This morning's General Audience began at 9:40am in Saint Peter's Square. The Holy Father, Pope Francis met there 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, the Pope met with various groups of the sick and disabled in the Paul VI Hall.
Dear friends,
I offer a warm welcome to the group from the “Deaf Catholic Youth Initiative of the Americas”. I pray that your pilgrimage – “A Time to Walk with Jesus” – will help you to grow in love for Christ and for one another. The Lord has a special place in his heart for those with any kind of disability, and so does the Successor of Saint Peter! I hope that your time in Rome will be spiritually enriching and strengthen your witness to God’s love for all his children. As you continue your journey, I ask you please remember to pray for me. May Almighty God richly bless you all!
The Holy Father also offered greetings to a group of Special Olympians who were in attendance at this morning's Audience. His Holiness said:
I extend a special welcome to the delegation from the Special Olympics organization on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. The world of sport offers a particular opportunity for people to grow in mutual understanding and friendship, and I pray that this Olympic Flame may be a sign of joy and hope in the Lord who bestows the gifts unity and peace on his children. Upon all who support the aims of the Special Olympics, I willingly invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace.
In his speech (delivered in Saint Peter's Square), the Pope continued the new cycle of catechesis on the Commandments, adding a meditation on the theme: The love of God precedes the law and gives it meaning (Inspired by the biblical passage taken from the Book of Deuteronomy 4:32-35).
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, this audience is taking place as it did last Wednesday. In the Paul VI Hall, there are many sick people and to protect them from the heat, so that they can be more comfortable, they are gathered there. But they are following the audience on the jumbotrons and, we too are with them so that there are not two audiences: only one. Let us greet all the sick in the Paul VI Hall.
And let us continue to speak about the commandments that, as we have said, are more than commandments; are the words of God to help his people to walk well. They are loving words of a Father. The Ten Words begin like this: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the condition of slavery (Exodus 20: 2). This beginning would seem extraneous to the actual laws that follow. But it is not.
Why does God make this proclamation about himself and about freedom? Because we reached Mount Sinai after crossing the Red Sea: the God of Israel first saved, then asked us to trust him*. That is: the Decalogue begins with the generosity of God. God never asks without giving first. Never. First save, first give, then ask. This is our Father, our good God.
We understand the importance of the first declaration: I am the Lord your God. There is a possessive, there is a relationship, one belongs to the other. God is not a stranger: he is your God**. This enlightens the whole Decalogue and also reveals the secret of Christian action, because it is the same attitude of Jesus who says: As the Father has loved me, I have loved you (Jn 15: 9). Christ is loved by the Father and loves us with that love. He does not start with himself but with the Father. Often, our efforts fail because we start out being focused on ourselves and not on gratitude. And who starts from himself, where does he get to? He gets to himself! He is incapable of making his way back by himself. It is precisely that selfish attitude that, joking, people say: That person is an I, me with me, and for me. He comes out of himself and returns to himself.
The Christian life is above all the grateful response to a generous Father. Christians who follow only duties report that they do not have a personal experience of that God who is our God. I have to do this, this, this ... only duties. But you're missing something! What is the foundation of this duty? The foundation of this duty is the love of God the Father, who first gives, then commands. Putting the law before the relationship does not help the journey of faith. How can a young person desire to be a Christian, if we start from obligations, commitments, coherences and not from liberation? But being a Christian is a journey of liberation! The commandments free us from our selfishness and free us because there is the love of God that carries us forward. Christian formation is not based on willpower, but on the acceptance of salvation, on letting ourselves be loved: first the Red Sea, then Mount Sinai. Salvation first: God saves his people in the Red Sea; then in Sinai he tells us what we must do. But that people know that these things are done because they have been saved by a Father who loves them.
Gratitude is a characteristic trait of the heart that has been visited by the Holy Spirit; to obey God we must first remember his goodness. Saint Basil says: Whoever does not let those benefits fall into oblivion, is oriented towards good virtue and to every work of justice (Short Rules, 56). Where does all this bring us? To exercise memory***: how many beautiful things God has done for each of us! How generous is our Heavenly Father! Now I would like to offer you a little exercise, in silence, everyone answer in his heart. How many beautiful things has God done for me? This is the question. In silence, each of us can answer. How many beautiful things has God done for me? And this is the freedom of God. God does many beautiful things and frees us.
Yet someone might feel that he has not yet had a true experience of the freedom of God. This can happen. It could be that we look inward and find only a sense of duty, a spirituality of servants and not of children. What can we do in this case? As the chosen people did. The Book of Exodus says: The Israelites groaned for their slavery, they cried out wailing and their cry from slavery ascended to God. God listened to their lament, God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked at the condition of the Israelites, God thought about them (Ex 2,23-25). God thinks about me.
