This morning's General Audience began at 9:25am (3:25am EST) in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. 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 catechesis on the Our Father, adding a meditation on the Father of us all (cf Lk 10:21-22).
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.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Let us continue our journey of learning more and more about how to pray as Jesus taught us to pray. We should pray as He has taught us to do it.
He said: when you pray, enter into the silence of your room, away from the world, and turn to God, call him Father! Jesus wants his disciples to not be like the hypocrites who pray standing upright in the streets so that they can be admired by the people (cf Mt 6:5). Jesus doesn't want hypocrisy. True prayer is carried out in the secret of our conscience, in our hearts: inscrutable, visible only to God. God and me. He shuns falsehood: with God pretending is impossible. It's impossible; standing before God there is no trick that has power, God knows us in this way, naked in our conscience, and we cannot pretend. At the root of all dialogue with God, there is a silent dialogue, like the exchange of glances between two people who love each other: mankind and God exchange glances, and this is prayer. To look at God and to allow ourselves to be seen by God: this is prayer. But Father, there are no words ... To look at God and to allow yourself to be seen by Him: this is a prayer, a beautiful prayer!
Yet, although the prayer of the disciple is entirely confidential, it never runs short of intimacy. I the secret of our conscience, the Christian does not leave the world behind the door of his room, but carries it in the hearts of the people and the situations, the problems, many things, all of them we carry in our prayer.
There is an impressive absence in the text of the Our Father. If I asked you to point out the awesome absence in the text of the Our Father, it would not be easy to respond. There is a word missing. All of you, think about it: what is missing in the Our Father? Can you think about what is missing? One word. One word that in our time, but maybe it has always been held in high esteem. What is missing in the Our Father that we pray every day? In order to save time, I will tell you what it is: the word I is missing. It never says I. Jesus teaches us to pray, to have on our lips the word you, because the Christian prayer is a dialogue: may your name be held holy, may your kingdom come, may your will be done. Not my name, my kingdom, my will. No, I is not good. And then we go on to us. The whole second part of the Our Father is conjugated in the first person plural: give us our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses, do not abandon us in temptation, free us from evil. Even the most basic human questions - like those that are concerned with having food to sate our hunger - are all in the plural tense. In the Christian prayer, no one asks for bread for himself: give me today's bread, no, give us, we ask for everyone, for all the poor in the world. We should never forget this, the word I is missing. We pray this prayer with the word you and with us. This is one of Jesus' good teachings, don't forget it.
Why? Because there is no room for individualism in dialogue with God. There is no focusing on our own problems as if we were the only ones in the world who suffer. There is no elevated prayer to God that is not the prayer of a community of brothers and sisters: we are in community, we are brothers and sisters, we are a people that prays, we. Once, a prison chaplain asked me a question: Tell me, father, what is the word that is opposite to 'I'?. And I naively said: You. "This is the beginning of war. The word opposite to 'I' is 'us', where we discover peace, all together. It is a beautiful teaching I received from that priest.
In prayer, the Christian brings all the difficulties of the people who live next to him: when he comes down in the evening, he tells God about the pains he has encountered on that day; he puts before him many faces, friends and even enemies; he does not drive them away as dangerous distractions. If we do not realize that there are so many people around us that are suffering, if we does not pity the tears of the poor, if we are addicted to everything, then it means that our hearts are ... how do you say it? Wilted? No, worse: it is made of stone. In this case it is good to beg the Lord to touch us with his Spirit and to soften our hearts: Touch my heart, O Lord. This is a beautiful prayer: Lord, soften my heart, so that I can understand and take charge of all the problems, all the pains of others. Christ did not pass by, unharmed by the miseries of the world: whenever he perceived loneliness, pain of the body or the spirit, he felt a strong sense of compassion, like a mother's womb. This feeling compassion - let us not forget this very Christian word: feeling compassion - is one of the key verbs of the Gospel: it is what drives the good Samaritan to approach the wounded man on the roadside, unlike others who have hardened hearts.
We can ask ourselves: when I pray, do I open myself to the cries of many people who are near and far? Or do I think of prayer as a kind of anesthesia, in order for me to be calmer? I ask the question, and everyone should answer in your heart. In this case I would be the victim of a terrible misunderstanding. Of course, mine would no longer be a Christian prayer. Because that us that Jesus taught us prevents me from being alone, and makes me feel responsible for my brothers and sisters.
There are men who apparently do not seek God, but Jesus tells us that we should pray for them too, because God seeks these people above all. Jesus did not come for the healthy, but for the sick, for sinners (cf Lk 5:31) - that is, for everyone, because they think they are healthy, but in reality they are not. If we work for justice, let us not feel better than others: the Father makes his sun rise on the good and the wicked (cf. Mt 5:45). Love all the Father! We learn from God that he is always good with everyone, unlike us who can only be good with some people, with people I like.
Brothers and sisters, saints and sinners, we are all brothers and sisters, we are all loved by the same Father. And, in the evening of life, we will be judged on love, on how we have loved. Not just sentimental love, but compassionate and concrete love, according to the rule of the Gospel - do not forget this! -: Whatever you have done to one of the least of these brothers, you have done it to me (Mt 25.40). Thus says the Lord. Thank you.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and He offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those from Sweden, Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace. God bless you!
