Pope Francis Homilies

Books of the Bible Index of Homilies

Pope Francis  Angelus 21.07.24  

This week, the Olympic Games will begin in Paris, and they will be followed by the Paralympic Games. Sport also has a great social power, and it can peacefully unite people from different cultures. I hope that this event may be a beacon of the inclusive world we want to build and that athletes, with their sporting testimony, may be messengers of peace and authentic models for young people. In particular, as is the custom of this ancient tradition, may the Olympic Games be an occasion to call for a cease-fire in wars, demonstrating a sincere desire for peace.

Let us pray, brothers and sisters, for peace. Let us not forget tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and many other countries that are at war. Let us not forget, let us never forget, war is a defeat!

I wish everyone a good Sunday. And please do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and arrivederci!

21.07.24

Pope Francis  Angelus   21.07.24

Resting and being Compassionate

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

The Gospel of today's liturgy (Mk 6:30-34) tells us that the apostles gather around Jesus after returning from their mission. They tell Him what they have accomplished. He then says to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” (v. 31). However, the people understand where they are headed and, when they get off the boat, Jesus finds the crowd waiting for Him. He feels compassion for them, and He begins to teach (cf. v. 34).

So, on the one hand, there is an invitation to rest, and on the other, Jesus’ compassion for the crowd. It is very beautiful to stop in order to meditate on Jesus’ compassion. These may seem like two incompatible things, while they actually go together: resting and being compassionate. Let us look more closely.

Jesus is concerned about the disciples’ tiredness. Perhaps He is aware of a danger that can also concern our lives and our apostolate. This danger can threaten us when, for instance, our enthusiasm in carrying out our mission or our work, as well as the roles and tasks entrusted to us, make us fall victims to a kind of activism which is overly concerned with things to do and with results, and this is a bad thing. We become overly preoccupied with the things to be done, overly preoccupied with results. It then happens that we become agitated and lose sight of what is essential. We risk exhausting our energies and falling into bodily and spiritual fatigue. This is an important warning for our life and for our society which is often held prisoner by haste, but also for the Church and pastoral service: brothers and sisters, let us beware of the dictatorship of doing! And this can also happen out of necessity, within our families, for example when the father has to be away for work to earn a living, thus having to sacrifice the time he could have spent with the family. Often, parents leave early in the morning when the children are still sleeping and return late in the evening when they are already in bed. And this is a social injustice. In families, fathers and mothers should have time to share with their children, to let love grow within their family and in order not to fall into the dictatorship of doing. Let us think about what we can do to help people who are forced to live in this way.

At the same time, the rest proposed by Jesus is not an escape from the world, a retreat into a merely personal well-being. On the contrary, when He is confronted with the bewildered people, He feels compassion. And so, from the Gospel, we learn that these two realities—resting and being compassionate—are linked: only if we learn how to rest can we have compassion. Indeed, it is only possible to have a compassionate gaze, which knows how to respond to the needs of others, if our heart is not consumed by the anxiety of doing, if we know how to stop and how to receive the Grace of God, in the silence of adoration.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, we can ask ourselves: am I able to stop during my days? Am I capable of taking a moment to be with myself and with the Lord, or am I always in a hurry, in a constant hurry for the things to do? Can we find some kind of an "inner desert" amidst the noise and activities of each day?

May the Holy Virgin help us to "rest in the Spirit" even in the midst of all daily activities, and to be available to and compassionate towards others.

21.07.24

Pope Francis  Angelus   14.07.24

True missionary disciples

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

Today the Gospel tells us about Jesus who sends His disciples on the mission (cf. Mk 6:7-13). He sends them “two by two”, and recommends something important: to take with them only what is necessary.

Let us pause a moment on this image: the disciples are sent together, and must take with them only what is necessary.

We do not proclaim the Gospel alone, no: it is proclaimed together, as a community, and to do this it is important to know how to preserve sobriety: to know how to be sober in the use of things, sharing resources, capacities and gifts, and doing without the superfluous. Why? In order to be free: the superfluous enslaves you, and also so that we all have what we need to live in a dignified way and to contribute actively to the mission; and then to be sober in thoughts, to be sober in feelings, abandoning our preconceived ideas and abandoning the inflexibility that, like pointless baggage, weigh us down and hinder the journey, fostering discussion and listening instead, and thus making witness more effective.

Let us think, for example, of what happens in our families and our communities: when we are content with what is necessary, even with little, with God’s help we are able to go forward and get along, sharing what there is, everyone renouncing something and supporting each other (cf. Acts 4:32-35). And this is already a missionary proclamation, before and even more than words, because it embodies the beauty of Jesus’ message in the tangibility of life. Indeed, a family or a community that lives in this way creates around it an environment rich in love, in which it is easier to open oneself to faith and the newness of the Gospel, and from which one starts out better, one starts out more serene.

If, on the other hand, everyone goes his or her way, if only material things count – which are never enough – if one does not listen, if individualism and envy prevail – envy is something lethal, a poison! – individualism and envy prevail, the air becomes heavy, life becomes difficult, and encounters become an occasion of restlessness, sadness and discouragement, rather than an occasion of joy (cf. Mt. 19:22).

Dear brothers and sisters, communion and sobriety are important values for our Christian life: communion, harmony among us, and sobriety are important values, indispensable values for a Church to be missionary at all levels.

We can ask ourselves, then: do I taste the pleasure of proclaiming the Gospel, of bringing, where I live, the joy and light that come from an encounter with the Lord? And in order to do this, do I commit myself to walking together with others, sharing ideas and skills with them, with an open mind and with a generous heart? And finally: do I know how to cultivate a lifestyle that is sober, a lifestyle that is attentive to the needs of my brothers and sisters? They are questions that it is good to ask ourselves.

May Mary, Queen of Apostles, help us to be true missionary disciples, in communion and sobriety of life. In communion, in harmony among us and in the sobriety of life.

14.07.24

Pope Francis Angelus 14.07.24  

On Sea Sunday, let us pray for those who work in the maritime sector and for those who take care of them.

May the Mother of God, whom we celebrate the day after tomorrow as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, comfort and obtain peace for all populations who are oppressed by the horror of war. Please, let us not forget tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, and Myanmar.

I wish you all a happy Sunday. And please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch, and arrivederci!

14.07.24

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 July 2024

For the pastoral care of the sick

Let us pray that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick grant the Lord’s strength to those who receive it and to their loved ones, and that it may become for everyone an ever more visible sign of compassion and hope.

This month, let us pray for the pastoral care of the sick.

The Anointing of the Sick is not a sacrament only for those who are at the point of death. No. It is important that this is clear.

When the priest draws near a person to perform the Anointing of the Sick, it is not necessarily to help them say goodbye to life. Thinking this way means giving up every hope.

It means taking for granted that after the priest the undertaker will arrive.

Let us remember that the Anointing of the Sick is one of the “sacraments of healing,” of “restoration,” that heals the spirit.

And when a person is very ill, it’s advisable to give them the Anointing of the Sick. And when someone is elderly, it’s good that they receive the Anointing of the Sick.

Let us pray that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick grant the Lord’s strength to those who receive it and to their loved ones, and that it may become for everyone an ever more visible sign of compassion and hope.

July 2024

Pope Francis Holy Mass 07.07.24

Pastoral visit to Trieste 

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