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The sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit, in addition to the Word of God and the Sacraments, is expressed in prayer, and it is to this that we wish to dedicate today's reflection: prayer. The Holy Spirit is both the subject and object of Christian prayer. That is, He is the One who gives prayer and He is the One who is given by prayer. We pray to receive the Holy Spirit, and we receive the Holy Spirit in order to truly pray, that is, as children of God, not as slaves. Let us think a little about this: pray as children of God, not as slaves. One must always pray with freedom. “Today I have to pray for this, this, and this, because I promised this, this and this. Otherwise, I will go to hell”. No, that is not prayer! Prayer is free. You pray when the Spirit helps you to pray. You pray when you feel the need to pray in your heart, and when you do not feel anything, you stop and ask: “Why do I not feel the wish to pray? What is happening in my life?”. But always, spontaneity in prayer is what helps us the most. This is what is meant by praying as children, not as slaves.

First of all, we must pray to receive the Holy Spirit. In this regard, Jesus has a very precise word in the Gospel: “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit* to those who ask him?” (Lk 11:13). Everyone, each one of us, knows how to give good things to little children, whether they may be our children, our grandparents or our friends. The little ones always receive good things from us. And yet, the Father will not give the Spirit to us? And this should give us courage to go forward with this. In the New Testament, we see the Holy Spirit always descend during prayer. He descends upon Jesus in the baptism in the Jordan, while he “was praying” (Lk 3:21), and He descends at Pentecost upon the disciples, while they “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer” (Acts 1:14).

It is the only “power” we have over the Spirit of God. The power of prayer: He does not resist prayer. We pray, and He comes. On Mount Carmel, the false prophets of Baal – remember that passage from the Bible – were agitating to invoke fire from heaven on their sacrifice, but nothing happened, because they were idolators, they worshipped a God that does not exist. Elijah began to pray, and the fire descended and consumed the offering (cf. I Kings 18:20-38). The Church follows this example faithfully: she always as the imploration “Come! Come!” to the Holy Spirit, “Come”, whenever she addresses the Holy Spirit. And she does this especially at Mass, so that He may descend like dew and sanctify the bread and wine for the Eucharistic sacrifice.

But there is another aspect, which is the most important and encouraging for us: the Holy Spirit is He who gives us the true prayer. Saint Paul affirms this: “In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for many times we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will” (cf. Rm 8: 26-27).

It is true, we do not know how to pray, we do not know. We must learn every day. The reason for this weakness of our prayer was expressed in the past in just one word, used in three different ways: as an adjective, as a noun and as an adverb. It is easy to remember, even for those who do not know Latin, and it is worth keeping it in mind, because it contains in itself an entire treatise, these three things. We human beings, according to that saying, “mali, mala, male petimus”, which means, being bad (mali), we ask for the wrong things (mala) and in the wrong way (male). Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom [of God] … and all these things will be given you besides” (Mt 6:33); instead, we seek the extra, namely, our interests – many times – and we completely forget to ask for the kingdom of God. Let us ask the Lord for the kingdom, and everything comes with Him.

Yes, the Holy Spirit comes to aid us in our weakness, but He does something more important still: He testifies to us that we are children of God and puts on our lips the cry: “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). We cannot say “Father, Abba”. We cannot say “Father” without the strength of the Holy Spirit. Christian prayer is not man at one end of the telephone, speaking to God on the other; no, it is God who prays in us! We pray to God through God. Praying means placing oneself inside God, so that God enters into us.

It is precisely in prayer that the Holy Spirit is revealed as the “Paraclete”, that is, advocate and defender. He does not accuse us before the Father, but defends us. Yes, He defends us, He convinces us of the fact that we are sinners (cf. Jn 16:8), but He does so in order to make us able to savour the joy of the Father’s mercy, not to destroy us with fruitless feelings of guilt. Even when our heart reproaches us for something, He reminds us that “God is greater than our hearts” (1 Jn 3:20). God is greater than our sin. We are all sinners, but think: perhaps some of you – I don’t know – are very afraid because of the things they have done, afraid of being reproached by God, afraid of many things and unable to find peace. Pray, call to the Holy Spirit, and He will teach you how to ask for forgiveness. And do you know something? God does not know much grammar, and when we ask for forgiveness, He does not let us finish! “For…” and there, He does not let us finish the word forgiveness. He forgives us first, He always forgives, and He is always beside us to forgive us, before we complete the word forgiveness. We say “For…” and the Father always forgives us.

The Holy Spirit intercedes and He also teaches us how to intercede, in turn, for our brothers and sisters – He intercedes for us and teaches us how to intercede for others. He teaches us the prayer of intercession: praying for this person, praying for that sick person, for the one who is in prison, praying… even praying for one’s mother in law! And pray, always. Always. This prayer is particularly pleasing to God, because it is the most gratuitous and altruistic. When someone prays for everyone, it happens – as Saint Ambrose used to say – that everyone prays for someone; prayer multiplies.  This is how prayer is. This is a task that is so precious and necessary in the Church, particularly during this time of preparation for the Jubilee: to unite ourselves to the Paraclete who “intercedes for all of us according to God's plans”. But do not pray like parrots, please! Do not say, “Blah, blah, blah…”. No. Say “Lord”, but say it with your heart. “Help me, Lord”, “I love you, Lord”. And when you pray the Lord’s Prayer, pray “Father, You are my Father”. Pray with the heart, not the lips; don’t be like parrots.

May the Holy Spirit help us in prayer, which we need so much. Thank you.

06.11.24

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42).  These are the last words spoken to the Lord by one of the two men crucified with him.  They were not the words of one of Jesus’ disciples who had followed him along the roads of Galilee and shared bread with him at the Last Supper.  On the contrary, the man who spoke those words to the Lord was a criminal, someone who met him only at the end of his life, someone whose name we do not even know.

Yet, in the Gospel, the last words of this “outsider” initiate a dialogue full of truth.  Even as Jesus was being “numbered with the transgressors” (Is 53:12) as Isaiah had prophesied, an unexpected voice is heard, saying: “We are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong” (Lk 23:41).  So it was.  That condemned criminal represents us all; each of us can replace his name with our own.  Yet even more importantly, we can make his plea our own: “Jesus, remember me”.  Keep me alive in your memory.  “Do not forget me”.

Let us meditate on that word: remember.  To remember (ricordare) means “to lead back to the heart (cor)”, to carry in the heart.  That man, crucified alongside Jesus, transformed his dire pain into a prayer: “Carry me in your heart, Jesus”.  His words did not reflect anguish and defeat, but hope.  This criminal, who died as a disciple of the last hour, desired only one thing: to find a welcoming heart.  That is all that mattered to him as he found himself defenceless in the face of death.  The Lord heard the sinner’s prayer, even at the end, as he always does.  Christ’s heart – an open, not closed heart – pierced by pain, was laid open to save the world.  Dying himself, he was open to the voice of a dying man.  Jesus dies with us because he died for us.

Crucified despite his innocence, Jesus answered the prayer of a man crucified for his guilt: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43).  The memory of Jesus is effective because it is rich in mercy.  As a man’s life comes to an end, God’s love grants freedom from death.  The one who was condemned is now redeemed.  The outsider becomes a fellow-traveller; a brief encounter on the cross leads to eternal peace.  This makes us reflect a little.  How do I encounter Jesus?  Or better still, how do I let myself be encountered by Jesus?  Do I allow myself to be encountered or do I close myself off in my selfishness, in my pain, in my self-sufficiency?  Do I have a sense of my sinfulness that allows me to be encountered by the Lord, or do I feel righteous and say: “You are not here to serve me.  Move along”?

Jesus remembers those who are crucified at his side.  His compassion unto his final breath makes us realize that there are different ways of remembering people and things.  We can remember our mistakes, unfinished business, friends and enemies.  Brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves today before this scene from the Gospel: how do we carry people in our heart?  How do we remember those who were at our side in the events of our life?  Do I judge?  Do I divide?  Or do I welcome them?

Dear brothers and sisters, by turning to the heart of God, the men and women of today and of every age can find hope for salvation, even if “in the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died” (Wis 3:2).  All of history is kept in the memory of the Lord.  Memory is safekeeping.  He is its compassionate and merciful judge.  The Lord is close to us as judge; he is close, compassionate and merciful.  These are the three attitudes of the Lord.  Am I close to people?  Do I have a compassionate heart?  Am I merciful?  With this assurance, we pray for the Cardinals and Bishops who died in the last twelve months.  Today, our remembrance becomes a prayer of intercession for our dear brothers.  Elect members of the People of God, they were baptized into the death of Christ (cf. Rom 6:3) in order to rise with him.  They were shepherds and models for the Lord’s flock (cf. 1 Pet 5:3).  Having broken the bread of life on earth, may they now enjoy a seat at his table.  They loved the Church, each in his own way, but they all loved the Church.  Let us pray that they may exult in eternal communion with the saints.  With firm hope, let us look forward to rejoicing with them in heaven.  And I invite you to say three times with me: “Jesus, remember us!”, “Jesus, remember us!”, “Jesus remember us!”.

04.11.24

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

The Gospel of today’s liturgy (Mk 12:28-34) tells us about one of the many discussions Jesus had at the temple of Jerusalem. One of the scribes approaches Him and questions Him: “Which is the first of all the commandments?” (v. 28). Jesus responds by putting together two fundamental words of the Mosaic law: “You shall love the Lord your God” and “You shall love your neighbour” (vv. 30-31).

With his question, the scribe looks for “the first” of the commandments, that is, a principle at the basis of all the commandments; the Jews had many precepts and sought the basis of all of them, one that was fundamental; they tried to agree on a fundamental one, and there was discussion between them, good discussions because they were looking for the truth. And this question is essential for us too, for our life and for the journey of our faith. Indeed, we too at times feel lost among so many things, and ask ourselves: but, in the end, what is the most important thing of all? Where can I find the centre of my life, of my faith? Jesus gives us the answer, putting together two commandments that are the primary ones: the love of God and the love of neighbour. And this is the heart of our faith.

We all – as we know – need to return to the heart of life and faith, because the heart is “the radical source of their strengths, convictions” (Encyclical Dilexit nos, 9). And Jesus tells us that the source of everything is love, that we must never separate God from man. The Lord says to the disciple of every time: in your journey, what counts are not the exterior practices, such as burnt offerings and sacrifices (v. 33), but the readiness of heart with which you open yourself to God and to brethren in love. Brothers and sisters, we can do many things, but do them only for ourselves and without love, and this will not do; we do them with a distracted heart or even with a closed heart, and this will not do. All things must be done with love.

The Lord will come, and He will ask us first and foremost about love: “How did you love?”. It is important, then, to fix in our hearts the most important commandment. What is it? Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbour as yourself. And to carry out every day an examination of conscience and ask ourselves: is love for God and neighbour the centre of my life? Does my prayer to God impel me to go out to my brothers and sisters and love them gratuitously? Do I recognize the presence of the Lord in the faces of others?

May the Virgin Mary, who bore the law of God imprinted in her immaculate heart, help us to love the Lord and our brothers and sisters.

03.11.24

Grant O Lord that your  faithful departed for whom we have celebrated the paschal sacrament  might enter into your dwelling place of light Through Christ our Lord

In our visit to the cemetery, the resting place of our deceased brothers and sisters, we renew our faith in Christ who died, was buried and rose for our salvation. Even mortal bodies will waken on the last day, and those who have fallen asleep in the Lord will be united with Him in His triumph over death. With this certainty, we lift up to the Father our united prayer of intercession and blessing.

Blessed are you, O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in your great mercy has given us a new birth through Jesus' resurrection from the dead to a living hope, to an inheritance that is does not perish otr fade (cf. 1 Pet 1:3-4). Hear the prayer we raise to You for all our loved ones who have left this world. Open wide the arms of your mercy and receive them into the glorious assembly of heavenly Jerusalem.

