This morning'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.
Before making his way to Saint Peter's Square, at 9:00am, the Pope met with the sick and disabled who were gathered in the Paul VI Hall.
The Pope continued his meditation on the theme of the family, speaking today about promises made to children (Mt 18:7-8, 10).
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed greetings to the various groups of the faithful who were present. He then made an appeal on the occasion of the World Day of Combatting Suffering which will be observed this coming Saturday, October 17.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning! Today, the weather is a bit uncertain and they are calling for rain, so this audience is taking place simultaneously in two places: we are here in the Square and there are 700 sick people in the Paul VI Hall who are following the audience on a large screen. We are all united; let us greet them now with some applause.
Jesus' words today are strong: Woe to those who bring about scandal. Jesus is realistic; he says: It is inevitable that scandals will arise, but woe to those who cause scandals. Before beginning today's catechesis, in the name of the Church, I want to ask pardon for the scandals that have come about here in Rome and at the Vatican in recent times: we ask your forgiveness.
Today, we reflect on a very important argument: the promise that children are. I am not talking about promises that are made here and there, during a given day, so that they can be content or good (perhaps with innocent trickery: by giving them candy or similar promises ...), to persuade them to get involved at their schools or in order to dissuade them from some other whim. I am speaking about other promises, more important promises, important promises that affect their expectations about life, their ability to trust in other human beings, their capacity to perceive God's name as a blessing. These are promises that we make to them.
We adults are ready to speak to children about the promises of life. We all say: children are a promise of life ... and it is also easy to touch our hearts, by telling us that young people are our future; this is true. But I sometimes wonder, if we are just as serious about their future, the future of children and the future of the young! Another question that we should ask ourselves more often is this: in what way are we loyal to the promises we make to children, by bringing them into the world? We bring them into the world, and this is a promise, what do we promise to them?
Welcome and care, closeness and attention, trust and hope, are all basic promises, that can be summed up in one promise: love. We promise love, that is to say love that is expressed in welcome, in care, in closeness, in attention, in trust and in hope, but the greatest promise is love. This is the best way to welcome a human being who comes into the world, and we can all learn this, even before we are conscious of it. I am so happy when I see a father and a mother, as I'm passing through crowds, holding their children, little children and I ask them: How old is your child? - Three weeks, four weeks ... I ask for the Lord's blessing. This is also an act of love. Love is the promise that man and woman make to every child: from the moment that they are conceived in our thoughts. Children come into the world and await the confirmation of this promise: they await it in all its fullness, trustingly, defencelessly. All we have to do is look at them: in every ethnicity, in every culture, in every condition of life! When the contrary happens, children are wounded by scandal, by unbearable scandal, all the more serious because they do not have the means to understand it. They cannot understand what has happened. God watches over this promise, from the very first instant. Do you remember what Jesus says? The children's angels reflect God's gaze and God never loses sight of the faces of children (cf Mt 18:10). Woe to those who betray their trust! They place their trust in our promise, that commits us from the very first moment, that judges us.
And I want to add another thing, with much respect for everyone, but also in a very frank way. Their spontaneous trust in God should never be injured, especially when it happens because of a certain presumption (more or less unconscious) to replace His importance with ours. The tender and mysterious relationship between God and the souls of children should never be violated. It is a real relationship that is the will of God, and He cares for them. A child is ready from the moment of his or her birth to feel the love of God, they are ready for it. As soon as it is able to feel that it is loved, a child knows that there is a God who loves children.
As soon as they are born, children begin to receive a gift, along with the nourishment and the care, confirmation of the spiritual qualities of love. Acts of love begin with a personal name, and continue with the sharing of language, the intentions of looks and glances, the illumination of smiles. This is how they learn that the bond shared by human beings points toward our souls, seeking our freedom, accepting the diversity of others, recognizing them and respecting them as interlocutors. A second miracle, a second promise: we - dad and mom - give ourselves to you, so that you can give yourself to you! This is love, which includes a spark of God that is given to children, you are instruments of the love of God and this is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
Only if we look at children through the eyes of God, are we able to truly understand how they help us to defend family and to protect humanity! The child's point of view is that of a Child of God. The Church herself, at Baptism, makes great promises to children, through committed parents and the Christian community. The holy Mother of Jesus - through whom the Son of God was born among us, loved and created as a child - makes the Church capable of following in the ways of her maternity and her faith. And may Saint Joseph - the just man, who welcomed and protected them, who courageously honoured the blessing and the promise of God - make us all worthy and capable of welcoming Jesus in every child that God places on the earth.
The above catechesis was then repeated in synthesis in various languages, and the Holy Father offered greetings to each group of pilgrims that was 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, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, Papua New Guinea, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Canada and the United States of America. I ask you to pray for the Synod on the Family, and to be witnesses of God’s presence in the world through your family life. God bless you all!
Lastly, when greetings had been offered to all groups in attendance, the Holy Father made the following appeal:
Next Saturday, October 17, we will observe the World Day of Combatting Suffering. This day is intended to increase our strengths in order to eliminate extreme poverty and discrimination, and to ensure that every person can fully exercise his or her own fundamental rights. We are all invited to pray for this intention, so that Christ's charity might be known by the poorest and the most abandoned of our brothers and sisters, and that they may be raised up by its promise.
