Wednesday, September 19, 2018

General Audience about honouring parents

This morning's General Audience began at 9:30am (3:30am EDT) 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.

In his speech, the Pope continued his cycle of catecheses on the Commandments, adding his meditation on the Commandment: Honour your father and your mother (Biblical passage: Eph 6:1-4).

After having summarized His catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered 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!

In our journey through the Ten Commandments, we arrive today at the commandment concerning fathers and mothers. It concerns the honour due to parents. What is this honour? The Hebrew word indicates the glory, the value, the weight of words, the consistency of a reality. It is not a matter of outward forms but of truth. Honouring God, in the Scriptures, means recognizing his reality, reckoning with his presence; this is also expressed in the rites, but above all, it implies giving God the right place in our existence. Honouring the father and the mother therefore means recognizing their importance also through concrete actions, which express dedication, affection and care. But this is not just about this.

The Fourth Commandment has its own characteristic: it is the commandment that contains an outcome. In fact it says: Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that your days may be prolonged and you may be happy in the land which the Lord your God has given you (Deut 5:16) . Honouring parents leads to a long happy life. The word happiness in the Decalogue appears only linked to the relationship with parents.

This age old wisdom declares what the human sciences have only been able to elaborate for a little over a century: that the imprint of childhood marks the whole of life. It can often be easy to understand if someone has grown up in a healthy and balanced environment, but just as evident if a person comes from experiences of abandonment or violence. Our childhood is a bit like indelible ink, expressed in tastes, in ways of being, even if some try to hide the wounds they have suffered in the past.

But the fourth commandment says still more. It does not talk about the goodness of parents, it does not require fathers and mothers to be perfect. It speaks of an act of the children, regardless of the merits of the parents; it says something extraordinary and liberating: even if not all parents are good and not all children are calm, all children can be happy, because the achievement of a full and happy life depends on gratitude for those who have brought us into the world.

Let's think about how this Commandment can be constructive for many young people who come from histories of pain and for all those who have suffered in their youth. Many saints - and many Christians - after a painful childhood - lived luminous lives, because, thanks to Jesus Christ, they were reconciled with life. Let's think of that young man who is Blessed today, and who will be canonized next month - Sulprizio - who at 19 finished his life reconciled with so many pains, with so many things, because his heart was serene and he never denied his parents. We think of Saint Camillus de Lellis, who from a disordered childhood built a life of love and service; Saint Josephine Bakhita, who grew up in horrible slavery; or the blessed Carlo Gnocchi, an orphan and poor man; and of course Saint John Paul II, marked by the loss of his mother at an early age.

From whatever history we come, we receive from this commandment the orientation that leads to Christ: in him, in fact, the true Father is revealed, the Father who offers us the possibility of being reborn from above (cf Jn 3:3-8) ). The enigmas of our lives light up when we discover that God has always prepared us for a life of his children, where every act is a mission received from him.

Our wounds become potential when, by grace, we discover that the real enigma is no longer why?, but for whom?, for that which has happened to me. In view of what work has God forged me through my history? Here everything is reversed, everything becomes precious, everything becomes constructive. My experience, even sad and painful, in the light of love, how does it become the source of salvation for others, for whom is it meant? Then we can begin to honour our parents with the freedom of adult children and with merciful acceptance of their limitations*.

Honouring parents: they gave us life! If you have moved away from your parents, make an effort and come back, come back to them; maybe they're old ... They gave you life. And then, among us there is the habit of saying bad things, even using bad words ... Please, never, never, never insult the parents of others. Never! Never insult a mother, never insult a father. Never! Never! Make this decision within yourself: from now on I will never insult someone's mother or father. They gave him life! They must not be insulted.

This marvellous life is offered to us, not imposed on us: to be reborn in Christ is a grace of freely welcoming (cf Jn 1:11-13), and it is the treasure of our Baptism, in which, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we have one Father, our Father in heaven (cf Mt 23:9; 1 Cor 8:6; Eph 4:6).  Thank you!

*Cf Saint Augustine, Discourse on Matthew, 72, A, 4: Christ therefore teaches you to reject your parents and at the same time to love them. However, parents love each other in an orderly manner and in a spirit of faith when they do not prefer God: Those who love - these are the Lord's words - father and mother more than me, are not worthy of me. With these words it almost seems that he warns you not to love them; rather, on the contrary, he admonishes you to love them. In fact, he could have said: 'He who loves his father or his mother is not worthy of me'. But he did not say so, not to speak against the law given by him, since it was he who gave it, by means of his servant Moses, the law where it is written: 'Honour your father and your mother'. He has not promulgated a contrary law but has confirmed it; he then taught you the order, he did not eliminate the duty of love towards parents: 'Whoever loves father and mother, but more than me'. He must love them, therefore, but no more than me: God is God, man is man. Love parents, obey parents, honour parents; but if God calls you to a more important mission, in which the affection for parents could be an impediment, keep the order, do not suppress charity.



The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages, and His Holiness offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.  To English-speaking visitors, he said:

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those from England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America. I thank the choirs from Indonesia and Australia for their praise of God in song. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace. God bless you!

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