Comfort those who suffer in the sorrow of separation, with the assurance that the dead live in you and that even the bodies, entrusted to the earth, will one day share in the paschal victory of your Son. You, who on the path of the church have placed the Blessed Virgin Mary as a luminous sign, through her intercession strenghten our faith, so that no obstacle may make us deviate from the path that leads to you, who are unending joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

02.11.24

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Today, Solemnity of All Saints, in the Gospel (cf. Mt 5:1-12), Jesus proclaims the identity card of the Christian. And what is the identity card of the Christian? The Beatitudes. It is our identity card, and also the way of holiness (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, 63). Jesus shows us a path, that of love, which He Himself took first by making Himself man, and which for us is both a gift from God and our response. Gift and response.

It is a gift from God because, as Saint Paul says, it is He who sanctifies (cf. 1 Cor 6:11). And this is why the Lord is the first we ask to make us holy, to make our heart similar to His (cf. Encyclical Letter Dilexit nos, 168). With His grace, He heals us and frees us from all that prevents us from loving as He loves us (cf. Jn 13:34), so that in us, as Blessed Carlo Acutis used to say, there may always be “less of me to make room for God”.

And this leads us to the second point: our response. The Father of heaven indeed offers us His holiness, but He does not impose it. He sows it in us, He makes us taste its flavour and see its beauty, but then He awaits our response. He leaves us the freedom of following His good inspirations, of letting ourselves be involved in His plans, of making His sentiments ours (cf. Dilexit nos, 179), putting ourselves us, as He taught us, in the service of others, with an ever more universal charity, open and addressed to all, to the entire world.

We see all of this in the life of the saints, even in our time. Think, for example, of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who in Auschwitz asked to take the place of a father of a family, condemned to death; or of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, who spent her existence in the service of the poorest of the poor; or of Bishop Saint Oscar Romero, murdered at the altar for having defended the rights of the last against the abuse of their oppressors. And in this way we can make a list of many saints, many of them: those we venerate on the altars and others, that I like to call the saints “next door”, the everyday ones, hidden, who go forward in their daily Christian life. Brothers and sisters, how much hidden saintliness there is in the Church!  We recognize so many brothers and sisters formed by the Beatitudes: poor, meek, merciful, hungry and thirsty for justice, workers for peace. They are people “filled with God”, incapable of remaining indifferent to the needs of their neighbour; they are witnesses of shining paths, possible for us too.

Let us ask ourselves, now: do I ask God, in prayer, for the gift of a holy life? Do I let myself be guided by the good impulses that His Spirit inspires in me? And do I commit myself personally to practising the Beatitudes of the Gospel, in the environments in which I live?

May Mary, Queen of all Saints, help us to make our lives a path of holiness.

01.11.24

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Today we will continue our reflection on the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church through the Sacraments.

The sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit reaches us primarily through two channels: the Word of God and the Sacraments. And among all the Sacraments, there is one that is quintessentially the Sacrament of the Holy Spirit, and it is on this that I would like to focus today. It is the Sacrament of Confirmation.

In the New Testament, beyond baptism with water, another rite is mentioned, that of the imposition of hands, which has the purpose of communicating the Holy Spirit visibly and in a charismatic way, with effects analogous to those produced by the Apostles at Pentecost. The Acts of the Apostles refer to a significant episode in this regard. Having heard that some in Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John there from Jerusalem. They “went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit” (8:14-17).

Added to this is what Saint Paul writes in the Second Letter to the Corinthians: “The one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God; He has also put His seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first instalment” (1:21-22). The guarantee of the Spirit. The theme of the Holy Spirit as a “royal seal” with which Christ marks his sheep is at the basis of the doctrine of the “indelible character” conferred by this rite.

With the passing of time, the rite of anointing took shape as a Sacrament in itself, assuming diverse forms and content in the various ages and different rites of the Church. This is not the place to retrace this very complex history. What the Sacrament of Confirmation is in the understanding of the Church seems to me to be described in a very simple and clear way by the Catechism of adults of the Italian Episcopal Conference. It says: “Confirmation is for all the faithful what Pentecost was for the entire Church. … It reinforces the baptismal incorporation into Christ and the Church and the consecration to the prophetic, royal and priestly mission. It communicates the abundance of the gifts of the Spirit. … If, therefore, Baptism is the Sacrament of birth, Confirmation is the Sacrament of growth. For this very reason it is also the Sacrament of witness, because this is closely linked to the maturity of Christian existence”. [1] The Catechism up to this point.

The problem is how to ensure that the Sacrament of Confirmation is not reduced, in practice, to “last rites”, that is the Sacrament of “departure” from the Church. It is said that it is the farewell Sacrament, because once young people do it they go away and then return for marriage. This is what people say… but we must ensure that it is rather the Sacrament of participation, of active participation in the life of the Church. It is a milestone that can seem impossible, given the current situation throughout the Church, but this does not mean that we should stop pursuing it. It will not be so for all Confirmands, children or adults, but it is important that it is at least for some who will then go on to be the animators of the community.

It can be useful, for this purpose, to be helped in preparing for the Sacrament by lay faithful who have had a personal encounter with Christ and have had a true experience of the Spirit. Some people say that they have experienced it as a blossoming of the Sacrament of Confirmation received as children.

But this does not relate only to future Confirmands; it relates to all of us and at any time. Together with Confirmation and anointing, we have received, the Apostle assures us, also the bond of the Spirit, which elsewhere he calls “the first fruits of the Spirit” (Rm 8:23). We must “spend” this bond, savour these first fruits, not bury underground the charisms and talents received.

Saint Paul exhorted the disciple Timothy to “stir into flame the gift of God* that you have through the imposition of my hands” (2 Tim 1:6), and the verb used suggests the image of one who breathes on the fire to revive the flame. Here is a good goal for the Jubilee year! To remove the ashes of habit and disengagement, to become, like the torchbearers at the Olympics, bearers of the flame of the Spirit. May the Spirit help us to take a few steps in this direction!

30.10.24

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Today the Gospel of the liturgy (Mk 10:46-52) tells us about Jesus who cures a man from blindness. His name is Bartimaeus, but the crowd in the street ignore him: he is a poor beggar. Those people do not have eyes for the blind man; they leave him, they ignore him. No caring gaze, no feeling of compassion. Bartimaeus does not see either, but he hears and he makes himself heard. He shouts, he cries loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (v. 48). Jesus, however, hears and sees him. He places himself at his disposal and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” (v. 51).

“What do you want me to do for you?”. This question, before a blind person, seems to be a provocation, and instead, it is a test. Jesus is asking Bartimaeus who he is truly looking for, and for what reason. Who is for you the “Son of David”? And thus the Lord starts to open the blind man’s eyes. Let us consider three aspects of this encounter, which becomes a dialogue: the cry, faith, the journey.

First of all, the cry of Bartimaeus, which is not only a request for help. It is an affirmation of himself. The blind man is saying, “I exist, look at me. I do not see you, Jesus. Do you see me?”. Yes, Jesus sees the beggar, and he listens to him, with the ears of the body and those of the heart. Think of ourselves, when we cross paths with a beggar on the street: how many times do we look away, how many times do we ignore him, as though he did not exist? And do we hear the cry of beggars?

Second point: faith. What does Jesus say? “Go your way; your faith has made you well” (v. 52). Bartimaeus sees because he believes; Christ is the light of his eyes. The Lord observes how Bartimaeus looks at him. How do I look at a beggar? Do I ignore him? Do I look at him like Jesus does? Am I capable of understanding his demands, his cry for help? When you give alms, do you look the beggar in the eye? Do you touch his hand to feel his flesh?

Finally, the journey. Bartimaeus, healed, “followed him on the way” (v. 52). But each one of us is Bartimaeus, blind within, who follows Jesus once he has approached Him. When you approach a poor person and make your proximity felt, it is Jesus who approaches you in the person of that poor man. Please, let us not be confused: alms are not the same as handouts. The person who receives the most grace from almsgiving is the one who gives, because he makes himself seen by the eyes of the Lord.

Let us pray together to Mary, the dawn of salvation, that she may guard our path in the light of Christ.

27.10.24 a

Today’s Gospel presents us with Bartimaeus, a blind man forced to beg at the side of the road, an outcast lacking hope. Yet, when he heard Jesus passing by, he began to shout after him. All Bartimaeus could do was to cry out in pain to Jesus and express his desire that he might regain his sight. While others were troubled by his cries and rebuked him, Jesus paused. For God always hears the cry of the poor, and no cry of pain goes unheard by him.

Today, at the conclusion of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, with our hearts filled with gratitude for the moments we have shared, let us reflect on what happened to Bartimaeus. Initially he was “sitting by the roadside” (Mk 10:46), but by the end he was called by Jesus, recovered his sight and “followed him on the way” (v. 52).

The first thing that the Gospel tells us about Bartimaeus is that he was begging by the roadside. His position is typical of someone who sits by the side of a road, caught up in his own grief, as if there were nothing else to do but receive something from the many pilgrims passing through the city of Jericho as Passover drew near. Yet, as we know, if we are truly to live, we cannot remain seated. Life entails being on the move, setting out, dreaming, planning, opening up to the future. Blind Bartimaeus, then, represents that inner blindness which restrains us, keeps us stuck in one place, holds us back from the dynamism of life and destroys our hope.

This can help us reflect not only on our own lives, but also on what it means to be the Lord’s Church. So many things along the way can make us blind, incapable of perceiving the presence of the Lord, unprepared to face the challenges of reality, sometimes unable to offer adequate responses to the questions of so many who cry out to us, as Bartimaeus did to Jesus. We cannot remain inert before the questions raised by the women and men of today, before the challenges of our time, the urgency of evangelization and the many wounds that afflict humanity. Sisters and brothers, we cannot afford to sit back. A sedentary Church, that inadvertently withdraws from life and confines itself to the margins of reality, is a Church that risks remaining blind and becoming comfortable with its own unease. If we remain stuck in our blindness, we will continuously fail to grasp the urgency of giving a pastoral response to the many problems of our world. Let us ask the Lord to send us the Holy Spirit, so that we do not sit in our blindness, which in other words can be a worldliness, complacency, or closed heart. We cannot stay sitting in our blindness.

Yet, we should remember that the Lord passes by every day. The Lord always passes by and pauses in order to attend to our blindness. We should ask ourselves, “Do I hear him passing by? Do I have the capacity to hear the Lord’s footsteps? Do I have the capacity to discern when the Lord is passing by?” It is good if the Synod is urging us as a Church to be like Bartimaeus: a community of disciples who, hearing that the Lord is passing by, feel the joy of salvation, allow ourselves to be awakened by the power of the Gospel, and to cry out to him. The Church does this when it takes up the cry of all the women and men of the world, of those who wish to discover the joy of the Gospel, and of those who have turned away; the silent cry of those who are indifferent; the cry of those who suffer, of the poor and marginalized, of children who are enslaved in so many parts of the world for work; the broken voice of those who no longer have the strength to cry out to God, either because they have no voice or because they are in despair. We do not need a sedentary and defeatist Church, but a Church that hears the cry of the world – I wish to say this even if some might be scandalised – a Church that gets its hands dirty in serving.

