At 10:30 yesterday morning in Saint Peter's Square, the Holy Father met with pilgrims from various parts of Italy and from other parts of the world for his weekly General Audience. During the course of this meeting, the Pope continued his catechetical sessions for the Year of Faith.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning !
In the
Creed we profess that Jesus
will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Human history begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with the final judgment of Christ. We often forget these two poles of history, and above all faith in the return of Christ and the final judgment is sometimes not so clear and strong in the hearts of Christians. Jesus, during his public life, often focused on the reality of his final coming. Today I would like to reflect on three Gospel texts that help us to enter into this mystery: that of the ten virgins, the talents and that of the final judgment. All three are part of Jesus' discourse on the end times in the Gospel of St. Matthew.
First, remember that at the moment of the Ascension, the Son of God took our humanity to the Father; in his Assumption, he wanted to draw all people to himself, to call all people from all parts of the world to be welcomed into the open arms of God so that at the end of history, the whole of creation is delivered to the Father. There is, however, this
intermediate time between the first coming of Christ and the last, which is precisely the time we are now living. In this context of
instant time we find the parable of the ten virgins (cf.
Mt 25:1-13). It is the story of ten girls waiting for the arrival of the Bridegroom, but he is late and they fall asleep. Suddenly there is an announcement that the Bridegroom is coming, all are prepared to receive him, but while five of them, wise girls, have oil to feed their lamps, the others, foolish girls, have lamps that are turned off because they do not have any oil, and while they are seeking some, the Bridegroom comes, and the foolish virgins are closed behind the door that leads into the wedding feast. They knock insistently, but it is too late, the Bridegroom responds that he does not know them. The Bridegroom is the Lord, and the waiting time of his arrival is the time that he gives us, all of us, with mercy and patience, before his final coming. It is a time for vigilance, when we must prepare lamps of faith, hope and charity, lamps which keep our hearts open to goodness, beauty and truth. This is a time to live according to God, because we know neither the day nor the hour of Christ's return. What is asked of us is to be prepared for the meeting - prepared for a meeting with a very nice person, the encounter with Jesus - which means being able to see the signs of his presence, keeping our faith alive through prayer and the celebration of the sacraments. Be vigilant, so as not to fall asleep, not to forget about God. Christian life that is asleep is sad; it is not a happy life. The Christian is meant to be happy, to possess the joy of Jesus, not asleep!
The second parable, the one about the talents makes us reflect on the relationship between how we use the gifts received from God and the moment of his return, when he will ask how we used them (cf.
Mt 25:14-30). We know the story: before his departure, the master gives each servant some talents so that they can be well used during his absence. To the first, he gives five, to the second, two and to the third, one. In the period of the master's absence, the first two servants multiply their talents - these are ancient coins - while the third would prefer to bury his own and deliver it intact to its owner. On his return, the master judges their work: he praises the first two, while the third is cast into outer darkness, for he has kept his talent hidden out of fear, closing in on himself. A Christian who withdraws into himself, hiding all that the Lord has given is not Christian! He is a Christian who does not thank God for everything he has given him! This tells us that the time of expectation of the Lord's return is the time for action - we are in this time of the action - the time in which we must capitalize on the gifts of God, not for ourselves, but for him, for the Church, for others, the time in which we must all try to grow well in the world. And particularly in this time of crisis, today, it is important not to turn in on ourselves, burying our talents. We must share our spiritual riches: intellectual, material, everything that the Lord has given us. We must not be afraid to open up, be sympathetic, take care of one another. In the square, I see that there are many young people, is this true? There are many young people? Where are they? To you, who are at the beginning of life's journey, I ask: Have you thought about the talents that God has given you? Have you thought about how you can put them at the service of others? Do not bury your talents! Bet on great ideals, ideals that enlarge the heart, the ideal of service that will make your talents fruitful. Life is given to us not because we must jealously preserve it for ourselves, but we are given these gifts in order that we might share them. Dear young people, you have great futures ahead of you! Do not be afraid to dream big things!
Finally, a word about the tract of the final judgment, which describes the second coming of the Lord, when He will judge all humans, living and dead (cf.
Mt 25:31-46). The image used by the evangelist is that of the shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats. To the right are placed those who have acted according to the will of God, coming to the aid of the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, in prison - I said stranger, there are so many foreigners here in the diocese of Rome: what do we do for them? - While to the left (in the judgement) He puts those who have not rescued their neighbours. This tells us that we will be judged by God based on charity, based on how we loved him in our brothers, especially the most vulnerable and needy. Of course, we must always keep in mind that we are justified, we are saved by grace, by a free act of God's love, which always precedes us, alone we can not do anything. Faith is first of all a gift that we have received. But in order to bear fruit, the grace of God always requires our openness to Him, our free and concrete response. Christ comes to take us to the mercy of God that saves. We are asked to entrust ourselves to Him, to respond to the gift of his love with a good life, made up of actions motivated by faith and love.
Dear brothers and sisters, looking at the final judgment should never make us fear, but it should push us to live better lives than we do the present. God provides us with mercy and patience during this time so that we can learn every day to recognize him in the poor and the little ones. We strive to be committed to doing good and to be vigilant in prayer and love. The Lord, at the end of our existence and history, will thus recognize us as good and faithful servants. Thank you.
At the end of the catechesis, the Holy Father addressed the following words to English-speaking pilgrims:
I am pleased to greet the Vietnamese pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Hochiminh City, led by Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man. I also greet the group of Marist Brothers taking part in a program of spiritual reunion. My cordial welcome also goes to the visitors from Cambridge Muslim College in England. Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today's Audience, including those from England, Ireland, Norway, Australia, South Korea and the United States, I invoke the joy and peace of the Risen Lord.
Following the greetings addressed to pilgrims, the Holy Father concluded the General Audience by calling for an end to the bloodshed in Syria. This plea comes at a difficult moment for the Church in Syria as there are no new developments in the abduction of two Metropolitan Bishops: Their Excellencies,
Mar Gregorios Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and
Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.
The kidnapping of the Greek Orthodox and Syro-Orthodox Metropolitans of Aleppo, about which there are conflicting news releases, is a further sign of the tragic situation that is enveloping the dear Syrian nation, where violence and weapons continue to sow death and suffering, the Pope said.
On Tuesday of this week, several media sources reported the release of the two prelates but as of Wednesday afternoon, these claims had been recinded. Metropolitans Ibrahim and Yazig were abducted on Monday in an area considered to be one of hte most dangerous areas in Syria during a humanitarian mission. Their driver was killed during the abduction.
The Holy Father prayed for the safe return of the two missing prelates.
I ask God to enlighten the hearts and I renew the pressing invitation that I made on the day of Easter to stop the bloodshed, that the necessary humanitarian assistance may be given to the population and that a political solution to the crisis is found as soon as possible, the Pontiff commented.
