Pope Francis Homilies

Books of the Bible Index of Homilies

Pope Francis  Angelus message 16.03.25

Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!

Today, the second Sunday of Lent, the Gospel tells us about the Transfiguration of Jesus (Lk 9:28-36). Having climbed to the top of a mountain with Peter, James and John, Jesus immerses Himself in prayer and becomes radiant with light. In this way, He shows the disciples what is hidden behind the gestures He performs in their midst: the light of His infinite love.

I am sharing these thoughts with you while I am facing a period of trial, and I join with so many brothers and sisters who are sick: fragile, at this time, like me. Our bodies are weak but, even like this, nothing can prevent us from loving, praying, giving ourselves, being for each other, in faith, shining signs of hope. How much light shines, in this sense, in hospitals and places of care! How much loving care illuminates the rooms, the corridors, the clinics, the places where the humblest services are performed! That is why I would like to invite you, today, to join me in praising the Lord, who never abandons us and who, in times of sorrow, places people beside us who reflect a ray of His love.

I thank you all for your prayers, and I thank those who assist me with such dedication. I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to “Gemelli” as a sign of closeness. Thank you, dearest children! The Pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you.

Let us continue to pray for peace, especially in the countries wounded by war: tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

And let us also pray for the Church, required to translate into concrete choices the discernment made in the recent Synodal Assembly. I thank the General Secretariat of the Synod, which over the coming three years will accompany the local Churches in this undertaking.

May the Virgin Mary keep you and help you to be, like Her, bearers of Christ’s light and peace.

16.03.25

Pope Francis  Angelus message 09.03.25

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last Wednesday, with the rite of the Ashes, we began Lent, the forty-day-long penitential itinerary that calls us to the conversion of the heart and leads us to the joy of Easter. Let us commit ourselves to making it a time of purification and spiritual renewal, a path of growth in faith, hope and charity.

This morning, in Saint Peter’s Square, holy Mass was celebrated for the world of volunteering, which is experiencing its own Jubilee. In our societies, too enslaved to market logic, where everything risks being subject to the criterion of interest and the quest for profit, volunteering is prophecy and a sign of hope, because it bears witness to the primacy of gratuitousness, solidarity and service to those most in need. I express my gratitude to those who are engaged in this field: thank you for offering your time and abilities; thank you for the closeness and tenderness with which you care for others, reawakening hope in them!

Brothers and sisters, during my prolonged hospitalization here, I too experience the thoughtfulness of service and the tenderness of care, in particular from the doctors and healthcare workers, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart. And while I am here, I think of the many people who in various ways are close to the sick, and who are for them a sign of the Lord’s presence. We need this, the “miracle of tenderness” which accompanies those who are in adversity, bringing a little light into the night of pain.

I would like to thank all those who are showing their closeness to me in prayer: heartfelt thanks to you all! I pray for you too. And I join spiritually with those who in the coming days will participate in the spiritual Exercises of the Roman Curia.

Together let us continue to invoke the gift of peace, in particular in tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In particular, I have learned with concern of the resumption of violence in some areas of Syria: I hope that they cease definitively, with full respect for all ethnic and religious components of society, especially civilians.

I entrust you all to the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary. Happy Sunday, and arrivederci!

09.03.25

Pope Francis  March 2025

For families in crisis

Let us pray that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other’s gifts, even in their differences.

We all dream about a beautiful, perfect family. But there’s no such thing as a perfect family. Every family has its own problems, as well as its tremendous joys.

Every member of the family is important because each member is different than the others, each person is unique. But these differences can also cause conflict and painful wounds.

And the best medicine to heal the pain of a wounded family is forgiveness.

Forgiveness means giving another chance. God does this with us all the time. God’s patience is infinite. He forgives us, lifts us up, gives us a new start. Forgiveness always renews the family, making it look forward with hope.

Even when there’s no possibility of the “happy ending” we’d like, God’s grace gives us the strength to forgive, and it brings peace, because it frees us from sadness, and, above all, from resentment.

Let us pray that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other’s gifts, even in their differences

March  2025

Pope Francis Message for the 58th World Day of Peace 01.01.25

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

Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace

Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace

At the dawn of this New Year given to us by our heavenly Father, a year of Jubilee in the spirit of hope, I offer heartfelt good wishes of peace to every man and woman. I think especially of those who feel downtrodden, burdened by their past mistakes, oppressed by the judgment of others and incapable of perceiving even a glimmer of hope for their own lives. Upon everyone I invoke hope and peace, for this is a Year of Grace born of the Heart of the Redeemer!

01.01.25

Holy Mass 09.03.25 

presided over by H E Cardinal Michael Czerny 

Holy Rosary for Pope Francis  19.03.25 

Watch Live from 19.30 Rome Time

Pope Francis Words of Thanks

06.03.25 broadcast at the beginning of the prayer of the Holy Rosary in Saint Peter’s Square

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square, I accompany you from here. May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.