Thus, we come to the second aspect. The Gospel tells us that if initially Bartimaeus was seated, at the end we see him following Jesus along the road.  This is a typical expression in the Gospel, meaning that he has become the Lord’s disciple and has followed in his footsteps. When the beggar cried out to him, Jesus stopped and called for him. Bartimaeus, from where he was sitting, jumped up on his feet and immediately afterwards regained his sight. Now he can see the Lord; he can recognize God’s action in his life and finally set out to follow him. Let us do likewise. Whenever we are seated and settled, when as a Church we cannot find the strength, the courage or the boldness to arise and continue along the way, let us always remember to return to the Lord and his Gospel. We always need to return to the Lord and the Gospel. As he passes by again and again, we need to listen to his call so that we can get back on our feet and he can heal our blindness; and then we can follow him once more, and walk with him along the way.

I would like to reiterate that the Gospel says of Bartimaeus that he “followed him on the way”. This is an image of the synodal Church. The Lord is calling us, lifting us up when we are seated or fallen down, restoring our sight so that we can perceive the anxieties and sufferings of the world in the light of the Gospel. And when the Lord puts us back on our feet, we experience the joy of following him on the way. We follow the Lord along the way, we do not follow him enclosed in our comforts or we do not follow him in the mazes of our minds. We follow him only along the way. Let us remember never to walk alone or according to worldly criteria, but to walk on the way alongside him.

Brothers and sisters, not a seated Church, but a Church on her feet. Not a silent Church, but a Church that embraces the cry of humanity. Not a blind Church, but a Church, enlightened by Christ, that brings the light of the Gospel to others. Not a static Church, but a missionary Church that walks with her Lord through the streets of the world.

Today, as we give thanks to the Lord for the journey we have made together, we will be able to see and venerate the relic of the carefully restored ancient Chair of Saint Peter. As we contemplate it with the wonder of faith, let us remember that this is the Chair of love, unity and mercy, according to Jesus’ command to the Apostle Peter not to lord it over others, but to serve them in charity. And, as we admire the majestic Bernini Baldachin, more sublime than ever, we can rediscover that it frames the true focal point of the entire basilica, namely the glory of the Holy Spirit. This is the synodal Church: a community whose primacy lies in the gift of the Spirit, who makes us all brothers and sisters in Christ and raises us up to him.

Sisters and brothers, let us therefore continue our journey together with confidence. Today, the word of God speaks to us, as to Bartimaeus: “Take heart; get up, he is calling you”. Do I feel called? Do I feel weak and cannot get up? Do I call for help? Let us throw off the cloak of resignation; let us entrust our blindness to the Lord; let us stand once more and carry the joy of the Gospel through the streets of the world.

27.10.24 m

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click here

“HE LOVED US”, Saint Paul says of Christ (cf. Rom 8:37), in order to make us realize that nothing can ever “separate us” from that love (Rom 8:39). Paul could say this with certainty because Jesus himself had told his disciples, “I have loved you” (Jn 15:9, 12). Even now, the Lord says to us, “I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). His open heart has gone before us and waits for us, unconditionally, asking only to offer us his love and friendship. For “he loved us first” (cf. 1 Jn 4:10). Because of Jesus, “we have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16).

24.10.24 e

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Last time we explained what we proclaim about the Holy Spirit in the Creed. The reflection of the Church, however, did not stop at that brief profession of faith. It continued, both in the East and in the West, by the work of the great Fathers and Doctors. Today, in particular, we would like to gather a few crumbs of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit developed in the Latin tradition, to see how it enlightens all of Christian life and the sacrament of marriage in particular.

The main originator of this doctrine is Saint Augustine, who developed the doctrine on the Holy Spirit. He sets out from the revelation that “God is love” ( 1 Jn 4:8). Now love presupposes one who loves, one who is beloved and love itself that unites them. The Father is, in the Trinity, He who loves, the source and origin of everything; the Son is He who is beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the love that unites them. [1] The God of Christians is therefore a “sole” God, but not solitary; His is a unity of communion and love. Along these lines, some have proposed to call the Holy Spirit not the “third-person singular” of the Trinity, but rather the “first-person plural”. In other words, He is the We, the divine We of the Father and the Son, the bond of unity between different persons, [2] the very principle of the unity of the Church, which is indeed a “sole body” resulting from several persons.

As I said, today I would like to reflect with you in particular on what the Holy Spirit has to say about the family. What can the Holy Spirit have to do with marriage, for example? A great deal, perhaps the essential, and I will try to explain why! Christian marriage is the sacrament of self-giving, one for the other, of man and woman. This is how the Creator intended it when he “So God created man in his own image … male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). The human couple is therefore the first and most elementary realization of the communion of love that is the Trinity.

Married couples, too, should form a first-person plural, a “we”. Stand before each other as an “I” and a “you”, and stand before the rest of the world, including the children, as a “we”. How beautiful it is to hear a mother say to her children: “Your father and I...”, as Mary said to Jesus when they found him at the age of twelve in the temple, teaching the Doctors (cf. Lk 2:48), and to hear a father say: ‘Your mother and I’, as if they were one. How much children need this unity– mother and father together – unity of parents, and how much they suffer when it is lacking! How much the children of separated parents suffer, how much they suffer.

However, to correspond to this vocation, marriage needs the support of He who is the Gift, indeed the quintessential giver. Where the Holy Spirit enters, the capacity for self-giving is reborn. Some Fathers of the Latin Church affirmed that, as the reciprocal gift of the Father and the Son in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is also the reason for the joy that reigns between them, and they were not afraid, when speaking about it, to use the image of gestures proper to married life, such as the kiss and the embrace. [3]

No-one says that such unity is an easy task, least of all in today’s world; but this is the truth of things as the Creator designed them, and it is therefore in their nature. Certainly, it may seem easier and quicker to build on sand than on rock; but Jesus tells us what the result is (cf. Mt 7:24-27). In this case, then, we do not even need the parable, because the consequences of marriages built on sand are, unfortunately, there for all to see, and it is mainly the children who pay the price. Children suffer from the separation or the lack of love of the parents! With regard to so many couples, one must repeat what Mary said to Jesus, at Cana in Galilee: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). The Holy Spirit is He who continues to perform, on a spiritual level, the miracle that Jesus worked on that occasion; namely, to change the water of habit into a new joy of being together. It is not a pious illusion: it is what the Holy Spirit has done in so many marriages, when the spouses decided to invoke Him.

It would not be a bad thing, therefore, if alongside the information of a legal, psychological and moral nature that is given in the preparation of engaged couples for marriage, we were to deepen this “spiritual” preparation, the Holy Spirit who makes unity. An Italian proverb says, “Never place a finger, never intervene, between husband and wife”. There is in fact a “finger” to be placed between husband and wife, the “finger of God”: that is, the Holy Spirit!

[1] Cfr St. Augustine, De Trinitate, VIII,10,14

[2] Cfr H. Mühlen, Una mystica persona. La Chiesa come il mistero dello Spirito Santo, Città Nuova, 1968.

[3] Cfr S. Ilario di Poitiers, De Trinitate, II,1; St. Augustine, De Trinitate, VI, 10,11.

23.10.24

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The theme I have chosen for this year’s World Mission Day is taken from the Gospel parable of the wedding banquet (cf. Mt 22:1-14). After the guests refused his invitation, the king, the main character in the story, tells his servants: “Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find” (v. 9). Reflecting on this key passage in the context of the parable and of Jesus’ own life, we can discern several important aspects of evangelization. These appear particularly timely for all of us, as missionary disciples of Christ, during this final stage of the synodal journey that, in the words of its motto, “Communion, Participation, Mission”, seeks to refocus the Church on her primary task, which is the preaching of the Gospel in today’s world.

20.10.24 wmd

Before the conclusion of this Eucharistic celebration, I thank all of you who have come to honour the new Saints. I greet the Cardinals, the bishops, the consecrated men and women, especially the Friars Minor and the Maronite faithful, the Consolata Missionaries, the Little Sisters of the Holy Family and the Oblates of the Holy Spirit, as well as the other groups of pilgrims who have come from various places. I address a respectful greeting to the President of the Italian Republic, the other official delegations and the civil authorities.

May the witness of Saint Giuseppe Allamano remind us of the necessary attention towards the most fragile and vulnerable populations. I think in particular of the Yanomami people, in the Brazilian Amazonian forest, among whose members the miracle linked to today’s canonization occurred. I appeal to the political and civil authorities to ensure the protection of these peoples and their fundamental rights, and to counter any form of exploitation of their dignity and their territories.

Today we celebrate World Mission Day, whose theme – “Go and invite everyone to the banquet” (cf. Mt 22:9) – reminds us that missionary proclamation means to bring to all the invitation to a festive encounter with the Lord, who loves us and wants us to share in his spousal joy. As the new Saints teach us: “Every Christian is called to take part in this universal mission by offering his or her own witness to the Gospel in every context” (Message for the 98th World Mission Day, 25 January 2024). Let us support, with our prayer and our aid, all the missionaries who, often at great sacrifice, bring the shining proclamation of the Gospel to every part of the world.

And let us continue to pray for the populations who are suffering as a result of war – tormented Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, tormented Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and all the others – and let us invoke the gift of peace for all.

May the Virgin Mary help us to be, like Her and like the Saints, courageous and joyful witnesses of the Gospel.

20.10.24 a

Jesus asks James and John: “What is it you want me to do for you?” (Mk 10:36). Immediately afterwards he presses them: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mk 10:38). Jesus poses questions and, in doing so, helps us to discern, because questions allow us to discover what is within us, casting light on our hearts’ desires, even those of which we are unaware.

Let us allow the word of the Lord to question us. Let us imagine that he is asking each one of us: “What is it you want me to do for you?”; and the second question: “Are you able to drink my cup?”.

Through these questions, Jesus reveals the ties between him and the disciples, as well as their expectations of him, with all the aspects typical of any relationship. James and John are indeed connected to Jesus, but they also have certain demands. They express the desire to be near him, but only in order to occupy a place of honour, to play an important role, “to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (Mk 10:37). They obviously think of Jesus as the Messiah, a victorious and glorious Messiah, and expect him to share his glory with them. They see in Jesus the Messiah, but regard him with the category of power.

Jesus does not stop at the disciples’ words, but delves deeper, listening to and reading the hearts of each of them and also each one of us. Then, in the exchange, through two questions, he tries to reveal the desire within their requests. Sometimes also in the Church we see these ideas about honour or power.

First, he asks: “What is it you want me to do for you?”, a question that reveals the thoughts of their hearts, bringing to light the hidden expectations and dreams of glory that the disciples secretly cultivate. It is as if Jesus asks: “Who do you want me to be for you?”. In this way, he unmasks their real desire: for a powerful and victorious Messiah who will give them a place of honour.

With his second question, Jesus refutes this image of a Messiah and so helps them to change their perspective, that is to be converted: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Thus, he reveals that he is not the Messiah that they think; he is the God of love, who stoops down to reach the one who has sunk low; who makes himself weak to raise up the weak, who works for peace and not for war, who has come to serve and not to be served. The cup that the Lord will drink is the offering of his life, given to us out of love, even unto death, and death on a cross.

Moreover, on his right and on his left there will be two thieves, hanging like him on the cross and not seated on thrones of power; two thieves nailed with Christ in pain, not enthroned in glory. The crucified king, the just man condemned becomes the slave of all: truly this man is God’s Son! (cf. Mk 15:39). Those who dominate do not win, only those who serve out of love. We were also reminded of this in the Letter to the Hebrews: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are” (Heb 4:15).

At this point, Jesus can help his disciples to convert, to change their mindset: “You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them” (Mk 10:42). But it must not be that way for those who follow God, who made himself a servant to reach everyone with his love. Those who follow Christ, if they wish to be great, must serve by learning from him.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus reveals the thoughts, desires and projections of our hearts, unmasking at times our expectations of glory, domination, power, and vanity. He helps us to think no longer according to the world’s criteria, but according to the way of God, who becomes last so that the last may be lifted up and become first. While these questions of Jesus, with his teaching on service, are often incomprehensible to us as they were to the disciples, yet by following him, by walking in his footsteps and welcoming the gift of his love that transforms our way of thinking, we too can learn God’s way of service. Let us not forget the three words that show God’s style of serving: closeness, compassion and tenderness. God draws near, becomes compassionate, and is tender in order to serve. Closeness, compassion and tenderness.

