This morning's General Audience began at 9:15am local time (3:15am EST) inside the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. The Holy Father, Pope Francis met there with groups of the faithful and pilgrims from Italy and from other parts of the world.
In his speech, the Pope continued the new cycle of catechesis on the Beatitudes, adding his meditation on the third Beatitude: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Mt 5:5), Biblical passage: Psalm 37: 3, 8-11.
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular 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!
In today's catechesis, we will deal with the third of the eight beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Mt 5: 5).
The term meek which is used here literally means sweet, gentle, free of violence. Meekness manifests itself in moments of conflict, you can see how you react to a hostile situation. Anyone might seem to be meek when everything is calm, but how does that person react under pressure, if he is attacked, offended, aggravated?
In one passage, Saint Paul recalls the sweetness and meekness of Christ (2 Cor 10: 1). And Saint Peter in turn recalls Jesus' attitude during the Passion: he did not respond and did not threaten, because he entrusted himself to the one who judges with justice (1 Pt 2: 23). And the meekness of Jesus is strongly seen in his Passion.
In Scripture the word meek also indicates one who has no land property; and therefore we are struck by the fact that the third beatitude says precisely that the meek will inherit the earth.
In fact, this blessedness is sited in Psalm 37, which we heard at the beginning of the catechesis. There, too, meekness and possession of land are related. When you think about it, these two things seem incompatible. In fact, the possession of land is the typical area of conflict: one often fights for land, to obtain control over a certain area. In wars the strongest prevail and conquer other lands.
But let's look carefully at the verb used to indicate the possession of meekness: they do not conquer the earth; it does not say blessed are the meek because they will conquer the earth. They inherit it. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. In the scriptures, the verb inherit has an even greater meaning. The People of God call the land of Israel, which is the Land of Promise, their inheritance.
Land is a promise and a gift for the people of God, and it becomes a sign of something much bigger than a simple territory. There is a land - allow me the play on words - that is Heaven, that is, the earth toward which we walk: the new heavens and the new earth to which we are going (cf Is 65: 17; 66: 22; 2 Pt 3: 13; Rev 21: 1).
Then the meek is the one who inherits the most sublime of the territories. He is not a coward, a weak person who finds a makeshift morality in order to stay out of trouble. Far from it! He is a person who has received an inheritance and does not want to lose it. The meek is not an accommodating person but rather a disciple of Christ who has learned to defend another earth. He defends his peace, defends his relationship with God, defends his gifts, the gifts of God, preserving mercy, brotherhood, trust, hope, because meek people are merciful, fraternal, confident people and people with hope.
Here we must mention the sin of anger, a violent movement whose impulse we all know. Who hasn't gotten angry sometimes? All of us. We must reverse blessedness and ask ourselves a question: how many things have we destroyed with anger? How many things have we lost? A moment of anger can destroy many things; you lose control and do not evaluate what is really important, and you can ruin the relationship with a brother, sometimes irreparably. Because of anger, many brothers no longer talk to each other, they move away from each other. It is the opposite of meekness. Meekness gathers, anger separates.
Meekness is the conquest of many things. Meekness is capable of winning the heart, saving friendships and much more, because people get angry but then they calm down, rethink and retrace their steps, and so they can be rebuilt with meekness.
The earth that is to be conquered with meekness is the salvation of that brother of whom Matthew's Gospel speaks: If he listens to you, you will have gained your brother (Mt 18: 15). There is no land more beautiful than the hearts of others, there is no more beautiful territory to be gained than the peace that can be found with a brother. And that is the land to be inherited with meekness!
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
The Holy Father then offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking visitors, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially the groups from England, Norway, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and the United States of America. Upon all of you and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless you!
In his speech, the Pope continued the new cycle of catechesis on the Beatitudes, adding his meditation on the third Beatitude: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Mt 5:5), Biblical passage: Psalm 37: 3, 8-11.
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular 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!
In today's catechesis, we will deal with the third of the eight beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Mt 5: 5).
The term meek which is used here literally means sweet, gentle, free of violence. Meekness manifests itself in moments of conflict, you can see how you react to a hostile situation. Anyone might seem to be meek when everything is calm, but how does that person react under pressure, if he is attacked, offended, aggravated?
In one passage, Saint Paul recalls the sweetness and meekness of Christ (2 Cor 10: 1). And Saint Peter in turn recalls Jesus' attitude during the Passion: he did not respond and did not threaten, because he entrusted himself to the one who judges with justice (1 Pt 2: 23). And the meekness of Jesus is strongly seen in his Passion.
In Scripture the word meek also indicates one who has no land property; and therefore we are struck by the fact that the third beatitude says precisely that the meek will inherit the earth.
In fact, this blessedness is sited in Psalm 37, which we heard at the beginning of the catechesis. There, too, meekness and possession of land are related. When you think about it, these two things seem incompatible. In fact, the possession of land is the typical area of conflict: one often fights for land, to obtain control over a certain area. In wars the strongest prevail and conquer other lands.
But let's look carefully at the verb used to indicate the possession of meekness: they do not conquer the earth; it does not say blessed are the meek because they will conquer the earth. They inherit it. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. In the scriptures, the verb inherit has an even greater meaning. The People of God call the land of Israel, which is the Land of Promise, their inheritance.
Land is a promise and a gift for the people of God, and it becomes a sign of something much bigger than a simple territory. There is a land - allow me the play on words - that is Heaven, that is, the earth toward which we walk: the new heavens and the new earth to which we are going (cf Is 65: 17; 66: 22; 2 Pt 3: 13; Rev 21: 1).
Then the meek is the one who inherits the most sublime of the territories. He is not a coward, a weak person who finds a makeshift morality in order to stay out of trouble. Far from it! He is a person who has received an inheritance and does not want to lose it. The meek is not an accommodating person but rather a disciple of Christ who has learned to defend another earth. He defends his peace, defends his relationship with God, defends his gifts, the gifts of God, preserving mercy, brotherhood, trust, hope, because meek people are merciful, fraternal, confident people and people with hope.
Here we must mention the sin of anger, a violent movement whose impulse we all know. Who hasn't gotten angry sometimes? All of us. We must reverse blessedness and ask ourselves a question: how many things have we destroyed with anger? How many things have we lost? A moment of anger can destroy many things; you lose control and do not evaluate what is really important, and you can ruin the relationship with a brother, sometimes irreparably. Because of anger, many brothers no longer talk to each other, they move away from each other. It is the opposite of meekness. Meekness gathers, anger separates.
Meekness is the conquest of many things. Meekness is capable of winning the heart, saving friendships and much more, because people get angry but then they calm down, rethink and retrace their steps, and so they can be rebuilt with meekness.
The earth that is to be conquered with meekness is the salvation of that brother of whom Matthew's Gospel speaks: If he listens to you, you will have gained your brother (Mt 18: 15). There is no land more beautiful than the hearts of others, there is no more beautiful territory to be gained than the peace that can be found with a brother. And that is the land to be inherited with meekness!
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
The Holy Father then offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking visitors, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially the groups from England, Norway, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and the United States of America. Upon all of you and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless you!
No comments:
Post a Comment