Today's General Audience began at 10:00am in Saint Peter's Square. The Holy Father, Pope Francis met there with groups of pilgrims and the faithful who had come from various parts of Italy and all corners of the world.
During his speech, the Pope continued the cycle of catecheses on the family, adding a meditation on the place of brothers and sisters.
Following summaries of His teaching presented in various languages, the Holy Father offered greetings to each of the groups of the faithful who were present. He then issued an invitation to pray for the Christians who were killed three days ago in Libia, and a call for prayers for peace in the Middle East and in North Africa.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning.
In our journey of catecheses on the family, after having considered the roles of mothers, fathers and children, today it is the brothers' turn. Brother and sister are words that Christianity really loves. And, thanks to the family experience, they are words that all cultures and all times understand.
The fraternal bond has a special place in the history of the People of God; from it, we have received the true experience of human life. The psalmist sings of the beauty of the fraternal bond: How beautiful it is, and how sweet that brothers live together! (Psalm 132:1). This is true, fraternity is beautiful! Jesus Christ brought to fulfillment, even this human experience of being brothers and sisters, by assuming it in Trinitarian love and strengthening it in this way so that it can now surpass the ties of kinship and overcome every barrier.
We know that when the fraternal relationship is ruined, when the relationship between brothers is ruined, a road opens which leads to painful experiences of conflict, betrayal and hatred. The biblical account of Cain and Abel is an example of this negative result. After Abel has been killed, God asks Cain: Where is Abel, your brother? (Genesis 4:9a) This is a question that the Lord continues to ask every generation. Unfortunately, in every generation, Cain's tragic answer is also repeated: I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper? (Genesis 4:9b). When the bond between brothers is broken, it is a terrible and evil thing for humanity. Even in families, when brothers fight over little things, or over an inheritance, and then cease speaking to each other, they no longer greet each other. This is terrible!
Fraternity is a wonderful thing, when we think that all brothers have spent some time in the womb of the same mother for nine months; they come from the flesh of the same mother! The bonds of brotherhood should never be broken. Let us think a bit about this: we all know of families who include brothers who are divided against one another, brothers who have fought; let us ask the Lord to watch over these families - maybe there are a few cases of this even in our own families - to help them to bring these brothers together again, to rebuild their families. The bonds of fraternity should never be broken and when they are broken, the same thing happens that came to pass with Cain and Abel. When the Lord asked Cain where his brother was, he responded: I don't know, my brother isn't important to me. This is terrible; it is something very very sad to hear. In our prayers, let us pray for brothers who are divided against each other.
The bond of fraternity that is formed in the family, between children, happens in a climate of education and openness to others. It is a great school of freedom and peace. Human coexistence is learned in the family environment, between brothers and sisters and how we should live in society. Perhaps we are not always aware, of it but it is in fact the family that introduces brotherhood in the world! Beginning from this first experience of brotherhood, nourished by affections and family education, the style of brotherhood is radiated as a promise over the whole society and its relations between peoples.
The blessing that God, in Jesus Christ, pours down on this bond of brotherhood and expands in an unimaginable way, rendering it capable of going beyond every difference between nations, languages, cultures and even religions.
Think about what the bond between men and women becomes - those who are also very different among themselves - when they can say to one another. He is in fact like a brother, she is in fact like a sister to me! This is beautiful, no? It’s beautiful! History has shown us sufficiently, however, that, without brotherhood, freedom and equality can also be filled with individualism, conformity and interests.
Brotherhood shines in a family in a special way when we see the solicitude, the patience and the affection with which a weaker little brother or a little sister, a sick one or bearers of handicaps are surrounded and cared for. There are many brothers and sisters in the whole world who do this, and perhaps we do not appreciate their generosity enough. And when there are many brothers in a family - today I greeted a family there that has nine - the greatest help to the father, to the mother is to take care of the little ones. And this work of help between brothers is beautiful!
To have a brother or a sister who loves you is an intense experience, invaluable, irreplaceable. The same thing happens with Christian brotherhood. The littlest, the weakest, the poorest ones make us tender: they have the right to have our souls and hearts. Yes, they are our brothers and sisters and, as such, we must love and relate to them. When this happens, when the poor share our home, our Christian brotherhood itself takes on life. In fact, when Christians go out to meet the poor and the weak they do so not to obey an ideological program, but because the Lord’s words and example tell us that they are our brothers. This is the principle of the love of God and of all justice between men.
I want to suggest something to you: before ending I have a few lines left - let each one of us, in silence, think of our brothers and our sisters. Let’s think in silence and, in the silence of our hearts, let us pray for them - an instant of silence.
A moment of silent prayer
See, with this prayer we have brought all our brothers and sisters here to this place, with our thoughts and with our hearts here, to the Square, to receive the blessing. Thank you!
Today more than ever it is necessary to bring brotherhood back to the centre of our technocratic and bureaucratic society: then freedom and equality will also have their deserved intonation. Therefore, let us not, with light hearts, deprive our families out of suggestion or fear of the beauty of an ample fraternal experience of sons and daughters, And let us not lose confidence in the breadth of the horizon that faith is able to draw from this experience, illuminated by God’s blessing. Thank you!
The Holy Father's catechesis was then presented in summary form in various languages, and His Holiness addressed greetings to the various groups of pilgrims who were present. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Japan and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!
At the conclusion of the General Audience, just prior to the Our Father and the Apostolic Blessing, the Holy Father issued the following appeal:
I wish once again to invite you to pray for our Egyptian brothers who, three days ago, were killed in Libia, for no reason other than that they were Christians. May the Lord welcome them into his house and comfort their families and their communities.