This is what we should yearn for: not power, but service. Service is the Christian way of life. It is not about a list of things to do, so that once done, we can consider our part completed; those who serve with love do not say: “now it’s someone else’s turn”. This is how employees think, not witnesses. Service is born from love, and love knows no bounds, it makes no calculations, it spends and it gives. It does not just do things to bring about results, it is not occasional service, but it is something that is born from the heart, a heart renewed by love and in love.

When we learn to serve, our every gesture of attention and care, every expression of tenderness, every work of mercy becomes a reflection of God’s love. So in this way, let all of us – each one of us – continue Jesus’ work in the world.

In light of this, we can remember the disciples of the Gospel who are being canonized today. Throughout the troubled history of humanity, they remained faithful servants, men and women who served in martyrdom and in joy, like Father Manuel Ruiz López and his companions. They are priests and religious fervent with missionary zeal, like Father Joseph Allamano, Sister Marie Leonie Paradis and Sister Elena Guerra. These new saints lived Jesus’ way: service. The faith and the apostolate they carried out did not feed their worldly desires and hunger for power but, on the contrary, they made themselves servants of their brothers and sisters, creative in doing the good, steadfast in difficulties and generous to the end.

We confidently ask their intercession so that we too can follow Christ, follow him in service and become witnesses of hope for the world.

20.10.24 m

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The 44th World Food Day invites us to reflect on the right to food for a better life and future. This is a priority, as it satisfies one of the basic needs of human beings, namely to be nourished in order to live in accordance with adequate qualitative and quantitative standards that guarantee the dignified existence of the human person. However, we see this right frequently undermined and not fairly applied, with the harmful consequences that this entails.

In the interest of promoting the right to food, the FAO keenly proposes to consider a transformation of food systems that takes into account the plurality and variety of nutritious, affordable, healthy and sustainable foods as a means to achieve food security and healthy diets for all.

16.10.24

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With today’s catechesis, we will move on from what the Holy Spirit revealed to us in the Holy Scripture to how He is present and active in the life of the Church, in our Christian life.

In the first three centuries, the Church did not feel the need to give an explicit formulation of her faith in the Holy Spirit. For example, in the Church’s most ancient Creed, the so-called Symbol of the Apostles, after proclaiming: “I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born, died, descended into hell, rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven”, adds: “I believe in the Holy Spirit” and nothing more, without any specification.

But it was heresy that drove the Church to define this faith. When this process began – with Saint Athanasius in the fourth century – it was precisely the experience she had of the sanctifying and divinizing action of the Holy Spirit that led the Church to the certainty of the full divinity of the Holy Spirit. This occurred during the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381, which defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit with the well-known words we still repeat today in the Creed: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets”.

To say that the Holy Spirit “is the Lord” was like saying that He shares the “Lordship” of God, that He belongs to the world of the Creator, not to that of creatures. The strongest affirmation is that He is due the same glory and adoration as the Father and the Son. It is the argument of equality in honour, dear to Saint Basil the Great, who was the main architect of that formula: the Holy Spirit is the Lord, He is God.

The Council definition was not a point of arrival, but of departure. And indeed, once the historical reasons that had obstructed a more explicit affirmation of the divinity of the Holy Spirit had been overcome, this was confidently proclaimed in the worship of the Church and in her theology. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, in the aftermath of the Council, went on to state without hesitation: “Is the Holy Spirit then God? Certainly! Is He consubstantial? Yes, if He is true God” (Oratio 31, 5.10).

What does the article of faith we proclaim every Sunday at Mass say to us, believers of today: “I believe in the Holy Spirit”? In the past, it was mainly concerned with the statement that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father”. The Latin Church soon supplemented this statement by adding, in the Creed of the Mass, that the Holy Spirit proceeds “also from the Son”. Since in Latin the expression “and from the Son” is called ‘Filioque’, this gave rise to the dispute known by this name, which has been the reason (or pretext) for so many disputes and divisions between the Church of the East and the Church of the West. It is certainly not the case to address the issue here, which, moreover, in the climate of dialogue established between the two Churches, has lost the acrimony of the past and today allows us to hope for full mutual acceptance, as one of the main “reconciled differences”. I like to say this: “reconciled differences”. Among Christians there are many differences: he belongs to this school, that other one; this person is a Protestant, that person… The important thing is that these differences are reconciled, in the love of walking together.

Having overcome this obstacle, today we can value the most important prerogative for us that is proclaimed in the article of the Creed, namely that the Holy Spirit is “life-giving”, the “giver of life”. Let us ask ourselves: what life does the Holy Spirit give? At the beginning, in creation, the breath of God gives Adam natural life; the statue of mud is made “a living being” (cf. Gen 2:7). Now, in the new creation, the Holy Spirit is He who gives believers new life, the life of Christ, supernatural life, as children of God. Paul can exclaim: “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2).

In all of this, where is the great and consoling news for us? It is that the life given to us by the Holy Spirit is eternal life! Faith frees us from the horror of having to admit that everything ends here, that there is no redemption for the suffering and injustice that reign sovereign on earth. Another of the Apostle’s words assures us of this: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom 8:11). The Spirit dwells in us, He is within us.

Let us cultivate this faith also for those who, often through no fault of their own, are deprived of it and are unable to give meaning to life. And let us not forget to thank Him, who with His death, obtained this inestimable gift for us!

16.10.24

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The Gospel of today’s liturgy (Mk 10, 17:30) tells us about a rich man who encounters Jesus and asks Him: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 17). Jesus invites him to leave everything and follow Him, but the man, sorrowful, goes away because, as the text says, “he had great possessions” (v. 23). It costs to leave everything.

We can see the two movements of this man: at the beginning he runs, to go to Jesus; at the end, though, he goes away sorrowful, he goes away sad. First, he runs towards, and then he goes away. Let us dwell on this.

First of all, this man goes to Jesus running. It is as if something in his heart urges him on: in fact, although he has many riches, he is dissatisfied, he feels restlessness inside, he is searching for a fuller life. As the sick and the possessed often do (cf. Mk 3:10; 5:6), we see this in the Gospel, he throws himself at the Master's feet; he is rich, yet in need of healing. He is rich but needs to be healed. Jesus looks at him with love (v. 21); then, He proposes a “therapy”: to sell everything he has, give it to the poor and follow Him. But, at this point, comes an unexpected conclusion: this man’s face falls and he goes away! So great and impetuous was his desire to meet Jesus; how cold and swift was his farewell.

We, too, carry in our hearts an irrepressible need for happiness and for a life full of meaning; however, we can fall into the illusion of thinking that the answer is found in the possession of material things and earthly securities. Instead, Jesus wants to bring us back to the truth of our desires and to make us discover that, in reality, the goodness we yearn for is God Himself, His love for us and the eternal life that He and He only can give us. The true wealth is to be looked upon with love by the Lord – this is a great wealth – and, as Jesus does with that man, to love each other by making our life a gift for others. Brothers and sisters, therefore, Jesus invites us to risk, to “risk love”: to sell everything to give it to the poor, which means divesting ourselves of the self and our false securities, making ourselves attentive to those who are in need and sharing our possessions, not just things, but what we are: our talents, our friendship, our time, and so on.

Brothers and sisters, that rich man did not want to risk, to risk what? He did not want to risk love, and he went away with a sad face. And us? Let us ask ourselves: what is our heart attached to? How do we satiate our hunger for life and happiness? Do we know how to share with those who are poor, with those who are in difficulty or in need of listening, of a smile, of a word to help them regain hope? Or who need to be listened to… Let us remember this: the true wealth is not the goods of this world, the true wealth is being loved by God, and learning to love like Him.

And now let us ask for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, so that she may help us discover in Jesus the treasure of life.

13.10.24

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On this day, when we commemorate the opening of the Second Vatican Council, which marked the official entry of the Catholic Church into the ecumenical movement, we are gathered together with the fraternal delegates, our brothers and sisters of other Churches.

Christian unity and synodality are linked. In fact, “the path of synodality is what God expects of the Church of the third millennium” , and it must be travelled by all Christians. “The journey of synodality... is and must be ecumenical, just as the ecumenical journey is synodal”. In both processes, it is not so much a matter of creating something as it is of welcoming and making fruitful the gift we have already received.  And what does the gift of unity look like? The Synod experience is helping us to discover some aspects of this gift.

11.10.24 e

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In our itinerary of catechesis on the Holy Spirit and the Church, today we will refer to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles.

The account of the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost begins with a description of some preparatory signs – the rush of wind and the tongues of fire – but finds its conclusion in the affirmation that “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). Saint Luke – who wrote the Acts of the Apostles – emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is He who ensures the universality and unity of the Church. The immediate effect of being “filled with the Holy Spirit” is that the Apostles “began to speak in other tongues”, and came out of the Upper Room to proclaim Jesus Christ to the crowd (cf. Acts 2:4 et seq.).

In so doing, Luke wished to highlight the universal mission of the Church, as a sign of a new unity between all peoples. We see the Spirit work for unity in two ways. On the one hand, He drives the Church outwards, so that she can welcome an ever-greater number of people and peoples; on the other hand, she gathers them within to consolidate the unity achieved. He teaches her to expand in universality, and consolidate in unity. Universal and one: this is the mystery of the Church.

We see the first of the two movements – universality – in process in Chapter 10 of the Acts, in the episode of the conversion of Cornelius. On the day of Pentecost, the Apostles had proclaimed Christ to all the Jews and observers of the Mosaic law, whatever people they belonged to. It takes another “Pentecost”, very similar to the first, in the house of the centurion Cornelius, to induce the Apostles to expand their horizon and break down the last barrier, the one between Jews and pagans (cf. Acts 10-11).

This ethnical expansion is accompanied by a geographical one. Paul – we read again in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 16:6-10) – wanted to proclaim the Gospel in a new region of Asia Minor; but it is written that they had been “forbidden by the Holy Spirit”; he attempted to enter Bithyn’ia, “but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them”. We immediately discover the reason for these surprising prohibitions of the Spirit: the following night the Apostle received in a dream the order to pass into Macedonia. The Gospel thus left its native Asia and entered into Europe.

The second movement of the Holy Spirit – that which creates unity – is seen in action in Chapter 15 of the Acts, in the proceedings of the so-called Council of Jerusalem. The problem is how to ensure that the universality achieved does not compromise the unity of the Church. The Holy Spirit does not always create unity suddenly, with miraculous and decisive actions, as at Pentecost. He also does so – and in the majority of cases – with discreet work, respecting human time and differences, passing through people and institutions, prayer and confrontation. In, we would say today, a synodal manner. Indeed, this is what happens at the Council of Jerusalem, regarding the matter of the obligations of the Mosaic Law to be imposed on those who converted from paganism. The solution was announced to the entire Church, with the well-known words: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” (Acts 15:28).

aint Augustine explains the unity achieved by the Holy Spirit with an image, which has become classic: “How the soul is of the body of man is the holy Spirit of the body of Christ, which is the Church” . The image helps us to understand something important. The Holy Spirit does not create the unity of the Church from the outside; He does not limit Himself to commanding us to be united. He Himself is the “bond of unity”. It is He who creates the unity of the Church.

As always, we will conclude with a thought that helps us to pass from the Church as a whole to each one of us. The unity of the Church is the unity between people and is not achieved on the drawing board, but in life. It is implemented in life. We all want unity, we all desire it from the depths of our heart; and yet it is so difficult to attain that, even within marriage and the family, union and concord are among the most difficult things to achieve and even harder to maintain.

