At 10:00am today in Rome, in Saint Peter's Square, the sixth Jubilee Audience was held, a series of meetings which Pope Francis established during the Holy Year so that he could meet with pilgrims and the faithful who are in Rome to celebrate the Year of Mercy.
Before the audience, the Pope greeted a group of the sick in the Paul VI Hall, where they were sheltered because of bad weather.
In his speech, the Pope added a meditation on piety - an essential aspect of mercy (cf Timothy 2:11-13).
Following the customary summaries of his catechesis presented in various languages, the Holy Father addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The Jubilee Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning! The weather is not good, it's raining, but you are brave; you have come even with the rain. Thank you! This audience is taking place in two places: those who are sick are in the Paul VI Hall, because of the rain: they are more comfortable there and are following us on the jumbo-tron; and we are here. We are united, we and they, and we will try to greet them with our applause. It is not easy to applaud when we are holding umbrellas in our hands!
Among the many aspects of mercy, there is one that consists of experiencing pity for those who are in need of love. Piety - pity - is a concept that was presence in the Greco-Roman world, but there is signified an act of submission to superiors: first, the devotion shown toward gods, then the respect of children toward their parents, especially the elderly. Today however, we need to be careful not to identify piety with pietism, which is fairly widespread, merely a superficial emotion that offends the dignity of others. Similarly, piety should not be confused with the compassion we feel for animals who live with us; in fact, it happens at times that we feel these sentiments toward animals, and still we remain indifferent to the suffering of our brothers. How many times do we see people who are so attached to their cats, to their dogs, and yet they leave their neighbour without help, the neighbour who is in need ... This is not good.
Piety, which we want to speak about, is a manifestation of God's mercy. It is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that the Lord offers to his disciples in order to make them docile in obedience to divine inspiration (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1830). The gospels speak many times about the spontaneous groaning that those who are sick, possessed, poor and afflicted call out to Jesus: Have pity (cf Mk 10:47-48; Mt 15:22; 17:15). To all of them, Jesus would respond with a look of mercy and the comfort of his presence. In such invocations for help or requests for pity, each one also expressed his faith in Jesus, calling out to him: Master, Son of David and Lord. They sensed that in Him there was something extraordinary, that he could help them to overcome the conditions of sadness in which they found themselves. In Him, they perceived the love of God himself. Even if the crowd was thronging around him, Jesus was aware of these pious invocations and had pity, above all when he saw people who were suffering, whose dignity was wounded, as was the case of the hemorrhaging woman (cf Mk 5:32). He called them to trust in Him and in his Word (cf Jn 6:48-55). For Jesus, feeling pity was equivalent with sharing in the sadness that he encountered, but at the same time, it meant that he could work in the person to transform these sentiments into joy.
We too are called to cultivate an attitude of piety in many life situations, and to shake off the indifference that impedes us from recognizing the needs of our brothers and sisters that surround us, and instead seek to free ourselves from slavery to material goods (cf 1 Tim 6:3-8).
Let us look to the example of the Virgin Mary, who takes care of each of her children and is for us believers an icon of piety. Dante Alighieri expresses this truth in a prayer to Our Lady which he wrote at the culmination of Paradise: In you there is mercy, in you there is piety ... in you there is whatever there can be of goodness in every creature (XXXIII, 19-21). Thank you.
This catechesis was then summarized in various languages, and the Holy Father offered particular 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, particularly those from England and the Philippines. In the joy of the Risen Lord, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our Father. May the Lord bless you all!
Before the audience, the Pope greeted a group of the sick in the Paul VI Hall, where they were sheltered because of bad weather.
In his speech, the Pope added a meditation on piety - an essential aspect of mercy (cf Timothy 2:11-13).
Following the customary summaries of his catechesis presented in various languages, the Holy Father addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The Jubilee Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Catechesis of His Holiness, Pope Francis
for the Jubilee Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning! The weather is not good, it's raining, but you are brave; you have come even with the rain. Thank you! This audience is taking place in two places: those who are sick are in the Paul VI Hall, because of the rain: they are more comfortable there and are following us on the jumbo-tron; and we are here. We are united, we and they, and we will try to greet them with our applause. It is not easy to applaud when we are holding umbrellas in our hands!
Among the many aspects of mercy, there is one that consists of experiencing pity for those who are in need of love. Piety - pity - is a concept that was presence in the Greco-Roman world, but there is signified an act of submission to superiors: first, the devotion shown toward gods, then the respect of children toward their parents, especially the elderly. Today however, we need to be careful not to identify piety with pietism, which is fairly widespread, merely a superficial emotion that offends the dignity of others. Similarly, piety should not be confused with the compassion we feel for animals who live with us; in fact, it happens at times that we feel these sentiments toward animals, and still we remain indifferent to the suffering of our brothers. How many times do we see people who are so attached to their cats, to their dogs, and yet they leave their neighbour without help, the neighbour who is in need ... This is not good.
Piety, which we want to speak about, is a manifestation of God's mercy. It is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that the Lord offers to his disciples in order to make them docile in obedience to divine inspiration (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1830). The gospels speak many times about the spontaneous groaning that those who are sick, possessed, poor and afflicted call out to Jesus: Have pity (cf Mk 10:47-48; Mt 15:22; 17:15). To all of them, Jesus would respond with a look of mercy and the comfort of his presence. In such invocations for help or requests for pity, each one also expressed his faith in Jesus, calling out to him: Master, Son of David and Lord. They sensed that in Him there was something extraordinary, that he could help them to overcome the conditions of sadness in which they found themselves. In Him, they perceived the love of God himself. Even if the crowd was thronging around him, Jesus was aware of these pious invocations and had pity, above all when he saw people who were suffering, whose dignity was wounded, as was the case of the hemorrhaging woman (cf Mk 5:32). He called them to trust in Him and in his Word (cf Jn 6:48-55). For Jesus, feeling pity was equivalent with sharing in the sadness that he encountered, but at the same time, it meant that he could work in the person to transform these sentiments into joy.
We too are called to cultivate an attitude of piety in many life situations, and to shake off the indifference that impedes us from recognizing the needs of our brothers and sisters that surround us, and instead seek to free ourselves from slavery to material goods (cf 1 Tim 6:3-8).
Let us look to the example of the Virgin Mary, who takes care of each of her children and is for us believers an icon of piety. Dante Alighieri expresses this truth in a prayer to Our Lady which he wrote at the culmination of Paradise: In you there is mercy, in you there is piety ... in you there is whatever there can be of goodness in every creature (XXXIII, 19-21). Thank you.
This catechesis was then summarized in various languages, and the Holy Father offered particular 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, particularly those from England and the Philippines. In the joy of the Risen Lord, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our Father. May the Lord bless you all!
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