06.03.25

Holy Mass 09.03.25

Jesus tempted by the devil 

Homily of Pope Francis read by H.E. Cardinal Michael Czerny 

Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert (cf. Lk 4:1). Every year, our Lenten journey begins by following the Lord there and sharing in that experience, which he transformed for our benefit.When Jesus entered the desert, a decisive change occurred: the place of silence became a place of listening. In the desert, our ability to listen is put to the test, because a choice must be made between two completely different voices. In this regard, the Gospel tells us that Jesus’ journey began with an act of listening and obedience: it is the Holy Spirit, the very power of God, who leads him to a place where nothing good springs from the ground or rains down from the sky. In the desert, we experience material and spiritual poverty, our need for bread and for God’s word.

Jesus, who is true man, experienced that hunger (cf. v. 2). He was tempted for forty days by a word that came not from the Holy Spirit, but from the evil one, the devil. Having begun the forty days of Lent, let us reflect on the fact that we too are tempted, yet are not alone. Jesus is with us, to guide us through the desert. The Son of God made man does not simply give us an example of how to combat evil. He gives us something much greater: the strength to resist its attacks and to persevere on our journey.

So let us consider three aspects of Jesus’ temptation and of our own: its beginning, the way it takes place and its result. In this way, we will find inspiration for our journey of conversion.

First of all, the beginning. Jesus’ temptation is intentional: the Lord does not go into the desert to show the strength of his will, but out of filial openness to the Spirit of the Father, whose guidance he readily and freely accepts. Our temptation, on the other hand, is not intentional: evil is prior to our freedom, attacking it from within, like an inner shadow and a constant threat. Whenever we ask God not to lead us into temptation (cf. Mt 6:13), we need to remember that he has already answered that prayer through Jesus, his incarnate Word, who remains with us always. The Lord is close to us and cares for us, especially in times of trial and uncertainty, when the tempter makes his voice heard. He is the father of lies (cf. Jn 8:44), perverse and perversive, for he knows God’s word without understanding it. Quite the opposite: just as he had done since the days of Adam in the Garden of Eden (cf. Gen 3:1-5), so he does now in the case of Jesus, the new Adam, in the desert.

Here we see the remarkable way in which Christ is tempted, namely, through his relationship with God, his Father. The devil is the one who separates and divides, whereas Jesus is the one who unites God and man, the mediator. In his perversion, the devil wants to destroy that bond and have Jesus exploit his position. He says: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread” (Lk 4:3), and again: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down” (v. 9) from the pinnacle of the Temple. In response to these temptations, Jesus, the Son of God, led by the Spirit, chooses the way that he will live out his filial relationship to the Father. This is what the Lord chooses: his unique and exclusive relationship with God, whose only Son he is, becomes a relationship that embraces everyone, without excluding anyone. Jesus’ relationship with the Father is not something to be grasped at (cf. Phil 2:6), or boasted of, in order to achieve success and attract followers, but rather a gift that he shares with the world for our salvation.

We too are tempted in our relationship with God, but in a completely different way. The devil whispers into our ear that God is not really our Father, that he has in fact abandoned us. Satan tries to convince us that there is no bread for the hungry, least of all from stones, that angels will not come to our aid when we are falling, and that at best, the world is in the hands of evil powers that crush nations by their arrogant schemes and the brutality of war. Yet just when the devil would have us believe that the Lord is far from us, and would tempt us to despair, God draws all the closer to us, giving his life for the redemption of the world.

The third aspect is the result of these temptations. Jesus, God’s Anointed One, vanquishes evil; he drives away the devil, who will nonetheless return to tempt him, waiting for “another opportunity” (v. 13). So the Gospel tells us, and we will keep this in mind when, on Golgotha, Jesus is tempted again: “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Mt 27:40; cf. Lk 23:35). In the desert, the Tempter is defeated, yet Christ’s victory is not yet definitive, as it will be in the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection. 

As we prepare to celebrate this, the central mystery of our faith, we realize that the result of our own trials is different. In the face of temptation, we sometimes fall; we are all sinners. Our defeat, however, is not definitive, because following our every fall, God lifts us up by his infinite love and forgiveness. Our testing does not end in failure, because, in Christ, we are redeemed from evil. As we journey through the desert with him, we follow a road previously untravelled: Jesus himself opens up before us this new path of liberation and redemption. By following the Lord in faith, from drifters we become pilgrims.

Dear sisters and brothers, I invite you to begin your Lenten journey in this way. And since, along the way, we need the “good will” (buona voluntà) that the Holy Spirit always sustains in us, I am pleased to greet all the “volunteers” (volontari) who are here in Rome today for their Jubilee pilgrimage. I thank you heartily, dear friends, because, following the example of Jesus, you serve your neighbours unstintingly. On the streets and in homes, in the company of the sick, the suffering and the imprisoned, with the young and the elderly, your generosity and commitment offer hope to our entire society. In the deserts of poverty and loneliness, all those small gestures are helping to make a new humanity blossom in the garden that is God’s dream, always and everywhere, for all of us.