The reason why unity among us is difficult is that, yes, everyone wants unity, but based on one’s own point of view, without considering that the other person in front of him thinks exactly the same thing about his “own” point of view. In this way, unity becomes even more elusive. The unity life, the unity of Pentecost, according to the Spirit, is achieved when one makes the effort to put God, not oneself, at the centre. Christian unity is built in this way too: not waiting for others to reach us where we are, but moving together towards Christ.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us be instruments of unity and peace.

09.10.24

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Today, in the Gospel of the liturgy (cf. Mk 10:2-16), Jesus speaks to us about marital love. As they have already done on some other occasions, some Pharisees ask him a provocative question about a controversial issue: a husband's divorce from his wife. They would like to drag him into a quarrel, but he does not let them. Instead, he welcomes the opportunity to draw their attention to a more important discussion: the value of love between a man and a woman.

In Jesus’ time, the condition of the woman in marriage was greatly disadvantaged compared to that of the man: the husband could send his wife away, divorce her, even for trivial reasons, and this would be justified by legalistic interpretations of Scripture. For this reason, the Lord brings his interlocutors back to the demands of love. He reminds them that woman and man were willed by the Creator as equal in dignity and complementary in diversity. In this way they would be each the other’s helper, companion, but they would also be mutually stimulating and a challenge to grow (cf. Gen 2:20-23).

And for this to happen, he emphasizes the need for their mutual gift to be full, to be engaging, to be without "half measures" - this is love - that it be the beginning of a new life (cf. Mk 10:7; Gen 2:24), destined to last not "as long as everything goes well" but forever, accepting each other and living united as "one flesh" (cf. Mk 10:8; Gen 2:24). Of course, this is not easy, this requires fidelity, even in difficulties, it requires respect, honesty, simplicity (cf. Mk 10:15). It requires being open to confrontation, sometimes even to discussion, when it is necessary, but also to be always ready to forgive and to be reconciled to the other. And I tell you: husband and wife, fight as much as you like, provided you always make peace, before the day is over! Do you know why? Because the cold war that comes the next day is dangerous. “And tell me, father, how should we make peace?” – “A gentle caress, like this, is enough”, but never end your day without making peace.

Let us not forget, also, that for spouses it is essential to be open to the gift of life, to the gift of children, that are the most beautiful fruit of love, the greatest blessing from God, a source of joy and hope for every home and all of society. Have children! Yesterday, I received a great consolation. It was the day of the Gendarmerie Corps, and a gendarme came with his eight children! It was beautiful to see him. Please, be open to life, to what God may send you.

Dear brothers and sisters, love is demanding, yes, but it is beautiful, and the more we allow ourselves to be involved by it, the more we discover true happiness in it. And now, let each one of us ask themselves: How is my love? Is it faithful? Is it generous? Is it creative? How are our families? Are they open to life, to the gift of children?

May the Virgin Mary help Christian spouses. Let us turn to her in spiritual union with the faithful gathered at the Shrine of Pompeii for the traditional Supplication to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.

06.10.24 a

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Today we celebrate the liturgical Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels, and we re-open the Plenary Session of the Synod of Bishops. After listening to the Word of God, let us take three images as starting points for our consideration: voice, refuge and a child.

First, the voice. On the way to the Promised Land, God advises the people to listen to the “voice of the angel” whom he had sent (cf. Ex 23:20-22). It is an image that is relevant to us. As we walk down the path of this Synod, the Lord places in our hands the history, dreams and hopes of a great people. They are our sisters and brothers scattered throughout the world, inspired by the same faith, moved by the same desire for holiness. With them and for them, let us strive to understand the path we must follow in order to reach the destination the Lord desires for us. But how can we listen to the “voice of the angel”?

02.10.24

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As Sirach reminds us, “the prayer of the humble pierces the clouds” (35:21).

We are here as beggars of the Father's mercy, asking for forgiveness.

The Church is always the Church of the poor in spirit and sinners seeking forgiveness. It is not only a Church of the righteous and saints, but rather of the righteous and saints who recognize that they are poor sinners.

I wanted to write down the requests for forgiveness that were read by some of the Cardinals, because it was necessary to call our principal sins for what they are. We hide them or say them with too many polite words.

Sin is always a wound in relationships: the relationship with God and the relationship with our brothers and sisters. Sisters and brothers, no one is saved alone, but it is equally true that the sin of one affects many others. Just as everything is connected in the good, it is also connected in evil.

The Church in its essence is a Church that is always relational in its faith and proclamation, and only by healing sick relationships can we become a synodal Church. How could we be credible in our mission if we do not acknowledge our mistakes and stoop to heal the wounds we have caused by our sins? 

01.10.24 e

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“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea” (Mk 9:42). With these words, directed to the disciples, Jesus warns of the danger of scandal, that is, of hindering the path and hurting the lives of the “little ones”. It is a stern warning that calls us to pause and reflect. I would like to do so with you, in the light of the other Sacred Texts, by looking at three key words: openness, communion and witness.

29.09.24 me

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Thank you, Madame Rector, for your kind words. Dear students, I am pleased to meet you and listen to your reflections. I can sense in your words passion and hope, a desire for justice and the search for truth.

Among the issues you raised, I was struck by the one concerning the future and anxiety. It is easy to see how a violent and arrogant wickedness is destroying people and the environment. It seems to know no limits and is most brutally expressed by war – in a country that I will not name, the investments that provide the most profits come from the production of arms, it is terrible! – and its shows no signs of stopping: war is a brutal thing; but also by corruption and modern forms of slavery. War, corruption and new forms of slavery. Sometimes these evils even corrupt religion itself, turning it into an instrument of domination. Be careful! Yet this is blasphemy, whereby the union of men and women with God, who is saving Love, is turned into slavery, and even the name of Father, a revelation meant to heal, becomes an expression of arrogance. However, God is Father, not overlord; God is Son and Brother, not dictator; God is the Spirit of love, not of domination.

28.09.24 mse

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I am happy to be here with you. I thank Bishop Terlinden for his words and for reminding us of the importance of proclaiming the Gospel. Thanks to all of you.

Belgium is very much a crossroads, and you are a Church “on the move”. Indeed, for some time you have been trying to transform the presence of the parishes in this region, and to reinvigorate the formation of the laity. Above all, you strive to be a community that is close to the people, and that accompanies them, bearing witness through works of mercy.

Prompted by your questions, I would like to offer a brief reflection on three words: evangelization, joy and mercy.

28.09.24 mc

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I am pleased to be here among you. I thank the Rector for his words of welcome in which he reflected on the tradition and historical roots of the University, and on the principal challenges we all face today. Indeed, the first task of a university is to offer integral formation so that students may be equipped with the tools needed for interpreting the present and planning for the future.

Yet cultural formation is never an end in itself, and universities should never run the risk of becoming “cathedrals in the desert”. They are, by their nature, driving forces of ideas and sources of new inspiration for human life and thought, and for facing the challenges in society. In other words, they are generative places. It is a fine thing to view universities as generating culture and ideas, but above all as promoting the passion for seeking truth, at the service of human progress. In a particular way, Catholic Universities such as yours are called to “offer the decisive contribution of leaven, salt and light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the living Tradition of the Church, which is ever open to new situations and ideas” (Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium, 3).

27.09.24 mpe

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I thank Your Majesty for your cordial welcome and kind words of greeting. I am very pleased to be visiting Belgium. When I think of this country, what comes to mind is something small yet great; a country in the west that at the same time is also at the centre, as if Belgium were the beating heart of an enormous organism.

Indeed, it would be a mistake to judge the quality of a country by its geographical size. Belgium may not be a large state, yet its particular history has been impactful. Immediately after the Second World War, the exhausted and downhearted peoples of Europe, in beginning a profound process of peace, cooperation and integration, looked to your country as a natural location to establish key European institutions. This was because Belgium was on the fault line between the Germanic and Latin worlds, sandwiched between France and Germany, two countries that had most embodied the opposing nationalistic ideals underlying the conflict.

27.09.24 mae

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I am very happy to be with you here in this magnificent cathedral. I thank His Royal Highness the Grand Duke and his family for their presence; I thank Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich for his kind words, as well as Diogo, Christine and Sister Maria Perpetua for their testimonies.

Our encounter takes place during an important Marian Jubilee: the Church in Luxembourg is commemorating four centuries of devotion to Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted, Patroness of this country. This Marian title corresponds well to the theme you have chosen for this visit: “To serve”.  Consoling and serving are in fact two fundamental aspects of the love that Jesus has given to us, the love he has entrusted to us as our mission (cf. Jn 13:13-17), and that he has shown as the only path to full joy (cf. Acts 20:35). For this reason, in the prayer for the opening of the Marian Year, we will ask the Mother of God to help us be “missionaries, ready to bear witness to the joy of the Gospel”, conforming our hearts to hers in order “to put our lives at the service of our brothers and sisters”. Let us now pause to reflect on three words: service, mission and joy.

26.09.24 mce

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I am pleased to make this visit to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and I thank Your Royal Highness and the Prime Minister most sincerely for the cordial expressions of welcome you have extended to me. I am likewise grateful for the welcome given by the members of the Grand Duke’s family.

Because of its particular geographical location on the border of different linguistic and cultural areas, Luxembourg has frequently found itself at the crossroads of Europe’s most significant historical events. Twice, in the first half of the last century, it had to endure invasion and the deprivation of its freedom and independence.

Since the end of the Second World War, your country has drawn upon its history – for history is a teacher of life – and distinguished itself in its commitment to building a united and fraternal Europe in which each country, be it large or small, might have its own role, and where the divisions, quarrels and wars that have been caused by exaggerated forms of nationalism and pernicious ideologies may finally be left behind. Indeed, ideologies are always the enemy of democracy.

26.09.24 mae

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Immediately after His baptism in the Jordan, Jesus “was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Mt 4:1) – this is what the Gospel of Matthew says. The initiative is not Satan’s, but God’s. Going into the wilderness, Jesus obeys an inspiration of the Holy Spirit; He does not fall into an enemy snare, no, no! Once He has withstood the test, it is written, He returns to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” (Lk 4:14).

In the wilderness, Jesus freed Himself of Satan, and now He can deliver from Satan. He freed Himself, He frees from Satan. It is what the Evangelists highlight with the numerous studies of deliverance from possession. Jesus says to His opponents: “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Mt 12:28). And Jesus casts out the demons, with the aspiration of the kingdom of God.

Nowadays we are witnessing a strange phenomenon regarding the devil. At a certain cultural level, it is held that he simply does not exist. He would be a symbol of the collective subconscious, or alienation; in short, a metaphor. But “the cleverest ruse of the devil is to persuade you he does not exist!”, as someone wrote (Charles Baudelaire). He is astute: he makes us believe that he does not exist, and in this way he dominates everything. He is cunning. And yet our technological and secularized world is teeming with magicians, occultism, spiritualism, astrologers, sellers of spells and amulets, and unfortunately with real satanic sects. Driven out the door, the devil has re-entered, one might say, through the window. Driven out of faith, he re-enters with superstition. And if you are superstitious, you are unconsciously conversing with the devil. One does not converse with the devil.

The strongest proof of the existence of Satan is found not in sinners or the possessed, but in the saints! “And how can this be, Father?”. Yes, it is true that the devil is present and working in certain extreme and “inhuman” forms of evil and wickedness that we see around us. But by this route, though, it is practically impossible to reach, in individual cases, the certainty that it is truly him, given that we cannot know with precision where his action ends and our own evil begins. This is why the Church is so prudent and so rigorous in performing exorcism, unlike what happens, unfortunately, in certain films!

