Pope Francis Homilies

Books of the Bible Index of Homilies

Matthew Mark Luke John The Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Tobit Judith Esther 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes The Song of Songs The Book of Wisdom Sirach Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Baruch Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

Pope Leo Angelus 08.02.26

Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!

After proclaiming the Beatitudes, Jesus addresses those who put them into practice, saying that thanks to them the earth is no longer the same and the world is no longer in darkness. “You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:13-14). Indeed, it is genuine joy that gives flavor to life and brings to light something that was not there before. This joy springs from a way of life, a way of inhabiting the earth and of living together that must be desired and chosen. It is the life that shines in Jesus, the new flavour of his words and deeds. After encountering Jesus in his poverty of spirit, his meekness and simplicity of heart, his hunger and thirst for justice, which unlocks mercy and peace as powers of transformation and reconciliation, those who would distance themselves from all this seem bland and dull.

The prophet Isaiah lists concrete gestures that overcome injustice: sharing bread with the hungry, bringing the poor and homeless into our homes, clothing those we see to be naked, without neglecting our neighbours and those in our own homes (cf. 58:7). The prophet continues, “then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily” (v. 8). On the one hand, there is light which cannot be hidden because it is as great as the sun that drives away the darkness every morning; on the other hand, there is a wound that was once burning and is now healing.

Indeed, it is painful to lose flavour and give up joy; yet it is possible to have this wound in one’s heart. Jesus seems to warn those who listen to him not to give up joy. Salt that has lost its flavour, he says, “is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot” (Mt 5:13). How many people — perhaps we ourselves — feel like they are worthless or broken. It is as if their light has been hidden. Jesus, however, proclaims a God who will never throw us away, a Father who cares for our names and our uniqueness. Every wound, even the deepest, will be healed by welcoming the word of the Beatitudes and setting us back on the path of the Gospel.

Moreover, deeds of openness and attention to others will rekindle joy. At the same time, however, through their simplicity such gestures put us at odds with the world. Jesus himself was tempted in the desert to follow other paths, to assert his identity, to laud it and have the world at his feet. Yet he rejected the paths that would have caused him to lose his true flavour, the one we find every Sunday in the Bread that is broken, which is a life given and a silent love.

Brothers and sisters, let us be nourished and enlightened by communion with Jesus. Without any boasting, we will then be like a city set on a hill, not simply visible, but also inviting and welcoming: the city of God where everyone, deep down, desires to live and find peace. Let us now turn our gaze and our prayers to Mary, the Gate of Heaven, that she may help us to become and remain disciples of her Son.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Yesterday in Huércal-Overa, Spain, Father Salvatore Valera Parra was beatified. He was a parish priest completely devoted to his people, humble and generous in pastoral charity. His priestly example of focusing on what is essential can inspire today’s priests to be faithful in living each day with simplicity and asceticism.

It is with sorrow and concern that I learned of the recent attacks against various communities in Nigeria leading to a heavy loss of life. I express my prayerful closeness to all the victims of violence and terrorism. I likewise hope that the competent Authorities will continue to work with determination to ensure the safety and protection of the life of every citizen.

Today, the memorial of Saint Josephine Bakhita, we celebrate the World Day of Prayer and Reflection Against Human Trafficking. I thank the religious and all those who are committed to combating and eliminating current forms of slavery. Together with them, I say: peace begins with dignity!

I offer the assurance of my prayers to the people of Portugal, Morocco, Spain — especially Grazalema in Andalusia — and southern Italy, particularly Niscemi in Sicily, who have been affected by floods and landslides. I encourage the communities to remain united and supportive, with the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary.

Now, I welcome all of you: Romans, and pilgrims from Italy and various countries. I greet the faithful from Melilla, Murcia and Malaga, Spain; those from Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia; the students from Olivenza, Spain, and those preparing for Confirmation in Malta. I also greet the young people connected to us from three oratories in the Diocese of Brescia.