Let us also pray for peace in the Middle East and in North Africa, remembering all those who have died, the wounded and those who are now refugees. May the International Community find peaceful solutions in Libia.
During his speech, the Pope continued the cycle of catecheses on the family, adding a meditation on the place of brothers and sisters.
Following summaries of His teaching presented in various languages, the Holy Father offered greetings to each of the groups of the faithful who were present. He then issued an invitation to pray for the Christians who were killed three days ago in Libia, and a call for prayers for peace in the Middle East and in North Africa.
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 of catecheses on the family, after having considered the roles of mothers, fathers and children, today it is the brothers' turn. Brother and sister are words that Christianity really loves. And, thanks to the family experience, they are words that all cultures and all times understand.
The fraternal bond has a special place in the history of the People of God; from it, we have received the true experience of human life. The psalmist sings of the beauty of the fraternal bond: How beautiful it is, and how sweet that brothers live together! (Psalm 132:1). This is true, fraternity is beautiful! Jesus Christ brought to fulfillment, even this human experience of being brothers and sisters, by assuming it in Trinitarian love and strengthening it in this way so that it can now surpass the ties of kinship and overcome every barrier.
We know that when the fraternal relationship is ruined, when the relationship between brothers is ruined, a road opens which leads to painful experiences of conflict, betrayal and hatred. The biblical account of Cain and Abel is an example of this negative result. After Abel has been killed, God asks Cain: Where is Abel, your brother? (Genesis 4:9a) This is a question that the Lord continues to ask every generation. Unfortunately, in every generation, Cain's tragic answer is also repeated: I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper? (Genesis 4:9b). When the bond between brothers is broken, it is a terrible and evil thing for humanity. Even in families, when brothers fight over little things, or over an inheritance, and then cease speaking to each other, they no longer greet each other. This is terrible!
Fraternity is a wonderful thing, when we think that all brothers have spent some time in the womb of the same mother for nine months; they come from the flesh of the same mother! The bonds of brotherhood should never be broken. Let us think a bit about this: we all know of families who include brothers who are divided against one another, brothers who have fought; let us ask the Lord to watch over these families - maybe there are a few cases of this even in our own families - to help them to bring these brothers together again, to rebuild their families. The bonds of fraternity should never be broken and when they are broken, the same thing happens that came to pass with Cain and Abel. When the Lord asked Cain where his brother was, he responded: I don't know, my brother isn't important to me. This is terrible; it is something very very sad to hear. In our prayers, let us pray for brothers who are divided against each other.
The bond of fraternity that is formed in the family, between children, happens in a climate of education and openness to others. It is a great school of freedom and peace. Human coexistence is learned in the family environment, between brothers and sisters and how we should live in society. Perhaps we are not always aware, of it but it is in fact the family that introduces brotherhood in the world! Beginning from this first experience of brotherhood, nourished by affections and family education, the style of brotherhood is radiated as a promise over the whole society and its relations between peoples.
The blessing that God, in Jesus Christ, pours down on this bond of brotherhood and expands in an unimaginable way, rendering it capable of going beyond every difference between nations, languages, cultures and even religions.
Think about what the bond between men and women becomes - those who are also very different among themselves - when they can say to one another. He is in fact like a brother, she is in fact like a sister to me! This is beautiful, no? It’s beautiful! History has shown us sufficiently, however, that, without brotherhood, freedom and equality can also be filled with individualism, conformity and interests.
Brotherhood shines in a family in a special way when we see the solicitude, the patience and the affection with which a weaker little brother or a little sister, a sick one or bearers of handicaps are surrounded and cared for. There are many brothers and sisters in the whole world who do this, and perhaps we do not appreciate their generosity enough. And when there are many brothers in a family - today I greeted a family there that has nine - the greatest help to the father, to the mother is to take care of the little ones. And this work of help between brothers is beautiful!
To have a brother or a sister who loves you is an intense experience, invaluable, irreplaceable. The same thing happens with Christian brotherhood. The littlest, the weakest, the poorest ones make us tender: they have the right to have our souls and hearts. Yes, they are our brothers and sisters and, as such, we must love and relate to them. When this happens, when the poor share our home, our Christian brotherhood itself takes on life. In fact, when Christians go out to meet the poor and the weak they do so not to obey an ideological program, but because the Lord’s words and example tell us that they are our brothers. This is the principle of the love of God and of all justice between men.
I want to suggest something to you: before ending I have a few lines left - let each one of us, in silence, think of our brothers and our sisters. Let’s think in silence and, in the silence of our hearts, let us pray for them - an instant of silence.
A moment of silent prayer
See, with this prayer we have brought all our brothers and sisters here to this place, with our thoughts and with our hearts here, to the Square, to receive the blessing. Thank you!
Today more than ever it is necessary to bring brotherhood back to the centre of our technocratic and bureaucratic society: then freedom and equality will also have their deserved intonation. Therefore, let us not, with light hearts, deprive our families out of suggestion or fear of the beauty of an ample fraternal experience of sons and daughters, And let us not lose confidence in the breadth of the horizon that faith is able to draw from this experience, illuminated by God’s blessing. Thank you!
The Holy Father's catechesis was then presented in summary form in various languages, and His Holiness addressed greetings to the various groups of pilgrims who were present. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Japan and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!
At the conclusion of the General Audience, just prior to the Our Father and the Apostolic Blessing, the Holy Father issued the following appeal:
I wish once again to invite you to pray for our Egyptian brothers who, three days ago, were killed in Libia, for no reason other than that they were Christians. May the Lord welcome them into his house and comfort their families and their communities.
Let us also pray for peace in the Middle East and in North Africa, remembering all those who have died, the wounded and those who are now refugees. May the International Community find peaceful solutions in Libia.
No comments:
Post a Comment