At noon today, in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in Audience a group of people participating in the pilgrimage of the Guanellian Family.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I thank you for the words you have addressed to me. Not only have you presented me with your work, but in a sense, you have also welcomed me into your family. Today, you are observing an important solemnity: you are celebrating the Mother of Divine Providence, who is your partroness, and above all, she is a Mother for your family, as was the desire of Saint Luigi Guanella.
You have just celebrated the first centenary of his birth into heaven. I want to try to imagine what he might tell you to confirm you in your faith, in hope and in charity. Certainly, he would do it with straightforward simplicity and sincerity; and thus I have thought of three concrete verbs: to trust, to look and haste.
To trust. The life of Father Guandella had at its centre the certitude that God is a merciful and providing Father. For him, his was the heart of faith: to know that he was a beloved son, that the Father would always take care of him, and that he was a brother to all, called to instil confidence. God is our father; he cannot not love us. Nor is he able to stay away from his children. If we are distant from Him, he will always wait for us; when we draw near to him, we are always embraced; if we fall, he will always pick us up; if we are sorry, he will always forgive us. He always wants to meet us. Saint Luigi believed so deeply in the concrete providential love of the Father; he believed that we can find the courage to surpass the limits of human prudence, even to put the Gospel into practice. For him, Providence was not poetry, but a reality. God cares for us and wants us to trust Him.
I think that the heavenly Father is very sad when he sees that his children do not put their trust in Him: believing rather in a far-away God, more than in a merciful Father. In many cases, doubts may also arrise that God, though he is Father, is also a master. So it may seem better not to place all our trust in him, for he might ask something that is too challenging or perhaps he might send us a test. But this is a great deception: the ancient deception of the enemy of God and of man, who hides reality and disguises good and evil. This is the first temptation: to distance ourselves from God, to be intimidated by suspicions that his paternity might not truly be providential and good. However God is only love, pure providential love. He loves us more than we love ourselves and knows what is truly good for us. For this reason, his desire is that during our lifetime, we might become what we already are at the moment of our Baptism: beloved children, who are able to overcome fear and not fall into lament, because the Father will always take care of us. Are you convinced of this?
The second verb is to look. Our Father, the creator also supports the creativity of each of us who live as his children. Therefore, we learn to look at the world through new eyes, made brighter because of love and hope. These are eyes that allow us to look within with truth and to see a far distance with charity. To this sight, others do not appear as obstacles to be overcome, but as brothers and sisters to be welcomed. It turns out, as Father Guanella said, that love of our neighbour is the comfort of life.
In the world, we are always surrounded by problems and in our times, we have unfortunately discovered new forms of poverty and many injustices, but the greatest famine is that of charity: there are many people whose eyes are renewed by love and looks that instil hope. For love will help us to discover ways and words to comfort those who are weak, said your founder.
Sometimes our spiritual vision is myopic, because we cannot see beyond our own egos. At other times, we are perceptive: happy to help those who are distanced, but not capable of stooping down to those who are right beside us. Sometimes, however, we prefer to close our eyes, because we are tired, overcome with pessimism. Father Guanella, who would often suggest that people look to Jesus from the heart, invites us to have the same look as the Father: a look that instils hope and joy, capable at the same time of providing a true sense of compassion for those who suffer.
Finally, .haste. The poor are the beloved children of the Father, Saint Luigi would say, who loved repeatedly: whoever gives to the poor, lends to God. Just as the Father is delicate and concrete toward smaller and weaker children, so also we cannot make our brothers and sisters in difficulty wait, because - these are the words of Father Guanella - suffering cannot wait. And we cannot stop as long as there are poor people who need our help! The Madonna hastened to reach her cousin Elizabeth (cf Lk 1:39). We too hear the invitation of the Spirit to go out immediately to meet those who are in need of our care and our affection, for, as Saint Luigi used to teach: a Christian heart is one that believes and that feels it cannot pass by the seriously impoverished condition of the poor without lending a helping hand.
Your family is a kind of trust in the Father, under the gaze of Jesus and in the maternal hands of Mary. I thank you for the good that you do and I encourage you to continue, never tiring. I willingly bless you all, and I ask you all to please pray for me. Don't forget!
Now, I invite you to pray to Our Lady. Hail Mary ...