Before making his way to Saint Peter's Square, at 9:00am, the Pope met with the sick and disabled who were gathered in the Paul VI Hall.
The Pope continued his meditation on the theme of the family, speaking today about promises made to children (Mt 18:7-8, 10).
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed greetings to the various groups of the faithful who were present. He then made an appeal on the occasion of the World Day of Combatting Suffering which will be observed this coming Saturday, October 17.
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! Today, the weather is a bit uncertain and they are calling for rain, so this audience is taking place simultaneously in two places: we are here in the Square and there are 700 sick people in the Paul VI Hall who are following the audience on a large screen. We are all united; let us greet them now with some applause.
Jesus' words today are strong: Woe to those who bring about scandal. Jesus is realistic; he says: It is inevitable that scandals will arise, but woe to those who cause scandals. Before beginning today's catechesis, in the name of the Church, I want to ask pardon for the scandals that have come about here in Rome and at the Vatican in recent times: we ask your forgiveness.
Today, we reflect on a very important argument: the promise that children are. I am not talking about promises that are made here and there, during a given day, so that they can be content or good (perhaps with innocent trickery: by giving them candy or similar promises ...), to persuade them to get involved at their schools or in order to dissuade them from some other whim. I am speaking about other promises, more important promises, important promises that affect their expectations about life, their ability to trust in other human beings, their capacity to perceive God's name as a blessing. These are promises that we make to them.
We adults are ready to speak to children about the promises of life. We all say: children are a promise of life ... and it is also easy to touch our hearts, by telling us that young people are our future; this is true. But I sometimes wonder, if we are just as serious about their future, the future of children and the future of the young! Another question that we should ask ourselves more often is this: in what way are we loyal to the promises we make to children, by bringing them into the world? We bring them into the world, and this is a promise, what do we promise to them?
Welcome and care, closeness and attention, trust and hope, are all basic promises, that can be summed up in one promise: love. We promise love, that is to say love that is expressed in welcome, in care, in closeness, in attention, in trust and in hope, but the greatest promise is love. This is the best way to welcome a human being who comes into the world, and we can all learn this, even before we are conscious of it. I am so happy when I see a father and a mother, as I'm passing through crowds, holding their children, little children and I ask them: How old is your child? - Three weeks, four weeks ... I ask for the Lord's blessing. This is also an act of love. Love is the promise that man and woman make to every child: from the moment that they are conceived in our thoughts. Children come into the world and await the confirmation of this promise: they await it in all its fullness, trustingly, defencelessly. All we have to do is look at them: in every ethnicity, in every culture, in every condition of life! When the contrary happens, children are wounded by scandal, by unbearable scandal, all the more serious because they do not have the means to understand it. They cannot understand what has happened. God watches over this promise, from the very first instant. Do you remember what Jesus says? The children's angels reflect God's gaze and God never loses sight of the faces of children (cf Mt 18:10). Woe to those who betray their trust! They place their trust in our promise, that commits us from the very first moment, that judges us.
And I want to add another thing, with much respect for everyone, but also in a very frank way. Their spontaneous trust in God should never be injured, especially when it happens because of a certain presumption (more or less unconscious) to replace His importance with ours. The tender and mysterious relationship between God and the souls of children should never be violated. It is a real relationship that is the will of God, and He cares for them. A child is ready from the moment of his or her birth to feel the love of God, they are ready for it. As soon as it is able to feel that it is loved, a child knows that there is a God who loves children.
As soon as they are born, children begin to receive a gift, along with the nourishment and the care, confirmation of the spiritual qualities of love. Acts of love begin with a personal name, and continue with the sharing of language, the intentions of looks and glances, the illumination of smiles. This is how they learn that the bond shared by human beings points toward our souls, seeking our freedom, accepting the diversity of others, recognizing them and respecting them as interlocutors. A second miracle, a second promise: we - dad and mom - give ourselves to you, so that you can give yourself to you! This is love, which includes a spark of God that is given to children, you are instruments of the love of God and this is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
Only if we look at children through the eyes of God, are we able to truly understand how they help us to defend family and to protect humanity! The child's point of view is that of a Child of God. The Church herself, at Baptism, makes great promises to children, through committed parents and the Christian community. The holy Mother of Jesus - through whom the Son of God was born among us, loved and created as a child - makes the Church capable of following in the ways of her maternity and her faith. And may Saint Joseph - the just man, who welcomed and protected them, who courageously honoured the blessing and the promise of God - make us all worthy and capable of welcoming Jesus in every child that God places on the earth.
The above catechesis was then repeated in synthesis in various languages, and the Holy Father offered greetings to each group of pilgrims that was 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, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, Papua New Guinea, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Canada and the United States of America. I ask you to pray for the Synod on the Family, and to be witnesses of God’s presence in the world through your family life. God bless you all!
Lastly, when greetings had been offered to all groups in attendance, the Holy Father made the following appeal:
Next Saturday, October 17, we will observe the World Day of Combatting Suffering. This day is intended to increase our strengths in order to eliminate extreme poverty and discrimination, and to ensure that every person can fully exercise his or her own fundamental rights. We are all invited to pray for this intention, so that Christ's charity might be known by the poorest and the most abandoned of our brothers and sisters, and that they may be raised up by its promise.
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