It is in the life of the saints, precisely there, that the devil is forced to come out into the open, to place himself “against the light”. All the saints, all the great believers, some more, some less, testify to their struggle with this obscure reality, and one cannot honestly assume that they were all deluded or mere victims of the prejudices of their time.

The battle against the spirit of evil is won as Jesus won it in the wilderness: by striking with the word of God. You see that Jesus does not converse with the devil, He never conversed with the devil. Either he casts him out, or condemns him, but He never converses. And in the wilderness, he replies not with His word, but with the Word of God. Brothers, sisters, never converse with the devil; when temptations present themselves: “But, this would be nice, that would be nice” – stop. Raise your heart to the Lord, pray to Our Lady and banish him, just as Jesus taught us how to banish him. Saint Peter also suggests another means, that Jesus did not need, but we do – vigilance. “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pt 5:8). And Saint Paul says to us: “Give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph 4:27).

After Christ, on the cross, defeated forever the power of the “ruler of this world” ( Jn 12:31), a Father of the Church said, “the devil is bound, like a dog on a chain; he cannot bite anyone except those who, defying the danger, go near him... He can bark, he can urge, but he can bite only those who want”. If you are a fool and you go to the devil and say, “Ah, how are you?”, and everything, it ruins you. The devil – distance. One does not converse with the devil. One banishes him. Distance. And all of us, everyone, we have experience of how the devil approaches with some temptation. The temptation of the ten commandments: when we feel this, stop, keep your distance: do not approach the chained dog.

Modern technology, for example, besides the many positive resources that are to be appreciated, offers also countless means to “give an opportunity to the devil”, and many fall in the trap. Think of online pornography, behind which there is a flourishing market: we all know this. It is the devil at work, there. And this is a very widespread phenomenon, which Christians should beware of and strongly reject. Because any smartphone has access to this brutality, to this language of the devil: online pornography.

Awareness of the action of the devil in history should not discourage us. The final thought must be, also in this case, of trust and security: “I am with the Lord, be gone”. Christ overcame the devil and gave us the Holy Spirit to make His victory our own. The very action of the enemy can turn to our advantage, if with God's help we make it serve our purification. Let us therefore ask the Holy Spirit, in the words of the hymn Veni Creator:

Drive far away our wily Foe,

And Thine abiding peace bestow;

If Thou be our protecting Guide,

No evil can our steps betide”.

Beware, the devil is astute – but we Christians, with God’s grace, are more astute than him. Thank you.

25.09.24 e

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Today the Gospel of the liturgy (Mk 9:30-37) tells us about Jesus who announces what will happen at the culmination of His life: “The Son of man”, says Jesus, “will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He is killed, after three days He will rise” (v. 31). The disciples, however, while they are following the Master, have other things in their mind and also on their lips. When Jesus asks them what they were talking about, they do not answer.

Let us pay attention to this silence: the disciples are silent because they were discussing who was the greatest (cf. v. 34). They fall silent out of shame. What a contrast with the words of the Lord! While Jesus confided in them the meaning of His very life, they were talking about power. And so now shame closes their mouth, just as pride had closed their heart earlier. And yet Jesus responds openly to the conversations whispered along the way: “If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (cf. v. 35). Do you want to be great? Make yourself small, put yourself at the service of all.

With a word as simple as it is decisive, Jesus renews our way of living. He teaches us that true power does not lie in the dominion of the strongest, but in care for the weakest. True power is taking care of the weakest – this makes you great!

This is why the Master calls a child, puts him in the midst of the disciples and embraces him, saying: “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” (v. 37). The child has no power; the child has needs. When we take care of man, we recognize that man is always in need of life.

We, all of us, are alive because we have been welcomed, but power makes us forget this truth. You are alive because you have been welcomed! Then, we become dominators, not servants, and the first to suffer as a result are the last: the little ones, the weak, the poor.

Brothers and sisters, how many people, how many, suffer and die for power struggles! Theirs are lives that the world denies, as it denied Jesus, those who are excluded and die… When He is delivered into the hands of men, He finds not an embrace, but a cross. However, the Gospel remains living and filled with hope: He who has denied, is risen, He is the Lord!

Now, on this beautiful Sunday, we can ask ourselves: do I know how to recognize the face of Jesus in the smallest? Do I take care of my neighbour, serving generously? And do I thank those who take care of me?

Let us pray together to Mary, to be, like her, free of vainglory, and ready in service.

22.09.24

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And today I will talk about the Apostolic Journey I made in Asia and Oceania: it is called an Apostolic Journey because it is not a tourist trip, it is a journey to bring the Word of the Lord, to make the Lord known, and also to get to know the souls of the peoples. And this is very good.

Paul VI, in 1970, was the first Pope to fly towards the rising sun, with long visits to the Philippines and Australia, but pausing also in various Asian countries and in the Samoan Islands. And that was a memorable journey, wasn’t it? Because the first to leave the Vatican was Saint John XXIII, who went to Assisi by train; then, Saint Paul VI did that: a memorable journey! In this one too I tried to follow his example but, being a few years older than he was, I limited myself to four countries: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore. I thank the Lord who allowed me to do as an elderly Pope what I would have liked to do as a young Jesuit, because I wanted to go there as a missionary!

18.09.24 e

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The Gospel of today’s Liturgy tells us that Jesus, after asking the disciples what the people thought of Him, directly asks them: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mk 8:29). Peter answers on behalf of all the group, saying. “You are the Christ” (v. 30), that is, you are the Messiah. However, when Jesus starts to talk about the suffering and death that await Him, the same Peter objects, and Jesus harshly rebukes him: “Get behind me, Satan!” – He says Satan – For you are not on the side of God, but of men” (v. 33).

Looking at the attitude of the apostle Peter, we too can ask ourselves what it means to truly know Jesus. What does it mean to know Jesus?

In fact, on the one hand Peter answers perfectly, saying to Jesus that He is the Christ. However, behind these correct words there is still a way of thinking that is “of men”, a mentality that imagines a strong Messiah, a victorious Messiah, who cannot suffer or die. So, the words with which Peter responds are “right”, but his way of thinking has not changed. He still has to change his mindset, he still has to convert.

And this is a message, an important message for us too. Indeed, we too have learned something about God, we know the doctrine, we recite the prayers correctly and, perhaps, we respond well to the question “Who is Jesus for you?”, with some formula we learned at catechism. But are we sure that this means really knowing Jesus? In reality, to know the Lord, it is not enough to know something about Him, but rather to follow Him, to let oneself be touched and changed by His Gospel. It is a matter of having a relationship with Him, an encounter. I can know many things about Jesus, but if I have not encountered Him, I still do not know who Jesus is. It takes this encounter that changes life: it changes the way of being, it changes the way of thinking, it changes the relationships you have with your brothers and sisters, the willingness to accept and forgive, it changes the choices you make in life. Everything changes if you have truly come to know Jesus! Everything changes.

Brothers and sisters, the Lutheran theologian and pastor Bonhoeffer, victim of Nazism, wrote: “What is bothering me incessantly is the question of what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and papers from prison). Unfortunately, many people no longer pose themselves this question and remain “unbothered”, slumbering, even far from God. Instead, it is important to ask ourselves: do I let myself be bothered, do I ask who Jesus is for me, and what place He occupies in my life? Do I follow Jesus only in word, continuing to have a worldly mentality, or do I set out to follow Him, allowing the encounter with Him to transform my life?

May our mother Mary, who knew Jesus well, help us on this question.

15.09.24

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Thank you very much for your words!

Three things that you said struck me: “armchair critics,” “comfort zone,” and “technology” – the duty to use it but also the risks involved. This is the speech that I had prepared, but now I will speak spontaneously!

Young people are courageous and like to seek the truth but they have to be careful not to become what you referred to as “armchair critics” with endless words. A young person must be a critical thinker, and it is not good never to be critical. But you must be constructive in criticism, because there is a destructive criticism, which only makes a lot of complaints but does not offer a new way forward. I ask all young people, each of you: are you critical thinkers? Do you have the courage to criticize but also the courage to let others criticize you? Because, if you criticize, then someone else will criticize you. This is sincere dialogue between young people.

Young people must have the courage to build, to move forward and go out of their “comfort zones”. A young person who chooses always to spend his or her time in “comfort” is a young person who becomes fat! Not fatter in body, but fatter in mind! That is why I say to young people, “Take risks, go out! Do not be afraid!”. Fear is a dictatorial attitude that paralyzes you. It is true that young people often make mistakes, many mistakes, and it would be good if each one of us – if each of you – could think about how many times you have made mistakes. We make mistakes because we started walking and we make mistakes on the journey. This is normal; the important thing to realize is that you have made mistakes. Let us see who can answer my question: What is worse, making a mistake because I started to walk or not making a mistake because I stayed at home? Everyone, the latter! A young person who does not take risks, who is afraid of making mistakes, is already old! Do you understand this?

13.09.24 imype

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“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1). Saint Paul addresses these words to the brothers and sisters of the Christian community at Corinth. In his letters to this community, which was rich in many charisms (cf. 1 Cor 1:4-5), the Apostle often recommends that it cultivate communion in charity.

Let us listen to those words of Paul as together we thank the Lord for the Church in Singapore, which is also rich in gifts, a Church that is vibrant, growing and engaged in constructive dialogue with the various other Confessions and Religions with which it shares this wonderful land.

For this reason, then, I would like to reflect on Paul’s words, taking as a starting point the beauty of this city and its great and bold architecture, especially this impressive National Stadium complex, which contribute to making Singapore so famous and fascinating. First, let us remember that, in the end, at the origins of these imposing buildings, as with any other undertaking that leaves a positive mark on our world, while people may think that they are primarily about money, techniques or even engineering ability, which are certainly useful, very useful, what we really find is love, precisely the “love that builds up”.

While some may think this is a naive statement, by reflecting on it we see that this is not the case. Indeed, while good works may have brilliant, strong, rich and creative people behind them, there are always fragile women and men, like us, for whom without love there is no life, no impetus, no reason to act, no strength to build.

12.09.24 me

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I thank the President for his kind words of welcome, and I renew my appreciation for his recent visit to the Vatican. Furthermore, I am grateful to all the Authorities for the cordial welcome to this City-State, a commercial crossroads of primary importance and a place where different peoples meet.

Those arriving here for the first time cannot fail to be impressed by the mass of ultra-modern skyscrapers that seem to rise from the sea. They are a clear testimony to human ingenuity, the dynamism of Singaporean society and the acumen of the entrepreneurial spirit, which have found fertile ground here for their expression.

Singapore’s story is one of growth and resilience. From humble beginnings, this nation has reached an advanced level of development, which can only stem from rational decisions and not by chance. Indeed, it is the result of an unwavering commitment to carry out projects and initiatives that are well thought-out and in tune with the specific characteristics of the place. In these days you are celebrating the one hundred and first anniversary of the birth of Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, who held this office from 1959 to 1990 and gave a strong impetus to the country’s rapid growth and transformation.

12.09.24 mae

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First of all, I will ask all of you a question, and we will see who can answer it: What do young people do? You [pointing to a young woman].

[the young woman]. “Proclaim Christ!” Very good.

What else do young people do?

[another young person] “Proclaim the Word of God”. Very good.

What other things do young people do?

[another young person responds] “Love one another”.

Young people have a great capacity to love. What other things do young people do?

[another young person] “We must cultivate peace in our country”.

Never forget this. Very good. However, there is something that young people always do, young people of different nationalities and religions. Do you know what young people always do? They make a mess. Do you agree with this? [Young people respond] “Yes!”

I thank you for the greetings, the testimonies and the questions. I thank you for the dances because dancing is expressing a feeling with the whole body. Do you know a young person who doesn’t know how to dance? Life comes with dancing, and you are a country of young people.