In his speech, the Pope continued his catechesis on the Our Father, adding a meditation on the Father of us all (cf Lk 10:21-22).
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!
Let us continue our journey of learning more and more about how to pray as Jesus taught us to pray. We should pray as He has taught us to do it.
He said: when you pray, enter into the silence of your room, away from the world, and turn to God, call him Father! Jesus wants his disciples to not be like the hypocrites who pray standing upright in the streets so that they can be admired by the people (cf Mt 6:5). Jesus doesn't want hypocrisy. True prayer is carried out in the secret of our conscience, in our hearts: inscrutable, visible only to God. God and me. He shuns falsehood: with God pretending is impossible. It's impossible; standing before God there is no trick that has power, God knows us in this way, naked in our conscience, and we cannot pretend. At the root of all dialogue with God, there is a silent dialogue, like the exchange of glances between two people who love each other: mankind and God exchange glances, and this is prayer. To look at God and to allow ourselves to be seen by God: this is prayer. But Father, there are no words ... To look at God and to allow yourself to be seen by Him: this is a prayer, a beautiful prayer!
Yet, although the prayer of the disciple is entirely confidential, it never runs short of intimacy. I the secret of our conscience, the Christian does not leave the world behind the door of his room, but carries it in the hearts of the people and the situations, the problems, many things, all of them we carry in our prayer.
There is an impressive absence in the text of the Our Father. If I asked you to point out the awesome absence in the text of the Our Father, it would not be easy to respond. There is a word missing. All of you, think about it: what is missing in the Our Father? Can you think about what is missing? One word. One word that in our time, but maybe it has always been held in high esteem. What is missing in the Our Father that we pray every day? In order to save time, I will tell you what it is: the word I is missing. It never says I. Jesus teaches us to pray, to have on our lips the word you, because the Christian prayer is a dialogue: may your name be held holy, may your kingdom come, may your will be done. Not my name, my kingdom, my will. No, I is not good. And then we go on to us. The whole second part of the Our Father is conjugated in the first person plural: give us our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses, do not abandon us in temptation, free us from evil. Even the most basic human questions - like those that are concerned with having food to sate our hunger - are all in the plural tense. In the Christian prayer, no one asks for bread for himself: give me today's bread, no, give us, we ask for everyone, for all the poor in the world. We should never forget this, the word I is missing. We pray this prayer with the word you and with us. This is one of Jesus' good teachings, don't forget it.
Why? Because there is no room for individualism in dialogue with God. There is no focusing on our own problems as if we were the only ones in the world who suffer. There is no elevated prayer to God that is not the prayer of a community of brothers and sisters: we are in community, we are brothers and sisters, we are a people that prays, we. Once, a prison chaplain asked me a question: Tell me, father, what is the word that is opposite to 'I'?. And I naively said: You. "This is the beginning of war. The word opposite to 'I' is 'us', where we discover peace, all together. It is a beautiful teaching I received from that priest.
In prayer, the Christian brings all the difficulties of the people who live next to him: when he comes down in the evening, he tells God about the pains he has encountered on that day; he puts before him many faces, friends and even enemies; he does not drive them away as dangerous distractions. If we do not realize that there are so many people around us that are suffering, if we does not pity the tears of the poor, if we are addicted to everything, then it means that our hearts are ... how do you say it? Wilted? No, worse: it is made of stone. In this case it is good to beg the Lord to touch us with his Spirit and to soften our hearts: Touch my heart, O Lord. This is a beautiful prayer: Lord, soften my heart, so that I can understand and take charge of all the problems, all the pains of others. Christ did not pass by, unharmed by the miseries of the world: whenever he perceived loneliness, pain of the body or the spirit, he felt a strong sense of compassion, like a mother's womb. This feeling compassion - let us not forget this very Christian word: feeling compassion - is one of the key verbs of the Gospel: it is what drives the good Samaritan to approach the wounded man on the roadside, unlike others who have hardened hearts.
We can ask ourselves: when I pray, do I open myself to the cries of many people who are near and far? Or do I think of prayer as a kind of anesthesia, in order for me to be calmer? I ask the question, and everyone should answer in your heart. In this case I would be the victim of a terrible misunderstanding. Of course, mine would no longer be a Christian prayer. Because that us that Jesus taught us prevents me from being alone, and makes me feel responsible for my brothers and sisters.
There are men who apparently do not seek God, but Jesus tells us that we should pray for them too, because God seeks these people above all. Jesus did not come for the healthy, but for the sick, for sinners (cf Lk 5:31) - that is, for everyone, because they think they are healthy, but in reality they are not. If we work for justice, let us not feel better than others: the Father makes his sun rise on the good and the wicked (cf. Mt 5:45). Love all the Father! We learn from God that he is always good with everyone, unlike us who can only be good with some people, with people I like.
Brothers and sisters, saints and sinners, we are all brothers and sisters, we are all loved by the same Father. And, in the evening of life, we will be judged on love, on how we have loved. Not just sentimental love, but compassionate and concrete love, according to the rule of the Gospel - do not forget this! -: Whatever you have done to one of the least of these brothers, you have done it to me (Mt 25.40). Thus says the Lord. Thank you.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and He offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those from Sweden, Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace. God bless you!
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