourselves. It is easy to be skeptical about this. Many - even among Christians - think that this is an exaggeration. They say: yes, these are nice words, but it is impossible to put them into practice. But thank God, this is not the case. In fact, since we receive forgiveness from God, we in turn are capable of forgiving others. This is the reason why Jesus asks us to repeat these words every time we recite the prayer of the Our Father: every day. It is essential that, in a society that can sometimes be ruthless, there should be places such as families where we can learn to forgive one another.
The Synod also revived our hope in this matter: it is part of the vocation and the mission of the family to have the ability to forgive others and to forgive one another. The practice of forgiveness not only saves families from divisions, but makes them capable of helping society to be less controlling and less cruel. Yes, every gesture of forgiveness repairs the household cracks and strengthens its walls. The Church, dear families, is always ready to help you to build your house on the rock that Jesus spoke of. Never forget these words that immediately precede the parable of the house: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of the Father. He also adds: Many will say to me in this generation: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name? However, I will say to them: I do not know you (cf Mt 7:21-23). These are strong words, there is no doubt, which are intended to shake us up and call us to conversion.
I assure you, dear families, that if you are able to walk with more and more determination on the path of the Beatitudes, both learning and teaching how to forgive one another, the ability will grow throughout the great family of the Church to bear witness to the renewing strength of the forgiveness of God. In contrast, we will also preach beautiful words, and maybe even evade the devil, but in the end, the Lord will not recognize us as his disciples, for we will not have had the capacity to forgive and to grant forgiveness to others!
Truly, Christian families can do many things for today's society, and even for the Church. For this reason, I wish that during the Jubilee of Mercy, families may rediscover the treasure of mutual forgiveness. Let us pray that families may always be more and more capable of living and of building concrete paths to reconciliation, where no one feels abandoned to the weight of the debts he owes.
With this intention, let us say together: Our Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
At the conclusion of today's catechesis, the Holy Father's instructions were translated and summarized in various languages. His Holiness also offered greetings to each group of pilgrims in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Korea and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace. God bless you all!
During his discourse, the Pope continued his cycle of teachings on the theme of the family, including today a meditation on the family as the environment in which we learn to live the gift of mutual forgiveness.
After having presented summaries of his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
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!
The Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which has recently been concluded, reflected deeply on the vocation and the mission of the family in the life of the Church and in modern-day society. It was an occasion of grace. At the end of the meeting, the Synod Fathers entrusted to me the text of their conclusions. My desire was that this text should be published because we have all participated n the work that has been accomplished together over the past two years. This is not the moment to examine these conclusions, on which I myself must now meditate.
In the meanwhile, however, life does not stop, especially the life of families! You, dear families, are constantly on a journey. Already, you have written and continue to write in the pages of concrete life, the beauty of the gospel of the family. In a world that at times becomes barren of life and love, you speak every day of the great gift of marriage and family.
Today, I want to focus on this aspect: that the family is a large exercise gymnasium for practicing the gift of mutual forgiveness without which no love can endure. Without giving of ourselves and without forgiving one another, love cannot remain, it will not last. In the prayer that He himself taught us - the Our Father - Jesus asked the Father: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And at the end of the prayer, he said: If you forgive others their sins, your Father in heaven will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive you (Mt 6:12, 14-15). We cannot live without forgiving, or at least we cannot live well, especially in a family. Every day, we wrong one another. We should always be mindful of these mistakes, due to our frailty and our egoism. But what is required of us is to heal the wounds that we have inflicted, to re-weave the broken threads in our families. If we wait too long, everything becomes more difficult. There is a simple secret for healing these wounds and for dismissing the charges. Do not allow a day to end without saying I'm sorry, without making peace between a husband and a wife, between parents and children, between brothers and sisters ... between sister-in-law and mother-in-law! If we learn to ask one another immediately for forgiveness and to give the gift of mutual forgiveness, we will heal the wounds, marriages will be strengthened and our family homes will become ever more solid, able to resist the shock of our little and not so little weaknesses. It is not necessary to make great speeches in order for this to come about; it is enough to give a hug: hug one another and all is finished, all can begin again. Don't ever finish a day at war with someone else!
If we learn to live in this way within our families, we will also live in this way outside our family settings, wherever we should find ourselves. It is easy to be skeptical about this. Many - even among Christians - think that this is an exaggeration. They say: yes, these are nice words, but it is impossible to put them into practice. But thank God, this is not the case. In fact, since we receive forgiveness from God, we in turn are capable of forgiving others. This is the reason why Jesus asks us to repeat these words every time we recite the prayer of the Our Father: every day. It is essential that, in a society that can sometimes be ruthless, there should be places such as families where we can learn to forgive one another.
The Synod also revived our hope in this matter: it is part of the vocation and the mission of the family to have the ability to forgive others and to forgive one another. The practice of forgiveness not only saves families from divisions, but makes them capable of helping society to be less controlling and less cruel. Yes, every gesture of forgiveness repairs the household cracks and strengthens its walls. The Church, dear families, is always ready to help you to build your house on the rock that Jesus spoke of. Never forget these words that immediately precede the parable of the house: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of the Father. He also adds: Many will say to me in this generation: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name? However, I will say to them: I do not know you (cf Mt 7:21-23). These are strong words, there is no doubt, which are intended to shake us up and call us to conversion.
I assure you, dear families, that if you are able to walk with more and more determination on the path of the Beatitudes, both learning and teaching how to forgive one another, the ability will grow throughout the great family of the Church to bear witness to the renewing strength of the forgiveness of God. In contrast, we will also preach beautiful words, and maybe even evade the devil, but in the end, the Lord will not recognize us as his disciples, for we will not have had the capacity to forgive and to grant forgiveness to others!
Truly, Christian families can do many things for today's society, and even for the Church. For this reason, I wish that during the Jubilee of Mercy, families may rediscover the treasure of mutual forgiveness. Let us pray that families may always be more and more capable of living and of building concrete paths to reconciliation, where no one feels abandoned to the weight of the debts he owes.
With this intention, let us say together: Our Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
At the conclusion of today's catechesis, the Holy Father's instructions were translated and summarized in various languages. His Holiness also offered greetings to each group of pilgrims in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Korea and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace. God bless you all!
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