There is one thing I was saying this morning to a bishop: I will never forget your smiles. Do not stop smiling. Young people make up the majority of the population of this land, and your presence fills this land with life, hope and a future. Do not lose the enthusiasm of faith. Imagine a young person without faith, with a sad face!

Do you know what brings a young person down? Vices. Be on your guard. Because there are those who call themselves peddlers of happiness. They sell you drugs and so many things that only make you happy for only half an hour. You know this better than me, don’t you? You know this situation better than me. Do you know or don’t you know? I cannot hear you! [Young people respond] “Yes”. Very good, thank you.

11.09.24 mype

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“A child has been born for us, a son given to us” (Is 9:6).

With these words, in the first reading, the prophet Isaiah addresses the inhabitants of Jerusalem. It was a prosperous time for that city, but sadly also characterized by great moral decadence.

We see much wealth there, but this affluence blinds the powerful, seducing them into thinking that they are self-sufficient, with no need for the Lord, and their conceit leads them to be selfish and unjust. For this reason, despite so much prosperity, the poor are abandoned and go hungry, infidelity is rampant, and religious practice is increasingly reduced to mere formalism. This deceptive façade of a world that at first sight appears to be perfect hides a reality that is much darker, harsher and more cruel. A reality where there is much need for conversion, mercy and healing.

This is why the prophet announces to his fellow citizens a new horizon, which God will open before them: a future of hope, a future of joy, where oppression and war will be banished forever (cf. Is 9:1-4). He will make a great light shine upon them (cf. v. 2), which will deliver them from the darkness of sin that oppresses them. Yet he will do so not with the power of armies, weapons or wealth, but through the gift of a son (cf. vv. 6-7).

Let us pause for a moment to reflect on this image: God shines his saving light through the gift of a son.

10.09.24 me

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Many of the youngest – seminarians, young religious – remained outside. And now, when I saw the bishop, I told him that he has to enlarge the cathedral because it is a grace to have so many vocations! Let us thank the Lord and let us also thank the missionaries who came before us. When we saw this man [Florentino de Jesús Martins, 89 years old, to whom the Pope said that he “had competed with the apostle Paul”], who was a catechist his whole life, we can understand the grace of the mission entrusted to him. Let us thank the Lord for this blessing to this Church.

I am happy to be with you during this journey in which I am a pilgrim in the lands of the East. I thank Bishop Norberto de Amaral for his words, and for reminding me that Timor-Leste is a country “at the edge of the world”. I also come from the ends of the world, but you more than me. And I like to say it – precisely because it is at the edge of the world, it is at the centre of the Gospel! This is a paradox that we have to learn: in the Gospel, the peripheries are the centre and a Church that has no capacity for peripheries and that hides in the centre is a very ill Church. Instead, when a Church thinks beyond, sends out missionaries, it goes into those peripheries that are the centre, the Church’s centre. Thank you for being at the peripheries, for we know well that in the heart of Christ the “existential peripheries” are the centre. Indeed, the Gospel is full of people, figures and stories that are on the margins, on the borders, but are called by Jesus to become protagonists of the hope that he came to bring us.

10.09.24 mbce

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There is one thing that always makes me think. When Jesus talks about the final judgement, he says to some people: “Come with me”, but he does not say: “Come with me because you were baptized, because you were confirmed, because you were married in the Church, because you did not lie, because you did not steal”. No, he says; “Come with me because you took care of me”. Jesus says: “Come with me because you took care of me when I was hungry, and you gave me food, when I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, when I was sick, and you visited me”, and so on.  I call this the sacrament of the poor. A love that encourages, that edifies, that strengthens.

And that is what we find here: love. Without love, this makes no sense. This is how we come to understand the love of Jesus, who gave his life for us. We cannot understand the love of Jesus unless we start to practise love. Sharing our lives with those who are most in need is a programme, a programme for you, and a programme for every Christian. I want to thank you for what you do and I also want to thank the girls and boys and young people who spoke to us about letting themselves be cared for. They teach us to let ourselves be cared for by God. To let ourselves be cared for by God and not by any number of ideas, or plans, or whims. To let ourselves be taken care of by God. They are our teachers. Thank you for this.

10.09.24 vce

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I thank you for the kind and joyful welcome to this beautiful country of Timor-Leste. I am grateful to the President, Mr José Ramos-Horta, for his kind words of welcome.

In this place Asia and Oceania touch each other. In a certain sense, they also encounter Europe, which, though geographically distant, seems closer due to the role it has had in this area over the past five centuries – I do not want to talk about the Dutch pirates! Indeed, the first Dominican missionaries arrived here from Portugal in the sixteenth century, bringing with them the Catholic faith and the Portuguese language. Today, both Portuguese and Tetum are the two official languages of the country.

09.09.24 mae

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I am happy to have spent these past few days in your country, where the sea, mountains and tropical forests coexist. It is, above all, a young country inhabited by many young people! We have all been able to contemplate the young face of the country, in particular through the beautiful performance that we just watched. Thank you! Thank you for your joy and for recounting the beauty of Papua “where the ocean meets the sky, where dreams are born and challenges vanish”. Above all, thank you for setting before all of us a hopeful desire: “to face the future with smiles of hope!”. And also with smiles of joy.

Dear young people, I did not want to leave here without meeting you, because you are the hope for the future. How do we build a future? What meaning do we want to give to our lives? I would like to answer these questions by starting with a story found at the beginning of the Bible, the story of the Tower of Babel. There we see two models clashing, two opposing ways of living and of building a society: one leads to confusion and dispersion, the other leads to the harmony of encounter with God and with our brothers and sisters. Confusion on one side and harmony on the other. This is juxtaposition is important.

09.09.24 mype

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I thank the Bishop for his words. I greet the Authorities, priests, consecrated men and women, missionaries, catechists, young people, the faithful – some of whom have travelled here from very far away – and you, dear children! Thank you Maria Joseph, Steven, Sister Jaisha Joseph, David and Maria for what you have shared. I am happy to meet you in this wonderful, young and missionary land!

As we heard, since the middle of the nineteenth century, the mission here has never ceased. Consecrated men and women, catechists and lay missionaries have not stopped preaching the word of God and offering help to their brothers and sisters through pastoral care, education, healthcare and many other ways. They have faced many difficulties in order to be an instrument “of peace and love” for all, as Sister Jaisha Joseph told us.

As a result, churches, schools, hospitals and missionary centres all around us testify that Christ came to bring salvation to all, so that each person may flourish in all his or her beauty for the sake of the common good 

You are “experts” in beauty here, because you are surrounded by beauty! You live in a magnificent land, enriched by a great variety of plants and birds. One cannot help but be amazed by the colours, sounds and scents, as well as the grandiose spectacle of nature bursting forth with life, all evoking the image of Eden!

08.09.24

The first words the Lord addresses to us today are, “Be strong, do not fear!” (Is 35:4). In this way, the prophet Isaiah addresses all those who have lost heart. He likewise encourages his people and, even amid difficulties and suffering, invites them to raise their eyes to a horizon of hope and to a future where God is coming to save us. For the Lord will indeed come, and on that day, “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped” (Is 35:5).

This prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus. In Saint Mark’s account, two things in particular are emphasized: the distance of the deaf man and the nearness of Jesus.

The distance of the deaf man. We see him in a geographical area that we would call, in today’s language, the “periphery”. The territory of the Decapolis lies beyond the Jordan, far from the religious centre of Jerusalem. What is more, this deaf man also experiences another kind of distance: he is far from God and from others because he cannot communicate, he is deaf and thus unable to hear, and he is also mute and so cannot speak. He is cut off from the world, isolated, a prisoner of his deaf and mute condition, so he cannot reach others or communicate with them.

We can also interpret the man’s situation in another sense, for we too can become cut off from communion and friendship with God and with our brothers and sisters when, instead of our ears and tongue, our hearts become blocked.  Indeed, there is a kind of inner deafness and muteness of heart that occurs whenever we close in on ourselves, or shut ourselves off from God and others through selfishness, indifference, fear of taking risks or putting ourselves on the line, resentment, hatred, and the list could go on. All of this distances us from God, from our brothers and sisters, from ourselves and from the joy of living.

Brothers and sisters, God responds to such distance in the complete opposite way, with the nearness of Jesus. Through his Son, God wishes to show first of all that he is near and compassionate, that he cares for us and overcomes any distance. In fact, in the Gospel passage we see Jesus going to territories on the peripheries, leaving Judea in order to meet the pagans (cf. Mk 7:31).

Through his nearness, Jesus heals human muteness and deafness. Indeed, whenever we feel distant, or we choose to keep ourselves at a distance from God, from our brothers and sisters or from those who are different from us, we close ourselves off, barricading ourselves from the outside. We end up, then, revolving only around our own ego, deaf to the word of God and to the cry of our neighbour, and therefore unable to speak to God or our neighbour.

And you, brothers and sisters, who live in this land so far away, perhaps you may imagine that you are separated from the Lord and from one another. This is not true, no: you are united in the Holy Spirit and in the Lord! And the Lord says to each one of you, “be opened”!  The most important thing is to open ourselves to God and our brothers and sisters, and to open ourselves to the Gospel, making it the compass of our lives.

Today, the Lord also says to you, “Courage, people of Papua New Guinea, do not be afraid! Open yourselves! Open yourselves to the joy of the Gospel; open yourselves to encounter God; open yourselves to the love of your brothers and sisters”. May none of us remain deaf or mute before this invitation. Moreover, may Blessed John Mazzucconi accompany you on this journey, for amid much difficulty and hostility he brought Christ into your midst, so that no one would remain deaf before the joyful message of salvation, and that all might loosen their tongues to sing of God’s love. May this indeed be so for you today!

08.09.24

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I am pleased to be here, in this beautiful Salesian church: the Salesians know how to do things well. I congratulate you! This is a diocesan shrine dedicated to Mary Help of Christians – I was baptized in the parish of Mary Help of Christians in Buenos Aires – a title so dear to Saint John Bosco; or Maria Helpim as you affectionately invoke her here. In 1844, when Our Lady inspired Don Bosco to build a church in her honour in Turin, she made him this promise: “Here is my home, from here my glory”. Mary promised him that if he had the courage to begin the construction of the church, great graces would then follow. And so it happened: the church was built – it is marvellous – but the one in Buenos Aires is more beautiful! – and it has become a centre for allowing the Gospel to shine forth, forming young people and carrying out works of charity, a reference point for so many people.

The beautiful shrine we find ourselves in now, which is inspired by that story, can be a symbol also for us of three aspects of our Christian and missionary journey that were highlighted in the testimonies we just heard: the courage to begin, the beauty of being present, and the hope of growing.

07.09.24 mce

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I greet His Eminence, whom I thank for his words, the Superior of the Community, the Director, all those present, laity and religious, and especially you children, who are wonderful!

I am very happy to meet you and share this moment of celebration with you. I also thank your companions, who asked me two challenging questions.

One of you asked me: “Why am I not like other people?”. I really only have one answer to this question and that is: “None of us is like anyone else, because we are all unique in God’s eyes!”. It is not only that “there is hope for everyone” – as has been said – but I would add that each one of us has a role and mission in the world that no one else can fulfil. Even if it involves difficulties, carrying out our role and mission will also give us a great deal of joy in ways that are different for each person. Peace and joy are for everyone.

07.09.24 vce

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

I am pleased to be with you today and to visit Papua New Guinea. I thank the Governor General for his cordial words of welcome and I thank all of you for your warm reception. I extend my greetings to the people of the country, wishing them peace and prosperity. And I also express my gratitude to the Authorities for helping the Church, in a spirit of mutual cooperation and for the benefit of the common good, as she carries out many activities.