The liberating action of God placed at the beginning of the Decalogue - that is, of the commandments - is the answer to this lamentation. We do not save ourselves, but we can cry out for help: Lord save me, Lord teach me the way, Lord caress me, Lord give me a little joy. This is a cry asking for help. This is up to us: to ask to be freed from selfishness, from sin, from the chains of slavery. This cry is important, it is prayer, it is consciousness of what is still oppressed and not liberated in us. There are many things not liberated in our souls. Save me, help me, free me. This is a beautiful prayer to the Lord. God waits for our cry, because he can and wants to break our chains; God has not called us to life in order to remain oppressed, but to be free and to live in gratitude, obeying with joy the One who has given us so much, infinitely more than we can ever give to Him. This is beautiful. May God be always blessed for all he has done, all that he does and all that he will do in us!
* In the rabbinical tradition there is an illuminating text on the subject: Why were the 10 words not proclaimed at the beginning of the Torah? ... What can you compare to? To a man who, assuming the government of a city, asked the inhabitants: 'May I reign over you?'. But they answered: 'What have you done us good for you to claim to reign over us?'. So, what did he do? He built them defensive walls and a channel to supply the city with water; then he fought wars for them. And when he asked again: 'May I reign over you?', They replied: 'Yes, yes'. So the Place brought Israel out of Egypt, divided the sea for them, sent the manna down to them and climbed the water of the well, brought them flying quails and finally fought for them the war against Amaleq. And when he asked them, 'May I reign over you?', They replied: 'Yes, yes' (The gift of the Torah, Commentary on the Decalogue on Ex 20 in the Mekilta by R. Ishamael, Rome 1982, p.49).
** cf Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus caritas est, 17: The love-story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God's will increasingly coincide: God's will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will, based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself. Then self- abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy.
*** cf Homily for the Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, 7 October 2014: What does it mean to pray? It is a matter of remembering our history before God. Because our history is the story of his love for us. cf Words and Deeds of the Desert Fathers, 1975, p. 71: Oblivion is the root of all evil.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized and translated into various languages, and after each summary, the Holy Father offered greetings to those who were in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims who were in the Square and in the Paul VI Hall, His Holiness said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Greece, Australia, China, Vietnam and the United States of America. I also welcome the delegation from the NATO Defense College, with prayerful good wishes for their service to the cause of peace. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!
To Francophones, he said:
Je suis heureux de saluer les pèlerins venus de France et de divers pays francophones. Je forme le vœu que cette période estivale qui commence soit l’occasion pour chacun d’approfondir sa relation personnelle avec Dieu afin de le suivre plus librement sur la voie de ses commandements. Que Dieu vous bénisse!
I am happy to greet the pilgrims who have come from France ad from various other francophone countries. I hope that this summer period which is only just beginning will be an occasion for each of you to deepen your personal relationship with God so that you will be able to follow the path of his Commandments more freely. May God bless you!
Before making his way to Saint Peter's Square, the Pope met with various groups of the sick and disabled in the Paul VI Hall.
Greetings of His Holiness, Pope Francis
addressed to the sick and disabled
inside the Paul VI Hall
Dear friends,
I offer a warm welcome to the group from the “Deaf Catholic Youth Initiative of the Americas”. I pray that your pilgrimage – “A Time to Walk with Jesus” – will help you to grow in love for Christ and for one another. The Lord has a special place in his heart for those with any kind of disability, and so does the Successor of Saint Peter! I hope that your time in Rome will be spiritually enriching and strengthen your witness to God’s love for all his children. As you continue your journey, I ask you please remember to pray for me. May Almighty God richly bless you all!
The Holy Father also offered greetings to a group of Special Olympians who were in attendance at this morning's Audience. His Holiness said:
I extend a special welcome to the delegation from the Special Olympics organization on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. The world of sport offers a particular opportunity for people to grow in mutual understanding and friendship, and I pray that this Olympic Flame may be a sign of joy and hope in the Lord who bestows the gifts unity and peace on his children. Upon all who support the aims of the Special Olympics, I willingly invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace.
In his speech (delivered in Saint Peter's Square), the Pope continued the new cycle of catechesis on the Commandments, adding a meditation on the theme: The love of God precedes the law and gives it meaning (Inspired by the biblical passage taken from the Book of Deuteronomy 4:32-35).
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
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, this audience is taking place as it did last Wednesday. In the Paul VI Hall, there are many sick people and to protect them from the heat, so that they can be more comfortable, they are gathered there. But they are following the audience on the jumbotrons and, we too are with them so that there are not two audiences: only one. Let us greet all the sick in the Paul VI Hall.
And let us continue to speak about the commandments that, as we have said, are more than commandments; are the words of God to help his people to walk well. They are loving words of a Father. The Ten Words begin like this: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the condition of slavery (Exodus 20: 2). This beginning would seem extraneous to the actual laws that follow. But it is not.
Why does God make this proclamation about himself and about freedom? Because we reached Mount Sinai after crossing the Red Sea: the God of Israel first saved, then asked us to trust him*. That is: the Decalogue begins with the generosity of God. God never asks without giving first. Never. First save, first give, then ask. This is our Father, our good God.