Let us continue to pray for peace. History teaches us that strategies of economic and military power do not give humanity a future. The future lies in respect and fraternity among peoples.

I wish all of you a happy Sunday.

08.02.26

Pope Leo General Audience 04.02.26

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

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

The Conciliar Constitution Dei Verbum, on which we are reflecting during these weeks, indicates in the Sacred Scripture, read in the living Tradition of the Church, a privileged space for encounter where God continues to speak to the men and women of every time, so that, by listening, they can know him and love him. The biblical texts, however, were not written in a heavenly or superhuman language. Indeed, as daily life teaches us, two people who speak different languages cannot understand each other, cannot enter into dialogue, and are unable to establish a relationship. In some cases, making oneself to others is a first act of love. This is why God chooses to speak using human languages and thus, various authors, inspired by the Holy Spirit, have written the texts of Sacred Scripture. As the Conciliar document reminds us, “the words of God, expressed in human language, have been made like human discourse, just as the word of the eternal Father, when He took to Himself the flesh of human weakness, was in every way made like men” (DV, 13). Therefore, not only in its content, but also in its language, the Scripture reveals God’s merciful condescension towards men, and his desire to be close to them.

Throughout the course of Church history, the relationship between the divine Author and the human authors of the sacred texts has been studied. For several centuries, many theologians were concerned to defend the divine inspiration of the Sacred Scripture, almost considering the human authors merely as passive tools of the Holy Spirit. In more recent times, reflection has re-evaluated the contribution of hagiographers in the writing of sacred texts, to the point that the Conciliar document speaks of God as the principal “author” of Sacred Scripture, but also calls hagiographers “true authors” of the sacred books (cf. DV, 11). As a keen exegete of the last century observed, “to reduce human activity to that of a mere amanuensis is not to glorify divine activity”. God never mortifies human beings and their potential!

If, therefore, the Scripture is the word of God in human words, any approach to it that neglects or denies one of these two dimensions proves to be partial. It follows that a correct interpretation of the sacred texts cannot dispense with the historic environment in which they developed and the literary forms that were used; on the contrary, to renounce the study of the human words that God used risks leading to fundamentalist or spiritualist readings of the Scripture, which betray its meaning. This principle also applies to the proclamation of the Word of God: if it loses touch with reality, with human hopes and sufferings, if an incomprehensible language is used, uncommunicative or anachronistic, it is ineffective. In every age, the Church is called to re-propose the Word of God in a language capable of being embodied in history and reaching hearts. As Pope Francis reminds us, “Whenever we make the effort to return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new meaning for today’s world”.

Equally reductive, on the other hand, is a reading of Scripture that neglects its divine origin and ends up understanding it as a mere human teaching, as something to be studied simply from a technical point of view or as a text "only of the past”.

04.02.26

FAMINE

Pope Francis

Hunger

Hunger is an injustice that destroys men and women because they have nothing to eat, even if there is a lot food available in the world. Human exploitation; different forms of slavery; recently I saw a film shot inside a prison where migrants are locked up and tortured to turn them into slaves. This is still happening 70 years after the Declaration of Human Rights. Cultural colonization. This is exactly what the Devil wants, to destroy human dignity – and that is why the Devil is behind all forms of persecution.

01.06.18

Pope Leo General Audience 04.02.26

Pope Leo Angelus 01.02.26

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

Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!

Today’s liturgy proclaims a beautiful passage from the Good News that Jesus announces to all humanity: the Gospel of the Beatitudes (Mt 5:1-12). These are, in fact, lights that the Lord kindles in the darkness of history, revealing the plan of salvation that the Father accomplishes through the Son, with the power of the Holy Spirit.

On the mountain, Christ gives his disciples the new law, no longer written on stone. It is a law that renews our lives and makes them good, even when the world seems to have failed us and is full of misery. Only God can truly call the poor and afflicted blessed (cf. vv. 3-4), because he is the highest good who gives himself to all with infinite love. Only God can satisfy those who seek peace and justice (cf. vv. 6.9), because he is the just judge of the world and the author of eternal peace. Only in God do the meek, the merciful and the pure of heart find joy (vv. 5.7-8), because he is the fulfilment of their expectations. In persecution, God is the source of redemption; in falsehood, he is the anchor of truth. Therefore, Jesus proclaims: “Rejoice and be glad!” (v. 12).