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to members of the Guandellian Family
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I thank you for the words you have addressed to me. Not only have you presented me with your work, but in a sense, you have also welcomed me into your family. Today, you are observing an important solemnity: you are celebrating the Mother of Divine Providence, who is your partroness, and above all, she is a Mother for your family, as was the desire of Saint Luigi Guanella.
You have just celebrated the first centenary of his birth into heaven. I want to try to imagine what he might tell you to confirm you in your faith, in hope and in charity. Certainly, he would do it with straightforward simplicity and sincerity; and thus I have thought of three concrete verbs: to trust, to look and haste.
To trust. The life of Father Guandella had at its centre the certitude that God is a merciful and providing Father. For him, his was the heart of faith: to know that he was a beloved son, that the Father would always take care of him, and that he was a brother to all, called to instil confidence. God is our father; he cannot not love us. Nor is he able to stay away from his children. If we are distant from Him, he will always wait for us; when we draw near to him, we are always embraced; if we fall, he will always pick us up; if we are sorry, he will always forgive us. He always wants to meet us. Saint Luigi believed so deeply in the concrete providential love of the Father; he believed that we can find the courage to surpass the limits of human prudence, even to put the Gospel into practice. For him, Providence was not poetry, but a reality. God cares for us and wants us to trust Him.
I think that the heavenly Father is very sad when he sees that his children do not put their trust in Him: believing rather in a far-away God, more than in a merciful Father. In many cases, doubts may also arrise that God, though he is Father, is also a master. So it may seem better not to place all our trust in him, for he might ask something that is too challenging or perhaps he might send us a test. But this is a great deception: the ancient deception of the enemy of God and of man, who hides reality and disguises good and evil. This is the first temptation: to distance ourselves from God, to be intimidated by suspicions that his paternity might not truly be providential and good. However God is only love, pure providential love. He loves us more than we love ourselves and knows what is truly good for us. For this reason, his desire is that during our lifetime, we might become what we already are at the moment of our Baptism: beloved children, who are able to overcome fear and not fall into lament, because the Father will always take care of us. Are you convinced of this?
The second verb is to look. Our Father, the creator also supports the creativity of each of us who live as his children. Therefore, we learn to look at the world through new eyes, made brighter because of love and hope. These are eyes that allow us to look within with truth and to see a far distance with charity. To this sight, others do not appear as obstacles to be overcome, but as brothers and sisters to be welcomed. It turns out, as Father Guanella said, that love of our neighbour is the comfort of life.
In the world, we are always surrounded by problems and in our times, we have unfortunately discovered new forms of poverty and many injustices, but the greatest famine is that of charity: there are many people whose eyes are renewed by love and looks that instil hope. For love will help us to discover ways and words to comfort those who are weak, said your founder.
Sometimes our spiritual vision is myopic, because we cannot see beyond our own egos. At other times, we are perceptive: happy to help those who are distanced, but not capable of stooping down to those who are right beside us. Sometimes, however, we prefer to close our eyes, because we are tired, overcome with pessimism. Father Guanella, who would often suggest that people look to Jesus from the heart, invites us to have the same look as the Father: a look that instils hope and joy, capable at the same time of providing a true sense of compassion for those who suffer.
Finally, .haste. The poor are the beloved children of the Father, Saint Luigi would say, who loved repeatedly: whoever gives to the poor, lends to God. Just as the Father is delicate and concrete toward smaller and weaker children, so also we cannot make our brothers and sisters in difficulty wait, because - these are the words of Father Guanella - suffering cannot wait. And we cannot stop as long as there are poor people who need our help! The Madonna hastened to reach her cousin Elizabeth (cf Lk 1:39). We too hear the invitation of the Spirit to go out immediately to meet those who are in need of our care and our affection, for, as Saint Luigi used to teach: a Christian heart is one that believes and that feels it cannot pass by the seriously impoverished condition of the poor without lending a helping hand.
Your family is a kind of trust in the Father, under the gaze of Jesus and in the maternal hands of Mary. I thank you for the good that you do and I encourage you to continue, never tiring. I willingly bless you all, and I ask you all to please pray for me. Don't forget!
Now, I invite you to pray to Our Lady. Hail Mary ...
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