In your homeland, an archipelago with hundreds of islands, more than eight hundred languages are spoken, corresponding to just as many ethnic groups. This points to an extraordinary cultural and human richness. I must confess that this greatly fascinates me, also on a spiritual level, because I imagine that this enormous variety is a challenge to the Holy Spirit, who creates harmony amid differences!

07.09.24 mae

The encounter with Jesus calls us to live out two fundamental attitudes that enable us to become his disciples. The first attitude is listening to the word, and the second is living the word. First, listening, because everything comes from listening, from opening ourselves to him, welcoming the precious gift of his friendship. Then it is important to live the word we have received, so as not to listen in vain and deceive ourselves (cf. Jas 1:22). Indeed, those who risk listening only with their ears do not allow the seed of the word to descend into their hearts and thus change their way of thinking, feeling and acting, and this is not good. The word given, and received through listening, wishes to become life in us, transform us and become incarnate in our lives.

The Gospel that was just proclaimed helps us to reflect on these two essential attitudes: listening to the word and living the word.

First of all, listening to the word. The Evangelist relates that many people flocked to Jesus and “the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God” (Lk 5:1). They were looking for him, hungering and thirsting for the word of the Lord and they heard it resound in the words of Jesus. This scene, then, repeated many times in the Gospel, tells us that the human heart is always searching for a truth that can feed and satisfy its desire for happiness. We cannot be satisfied by human words alone, the thinking of this world and earthly judgments. We always need a light from on high to illuminate our steps, living water that can quench the thirst of the deserts of the soul, consolation that does not disappoint because it comes from heaven and not from the fleeting things of this world. In the midst of the confusion and vanity of human words, brothers and sisters, there is need for the word of God, the only true compass for our journey, which alone is capable of leading us back to the true meaning of life amid so much woundedness and confusion.

Brothers and sisters, let us not forget that the first task of the disciple – and we are all disciples! – is not to clothe ourselves with an outwardly perfect religiosity, do extraordinary things or engage in grandiose undertakings. No, the first task, the first step, instead, is to know how to listen to the only word that saves, the word of Jesus. We can see this in the Gospel scene, when the Master climbs into Peter’s boat to distance himself a little from the shore and thus preach better to the people (cf. Lk 5:3). Our life of faith begins when we humbly welcome Jesus into the boat of our lives, make room for him, listen to his word and let ourselves be questioned, challenged and changed by it.

At the same time, brothers and sisters, the word of the Lord asks to be incarnated concretely in us so we are called to live the word. Merely repeating the word, without living it, makes us like parrots: yes, we speak the word, but do not understand it, do not live it. After Jesus has finished preaching to the crowds from the boat, he turns to Peter and challenges him to take the risk of betting on that word, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch” (v. 4). The word of the Lord cannot remain as a fine abstract idea or stir up only a passing emotion. It asks us to change our gaze and allow our hearts to be transformed into the image of Christ’s heart. The word calls us to cast courageously the nets of the Gospel into the sea of the world, running the risk, yes, running the risk of living the love that he first lived and in turn taught us to live. The Lord, with the burning power of his word, also asks us, brothers and sisters, to put out to sea, break away from the stagnant shores of bad habits, fears and mediocrity and dare to live a new life. The devil likes mediocrity, because it enters within us and destroys us.

Of course, there are always obstacles and excuses for saying no to this call. Let us look again at Peter’s behaviour. He had come to shore after a difficult night of not catching anything. He was angry, tired and disappointed, and yet, instead of remaining paralyzed by that emptiness or impeded by his own failure, he says: “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet, on your word, I will let down the nets” (v. 5). On your word, I will let down the nets. Then, something unheard of happens, the miracle of a boat filling up with fish until it almost sinks (cf. v. 7).

Brothers and sisters, faced with the many responsibilities of our daily lives, together with the call we all feel to build a more just society and move forward on the path of peace and dialogue – that path which has long been the case in Indonesia – we can sometimes feel inadequate. We sometimes feel the weight of our commitment and dedication that does not always bear fruit, or of our mistakes that seem to impede the journey we are on. We too are asked not to remain prisoners of our failures, which is very bad, because failures take hold of us and we can become prisoners of failure. No, please: let us not remain prisoners of our failures. Instead of keeping our eyes fixed only on our empty nets, then, we are to look to Jesus and trust him. Do not look at your empty nets, look at Jesus! He will make you walk, he will help you, trust in Jesus!  Even when we have passed through the night of failure and times of disappointment when we have caught nothing, we can always risk going out to sea and cast our nets again. Now let us take a moment of silence and each of you think about your own failures. And looking at these failures, let us risk, let us move forward with the courage of the word of God.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta, whose memory we celebrate today and who tirelessly cared for the poorest of the poor and became a promoter of peace and dialogue, used to say, “When we have nothing to give, let us give that nothing. And remember, even if you reap nothing, never tire of sowing”. Brother and sister, never tire of sowing, for this is life.

Brothers and sisters, I would also like to say to you, to this nation, to this wonderful and varied archipelago, do not grow weary of setting sail, do not grow weary of casting your nets, do not grow weary of dreaming, do not grow weary of building again a civilization of peace. Always dare to dream of fraternity, which is a real treasure among you. Guided by the word of the Lord, I encourage you to sow seeds of love, confidently tread the path of dialogue, continue to show your goodness and kindness with your characteristic smile. Have you been told that you are a smiling people? Please, do not lose your smile, and keep moving forward! And be builders of peace. Be builders of hope!

The Bishops of the country recently expressed a desire that I too would like to communicate to all the Indonesian people: walk together for the good of society and of the Church! Be builders of hope. Listen carefully: be builders of hope, the hope of the Gospel, which does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5), which never disappoints, but instead opens us up to endless joy. Thank you very much.

I thank Cardinal Ignatius, as well as the President of the Bishops’ Conference and the other Bishops of the Church in Indonesia, who together with the priests and deacons serve the holy people of God in this great country. I thank, too, the consecrated men and women, all the volunteers and, with great affection, the elderly, sick and suffering who have been praying for us. Thank you!

My visit among you is drawing to an end, and I wish to express my joyful gratitude for the superb welcome that I have received. With renewed thanks to the President of the Republic, who was present here today, to the other Civil Authorities and the security services, I likewise express my appreciation to the entire Indonesian people.

It says in the Acts of the Apostles that on the day of Pentecost there was a great commotion in Jerusalem. And everyone was making a noise in preaching the Gospel. Please, dear brothers and sisters, make a noise! Make a noise!

May the Lord bless you. Thank you!

05.09.24

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

I am very happy to be here with you. I greet all of you, particularly the President of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference, whom I thank for his kind words of introduction. I also thank Mimi and Andrew for what they shared with us. It is very fitting that the Indonesian Bishops have chosen to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of their national Conference with you. Thank you! Thank you for making this decision. Thank you to the President! I can tell that your Carthusian spirit helps us to do these things.

You are shining stars in the sky of this archipelago, the most precious members of this Church, its “treasures”, in the words of the deacon and martyr Saint Lawrence, from the earliest days of the Church. Let me begin by saying that I fully agree with what Mimi told us: God “created human beings with unique abilities to enrich the diversity of our world”. You spoke well, Mimi, thank you. She went on to show us this by speaking beautifully of Jesus as “our beacon of hope”. Thank you for this!

05.09.24 mbc

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

I am happy to be here, in the largest Mosque in Asia, together with all of you. I greet the Grand Imam and thank him for his words, reminding us that this place of worship and prayer is also “a great house for humanity”, where everyone can enter and take time for themselves, in order to make space for that yearning for the infinite that each one of us carries in our hearts, and to seek an encounter with the divine and experience the joy of friendship with others.

Moreover, I would like to recall that this Mosque was designed by the architect Friedrich Silaban, a Christian who won the design competition. This testifies to the fact that throughout the history of this nation and in the very fabric of its culture, the Mosque, like other places of worship, are spaces of dialogue, mutual respect and harmonious coexistence between religions and different spiritual sensibilities. This is a great gift that you are called to cultivate every day, so that religious experiences may be reference points for a fraternal and peaceful society and never reasons for close-mindedness or confrontation.

05.09.24 ime

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

There are cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns, lay people, and children, but we are all brothers and sisters. The titles of the pope, the cardinal, and the bishop are not as important, we are all brothers and sisters. Everyone has his own task to grow God’s people.

As you know, the motto chosen for this Apostolic Visit is Faith, Fraternity, Compassion. I think these are three virtues that express well both your journey as a Church and your character as a people, who are ethnically and culturally diverse. At the same time, you are characterized by an innate striving for unity and peaceful coexistence, as witnessed by the traditional principles of the Pancasila. I would now like to reflect with you on these three words.

04.09.24 mwce

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I cordially thank you, Mr President, for the gracious invitation to visit your country and for your kind words of welcome. I extend to the President-elect my warmest good wishes for a fruitful period of service to Indonesia, a vast archipelago of thousands and thousands of islands surrounded by the sea that connects Asia to Oceania.

We could almost say that, just as the ocean is the natural element uniting all Indonesian islands, the mutual respect for the specific cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious characteristics of all the groups present in Indonesia is the indispensable and unifying fabric that makes Indonesians a united and proud people.

04.09.24 mwae

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Today, in the Gospel of the liturgy (cf. Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23), Jesus speaks about the pure and the impure: a matter very dear to his contemporaries, which was linked principally to the observance of rites and rules of behaviour, to avoid any contact with things or persons considered unclean and, if this happened, to erase the “stain” (cf. Lev 11-15). Purity and impurity were almost an obsession for some religious of those times.

Some scribes and Pharisees, obsessive, strict observers of such norms, accuse Jesus of allowing his disciples to eat with unwashed hands, without washing their hands. And Jesus takes this reproach on the part of the Pharisees to His disciples to talk to us about the meaning of “purity”.

Purity, Jesus says, is not linked to external rites, but is first and foremost linked to inner dispositions, interior dispositions. To be pure, therefore, it is no use washing one’s hands several times if one then, within the heart, harbours evil feelings such as greed, envy or pride, or evil intentions such as deceit, theft, betrayal and slander (cf. Mk 7:21-22). Jesus draws attention to the need to beware of ritualism, which does not make one grow in goodness; on the contrary, this ritualism can sometimes lead one to neglect, or even justify, in oneself and in others, choices and attitudes contrary to charity, which wound the soul and close the heart.

And this, brothers and sisters, is important for us too: one cannot, for example, leave Holy Mass and, still in front of the church, stop and gossip wickedly and mercilessly about everything and everyone. That chatter that ruins the heart, that ruins the soul. And you can’t do this! If you go to Mass and then do these things at the entrance, it is a bad thing! Or to show oneself to be pious in prayer, but then treat one’s own relatives at home with coldness and detachment, or neglect their elderly parents, who are in need of help and company (cf. Mk 7:10-13). This is a double life, and one cannot do this. And this is what the Pharisees did. External purity, without good attitudes, merciful attitudes towards others. One cannot be apparently very decent to everyone, and perhaps even do a bit of voluntary work and some philanthropic gestures, but then inwardly cultivate hatred towards others, despise the poor and the least, or behave dishonestly in one's work.

In acting in this way, the relationship with God is reduced to external gestures, and within one remains impervious to the purifying action of His grace, indulging in thoughts, messages and behaviour without love. We are made for something else. We are made for the purity of life, for tenderness, for love.

Let us ask ourselves, then: do I live my faith in a consistent manner, that is, what I do in Church, do I try to do outside in the same spirit? By my sentiments, words and deeds, do I make what I say in prayer tangible in closeness and respect for my brothers and sisters? Let us think about this.

And may Mary, Mother most pure, help us to make our life, in heartfelt and practiced love, worship pleasing to God (cf. Rm 12:1).

01.09.24