These Beatitudes remain a paradox only for those who believe that God is other than how Christ reveals him. Those who expect the arrogant to always rule the earth are surprised by the Lord’s words. Those who are accustomed to thinking that happiness belongs to the rich may believe that Jesus is deluded. However, the delusion lies precisely in the lack of faith in Christ. He is the poor man who shares his life with everyone, the meek man who perseveres in suffering, the peacemaker persecuted to death on the cross.

In this way, Jesus illuminates the meaning of history. It is no longer written by conquerors, but rather by God, who is able to accomplish it by saving the oppressed. The Son looks at the world through the Father’s love. On the other hand, as Pope Francis said, there are “the experts in illusion. We should not follow them because they are unable to give us hope” (Angelus, 17 February 2019). Instead, God gives this hope primarily to those whom the world dismisses as hopeless.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, the Beatitudes become for us a measure of happiness, leading us to ask whether we consider it an achievement to be bought or a gift to be shared; whether we place it in objects that are consumed or in relationships that accompany us. It is in fact because of Christ (cf. Mt 5:11) and thanks to him that the bitterness of trials is transformed into the joy of the redeemed. Jesus does not speak of a distant consolation, but of a constant grace that always sustains us, especially in times of affliction.

The Beatitudes lift up the humble and disperse the proud in their inmost thoughts (cf Lk 1:51). Therefore, we ask for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, servant of the Lord, whom all generations call blessed.

Dear brothers and sisters,

I have received the greatly troubling news regarding an increase in tensions between Cuba and the United States of America, two neighbouring countries. I echo the message of the Cuban bishops, inviting all responsible parties to promote a sincere and effective dialogue, in order to avoid violence and every action that could increase the suffering of the dear Cuban people. May the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre assist and protect all of the children of that beloved land!

Next Friday, the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games will begin, followed by the Paralympic Games. I extend my best wishes to the organisers and all the athletes. These great sporting events send a powerful message of fraternity and rekindle hope for a world at peace. This is also the meaning of the Olympic truce, an ancient custom that accompanies the Games. I hope that all those who care about peace among peoples and are in positions of authority will take this opportunity to make concrete gestures of détente and dialogue.

Today in Italy is the “National Day for Civilian Victims of War and Conflict around the World.” Unfortunately this initiative is still tragically relevant. Every day there are more civilian victims of armed actions, actions that openly violate morality and the law. The dead and wounded of yesterday and today will truly be honoured when this intolerable injustice comes to an end.

I assure you of my prayers for the dead and for those who are suffering as a result of the storms that have struck Portugal and southern Italy in recent days. Let us also not forget the people of Mozambique who have been severely affected by flooding.

I greet all of you, dear Romans and pilgrims from various countries!

In particular, I am pleased to welcome the members of the Luce-Vita movement of the Diocese of Siedlce, Poland, accompanied by their Auxiliary Bishop. I greet the groups of faithful from Paraná in Argentina, from Chojnice, Warsaw, Wrocław, and Wagrowiec in Poland, from Pula and Sinj in Croatia, from Guatemala City and San Salvador, as well as the students from the Rodríguez Moñino Institute in Badajoz and those from Cuenca, Spain. I also greet the devotees of Our Lady of Miracles of Corbetta, near Milan.

I thank you from my heart for your prayers and wish everyone a happy Sunday!

01.02.26

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

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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Thank you, Francis

Every month, you have invited us to pray with you for the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church, teaching us to learn compassion for others from the heart of Christ. Thank you, Francis, for your life and your witness.

Your Worldwide Prayer Network.

Pope Francis Easter Message and Urbi et Orbi Blessing 20.04.25

Easter Sunday