09.03.25

The Gospel in your pocket 

How do we receive the Word of God? The response is clear: As one receives Jesus Christ. The Church tells us that Jesus is present in the Scripture, in His Word.

Always carry a small Gospel with you in your purse, in your pocket, and read a passage from the Gospel during the day. Not so much to learn something, but mostly to find Jesus, because Jesus actually is in His Word, in His Gospel.  Every time I read the Gospel, I find Jesus.  - Pope Francis 01.09.14

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Pope Francis  

Message for Lent 2025

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

Let us journey together in hope

Dear brothers and sisters,

We begin our annual pilgrimage of Lent in faith and hope with the penitential rite of the imposition of ashes. The Church, our mother and teacher, invites us to open our hearts to God’s grace, so that we can celebrate with great joy the paschal victory of Christ the Lord over sin and death, which led Saint Paul to exclaim: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor15:54-55). Indeed, Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is the heart of our faith and the pledge of our hope in the Father’s great promise, already fulfilled in his beloved Son: life eternal (cf.Jn10:28; 17:3).[1]

This Lent, as we share in the grace of the Jubilee Year, I would like to propose a few reflections on what it means tojourney together in hope, and on the summons to conversion that God in his mercy addresses to all of us, as individuals and as a community.

First of all,to journey. The Jubilee motto, “Pilgrims of Hope”, evokes the lengthy journey of the people of Israel to the Promised Land, as recounted in the Book of Exodus. This arduous path from slavery to freedom was willed and guided by the Lord, who loves his people and remains ever faithful to them. It is hard to think of the biblical exodus without also thinking of those of our brothers and sisters who in our own day are fleeing situations of misery and violence in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones. A first call to conversion thus comes from the realization that all of us are pilgrims in this life; each of us is invited to stop and ask how our lives reflect this fact. Am I really on a journey, or am I standing still, not moving, either immobilized by fear and hopelessness or reluctant to move out of my comfort zone? Am I seeking ways to leave behind the occasions of sin and situations that degrade my dignity? It would be a good Lenten exercise for us to compare our daily life with that of some migrant or foreigner, to learn how to sympathize with their experiences and in this way discover what God is asking of us so that we can better advance on our journey to the house of the Father. This would be a good “examination of conscience” for all of us wayfarers.

Second, to journeytogether. The Church is called to walk together, to be synoda[2]Christians are called to walk at the side of others, and never as lone travellers. The Holy Spirit impels us not to remain self-absorbed, but to leave ourselves behind and keep walking towards God and our brothers and sisters.[3]Journeying together means consolidating the unity grounded in our common dignity as children of God (cf.Gal3:26-28). It means walking side-by-side, without shoving or stepping on others, without envy or hypocrisy, without letting anyone be left behind or excluded. Let us all walk in the same direction, tending towards the same goal, attentive to one another in love and patience.

This Lent, God is asking us to examine whether in our lives, in our families, in the places where we work and spend our time, we are capable of walking together with others, listening to them, resisting the temptation to become self-absorbed and to think only of our own needs. Let us ask ourselves in the presence of the Lord whether, as bishops, priests, consecrated persons and laity in the service of the Kingdom of God, we cooperate with others. Whether we show ourselves welcoming, with concrete gestures, to those both near and far. Whether we make others feel a part of the community or keep them at a distance.[4]This, then, is a second call to conversion: a summons to synodality.

Third, let us journey togetherin hope, for we have been given a promise. Maythe hope that does not disappoint(cf.Rom5:5), the central message of the Jubilee,[5]be the focus of our Lenten journey towards the victory of Easter. As Pope Benedict XVI taught us in the EncyclicalSpe Salvi, “the human being needs unconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: ‘neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom8:38-39)”.[6]Christ, my hope, has risen![7]He lives and reigns in glory. Death has been transformed into triumph, and the faith and great hope of Christians rests in this: the resurrection of Christ!

This, then, is the third call to conversion: a call to hope, to trust in God and his great promise of eternal life. Let us ask ourselves: Am I convinced that the Lord forgives my sins? Or do I act as if I can save myself? Do I long for salvation and call upon God’s help to attain it? Do I concretely experience the hope that enables me to interpret the events of history and inspires in me a commitment to justice and fraternity, to care for our common home and in such a way that no one feels excluded?

Sisters and brothers, thanks to God’s love in Jesus Christ, we are sustained in the hope that does not disappoint (cf.Rom5:5). Hope is the “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul”.[8]It moves the Church to pray for “everyone to be saved” (1 Tim2:4) and to look forward to her being united with Christ, her bridegroom, in the glory of heaven. This was the prayer of Saint Teresa of Avila: “Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one” (The Exclamations of the Soul to God, 15:3).[9]

May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, intercede for us and accompany us on our Lenten journey.

05.03.25

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