At noon today in Rome (6:00am EDT), the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
This Sunday's gospel (cf Mk 10:2-16) offers us a word from Jesus on the subject of marriage. The story begins with the provocation of the Pharisees who ask Jesus if it is lawful for a husband to divorce his wife, as was provided for by the law of Moses (cf Mk 10:2-4). Above all, Jesus - with the wisdom and authority that come to him from the Father - downsizes the Mosaic prescription by saying: It was because of the hardness of your heart that he - that is, the ancient legislator - wrote this rule for you (Mk 10:5). This is a concession that serves to buffer the flaws produced by our egoism, but it does not correspond to the original intention of the Creator.
And here Jesus turns to the Book of Genesis: From the beginning of creation (God) made them male and female; for this reason the man will leave his father and his mother and will join his wife and the two will become one flesh (Mk 10:6-7). And he concludes: Therefore man must not divide what God has joined (Mk 10:9). In the original work of Creation, there is no man who marries a woman and, if things do not go well, he repudiates her. No. Instead, there is the man and the woman called to recognize each other, to complete one another, to help each other in marriage.
This teaching of Jesus is very clear; it defends the dignity of marriage, as a union of love that implies fidelity. What allows married couples to remain united in marriage is a love of mutual self-giving that is sustained by the grace of Christ. If, on the other hand, individual interests and satisfaction prevail in the spouses, then their union will not endure.
And this same Gospel passage reminds us, with great realism, that man and woman, who are called to live the experience of relationship and love, can painfully make gestures that put them in crisis. Jesus does not admit all that can lead to the sinking of a relationship. He does this to confirm the plan of God, in which the strength and beauty of human relationships stand out. On the one hand, the Church does not tire of confirming the beauty of the family as these are given to us by Scripture and Tradition; at the same time, he strives to make his maternal closeness felt concretely to those who live the experience of broken relationships or who carry on in a painful and tiring way.
God's way of acting with unfaithful people - that is, with us - teaches us that wounded love can be healed by God through mercy and forgiveness. Therefore, in these situations, the Church is not immediately referred to or sought out; it is only seen as condemning. On the contrary, faced with so many painful marital failures, she feels called to live her presence of love, of charity and mercy, to bring every wounded and lost heart back to God.
Let us call upon the Virgin Mary, asking her to help spouses to always live and to renew their union, beginning with the original gift of God.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters!
Today, on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I offer a special greeting to the faithful who are gathered at the Shrine in Pompeii for the tradition Supplication, presided over on this occasion by Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Syria. I renew my invitation to all people to pray the Rosary every day during the month of October, concluding our recitation with the antiphon: Under your protection and with the prayer to Saint Michael, the Archangel, to defend us against the attacks of the devil who is seeking to divide the Church.
Next Saturday, here in Rome, we will observe the first Day of the Catacombs. Many sites will be open to the public, with with educational workshops and cultural events. I thank the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology for this initiative and wish all the best for that Commission.
With affection, I greet all of you, Romans and pilgrims alike, especially the families and parish groups from Italy and from various other parts of the world. I greet the Greek-Catholic pilgrims from Slovakia, the faithful from Poznan and from Fortaleza (Brazil); the grandmothers from Malta and the students from Neuilly (France) and the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres who are here from Australia.
I greet the pilgrimage organized by the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the Calliope choir from Gussago (Brescia), the young people who are members of Gioventù Studentesca from Lazio and the faithful from Abbiategrasso.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
This Sunday's gospel (cf Mk 10:2-16) offers us a word from Jesus on the subject of marriage. The story begins with the provocation of the Pharisees who ask Jesus if it is lawful for a husband to divorce his wife, as was provided for by the law of Moses (cf Mk 10:2-4). Above all, Jesus - with the wisdom and authority that come to him from the Father - downsizes the Mosaic prescription by saying: It was because of the hardness of your heart that he - that is, the ancient legislator - wrote this rule for you (Mk 10:5). This is a concession that serves to buffer the flaws produced by our egoism, but it does not correspond to the original intention of the Creator.
And here Jesus turns to the Book of Genesis: From the beginning of creation (God) made them male and female; for this reason the man will leave his father and his mother and will join his wife and the two will become one flesh (Mk 10:6-7). And he concludes: Therefore man must not divide what God has joined (Mk 10:9). In the original work of Creation, there is no man who marries a woman and, if things do not go well, he repudiates her. No. Instead, there is the man and the woman called to recognize each other, to complete one another, to help each other in marriage.
This teaching of Jesus is very clear; it defends the dignity of marriage, as a union of love that implies fidelity. What allows married couples to remain united in marriage is a love of mutual self-giving that is sustained by the grace of Christ. If, on the other hand, individual interests and satisfaction prevail in the spouses, then their union will not endure.
And this same Gospel passage reminds us, with great realism, that man and woman, who are called to live the experience of relationship and love, can painfully make gestures that put them in crisis. Jesus does not admit all that can lead to the sinking of a relationship. He does this to confirm the plan of God, in which the strength and beauty of human relationships stand out. On the one hand, the Church does not tire of confirming the beauty of the family as these are given to us by Scripture and Tradition; at the same time, he strives to make his maternal closeness felt concretely to those who live the experience of broken relationships or who carry on in a painful and tiring way.
God's way of acting with unfaithful people - that is, with us - teaches us that wounded love can be healed by God through mercy and forgiveness. Therefore, in these situations, the Church is not immediately referred to or sought out; it is only seen as condemning. On the contrary, faced with so many painful marital failures, she feels called to live her presence of love, of charity and mercy, to bring every wounded and lost heart back to God.
Let us call upon the Virgin Mary, asking her to help spouses to always live and to renew their union, beginning with the original gift of God.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters!
Today, on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I offer a special greeting to the faithful who are gathered at the Shrine in Pompeii for the tradition Supplication, presided over on this occasion by Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Syria. I renew my invitation to all people to pray the Rosary every day during the month of October, concluding our recitation with the antiphon: Under your protection and with the prayer to Saint Michael, the Archangel, to defend us against the attacks of the devil who is seeking to divide the Church.
Next Saturday, here in Rome, we will observe the first Day of the Catacombs. Many sites will be open to the public, with with educational workshops and cultural events. I thank the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology for this initiative and wish all the best for that Commission.
With affection, I greet all of you, Romans and pilgrims alike, especially the families and parish groups from Italy and from various other parts of the world. I greet the Greek-Catholic pilgrims from Slovakia, the faithful from Poznan and from Fortaleza (Brazil); the grandmothers from Malta and the students from Neuilly (France) and the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres who are here from Australia.
I greet the pilgrimage organized by the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the Calliope choir from Gussago (Brescia), the young people who are members of Gioventù Studentesca from Lazio and the faithful from Abbiategrasso.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
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