We understand the importance of the first declaration: I am the Lord your God. There is a possessive, there is a relationship, one belongs to the other. God is not a stranger: he is your God**. This enlightens the whole Decalogue and also reveals the secret of Christian action, because it is the same attitude of Jesus who says: As the Father has loved me, I have loved you (Jn 15: 9). Christ is loved by the Father and loves us with that love. He does not start with himself but with the Father. Often, our efforts fail because we start out being focused on ourselves and not on gratitude. And who starts from himself, where does he get to? He gets to himself! He is incapable of making his way back by himself. It is precisely that selfish attitude that, joking, people say: That person is an I, me with me, and for me. He comes out of himself and returns to himself.
The Christian life is above all the grateful response to a generous Father. Christians who follow only duties report that they do not have a personal experience of that God who is our God. I have to do this, this, this ... only duties. But you're missing something! What is the foundation of this duty? The foundation of this duty is the love of God the Father, who first gives, then commands. Putting the law before the relationship does not help the journey of faith. How can a young person desire to be a Christian, if we start from obligations, commitments, coherences and not from liberation? But being a Christian is a journey of liberation! The commandments free us from our selfishness and free us because there is the love of God that carries us forward. Christian formation is not based on willpower, but on the acceptance of salvation, on letting ourselves be loved: first the Red Sea, then Mount Sinai. Salvation first: God saves his people in the Red Sea; then in Sinai he tells us what we must do. But that people know that these things are done because they have been saved by a Father who loves them.
Gratitude is a characteristic trait of the heart that has been visited by the Holy Spirit; to obey God we must first remember his goodness. Saint Basil says: Whoever does not let those benefits fall into oblivion, is oriented towards good virtue and to every work of justice (Short Rules, 56). Where does all this bring us? To exercise memory***: how many beautiful things God has done for each of us! How generous is our Heavenly Father! Now I would like to offer you a little exercise, in silence, everyone answer in his heart. How many beautiful things has God done for me? This is the question. In silence, each of us can answer. How many beautiful things has God done for me? And this is the freedom of God. God does many beautiful things and frees us.
Yet someone might feel that he has not yet had a true experience of the freedom of God. This can happen. It could be that we look inward and find only a sense of duty, a spirituality of servants and not of children. What can we do in this case? As the chosen people did. The Book of Exodus says: The Israelites groaned for their slavery, they cried out wailing and their cry from slavery ascended to God. God listened to their lament, God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked at the condition of the Israelites, God thought about them (Ex 2,23-25). God thinks about me.
The liberating action of God placed at the beginning of the Decalogue - that is, of the commandments - is the answer to this lamentation. We do not save ourselves, but we can cry out for help: Lord save me, Lord teach me the way, Lord caress me, Lord give me a little joy. This is a cry asking for help. This is up to us: to ask to be freed from selfishness, from sin, from the chains of slavery. This cry is important, it is prayer, it is consciousness of what is still oppressed and not liberated in us. There are many things not liberated in our souls. Save me, help me, free me. This is a beautiful prayer to the Lord. God waits for our cry, because he can and wants to break our chains; God has not called us to life in order to remain oppressed, but to be free and to live in gratitude, obeying with joy the One who has given us so much, infinitely more than we can ever give to Him. This is beautiful. May God be always blessed for all he has done, all that he does and all that he will do in us!
* In the rabbinical tradition there is an illuminating text on the subject: Why were the 10 words not proclaimed at the beginning of the Torah? ... What can you compare to? To a man who, assuming the government of a city, asked the inhabitants: 'May I reign over you?'. But they answered: 'What have you done us good for you to claim to reign over us?'. So, what did he do? He built them defensive walls and a channel to supply the city with water; then he fought wars for them. And when he asked again: 'May I reign over you?', They replied: 'Yes, yes'. So the Place brought Israel out of Egypt, divided the sea for them, sent the manna down to them and climbed the water of the well, brought them flying quails and finally fought for them the war against Amaleq. And when he asked them, 'May I reign over you?', They replied: 'Yes, yes' (The gift of the Torah, Commentary on the Decalogue on Ex 20 in the Mekilta by R. Ishamael, Rome 1982, p.49).
** cf Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus caritas est, 17: The love-story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God's will increasingly coincide: God's will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will, based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself. Then self- abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy.
*** cf Homily for the Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, 7 October 2014: What does it mean to pray? It is a matter of remembering our history before God. Because our history is the story of his love for us. cf Words and Deeds of the Desert Fathers, 1975, p. 71: Oblivion is the root of all evil.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized and translated into various languages, and after each summary, the Holy Father offered greetings to those who were in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims who were in the Square and in the Paul VI Hall, His Holiness said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Greece, Australia, China, Vietnam and the United States of America. I also welcome the delegation from the NATO Defense College, with prayerful good wishes for their service to the cause of peace. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!
To Francophones, he said:
Je suis heureux de saluer les pèlerins venus de France et de divers pays francophones. Je forme le vœu que cette période estivale qui commence soit l’occasion pour chacun d’approfondir sa relation personnelle avec Dieu afin de le suivre plus librement sur la voie de ses commandements. Que Dieu vous bénisse!
I am happy to greet the pilgrims who have come from France ad from various other francophone countries. I hope that this summer period which is only just beginning will be an occasion for each of you to deepen your personal relationship with God so that you will be able to follow the path of his Commandments more freely. May God bless you!
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