Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! In the last catecheses we spoke about the family that lives the frailties of the human condition: poverty, sickness, death. Today, instead, we reflect on the wounds that are opened in fact within the family’s coexistence. When, that is, harm is done in the family itself -- a most awful [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! In the course of catecheses on the family, today we take direct inspiration from the episode narrated by the Evangelist Luke, which we have just heard (cf. Luke 7:11-15). It is a very moving scene, which shows us Jesus’ compassion for one who suffers -- in this case a widow [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! We continue with the catecheses on the family, and in this catechesis I would like to touch on a very common aspect in the life of our families, that of sickness. It is an experience of our fragility, which we live in the main in the family, as children and [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our catechesis on marriage and the family, today we reflect on the importance of engagement as a preparation for marriage. The word “engagement” itself speaks of entrustment and commitment. Engagement is a time when couples come to know one another better in planning for the beautiful yet demanding enterprise of marriage. [...]
Today, dear Brothers and Sisters, I wish to welcome you because I have seen so many families among you. Good morning to all the families! We continue to reflect on the family. Today we pause to reflect on an essential characteristic of the family, namely, its natural vocation to educate the children so that they grow [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! Today’s catechesis will serve as a doorway to a series of reflections on family life and what it’s really like to live in a family, day in and day out. Imagine three expressions written above the doorway; expressions I’ve already mentioned here in St Peter’s Square several times before. The [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning, In our journey of catecheses on the family, today we touch directly on the beauty of Christian marriage. It is not merely a ceremony in a church, with flowers, a dress, photographs... Christian marriage is a sacrament that takes place in the Church, and which also makes the Church, by [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! After having considered the two accounts of the book of Genesis, our reflection on God’s original design on the man-woman couple is now addressed directly to Jesus At the beginning of his Gospel, the Evangelist John recounts the episode of the Wedding at Cana, in which the Virgin Mary and [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Today’s catechesis is dedicated to a central aspect of the subject of the family: that of the great gift that God made to humanity with the creation of man and woman and with the Sacrament of Marriage. This catechesis and the next are concerned with the difference and complementarity between [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! A good morning… but it’s not a pretty day. Today the Audience is in two different places, as we do when it rains: you here in the Square, and many sick people in the Paul VI Hall, who are following the audience on the big screens. Now, as a gesture [...]