Certainly, drugs are bad, but there are plenty of other socially acceptable drugs, that can end up enslaving us just the same. One way or the other, they rob us of our greatest treasure: our freedom.
~Pope Francis, World Youth day 2016
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January 24, 2021
January 24, 2021
January 22, 2021
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021
January 17, 2021
January 17, 2021
January 16, 2021
January 15, 2021
The word of God is the antidote to our fear of having to face life. In speaking to us, the Lord reminds us that we are in his heart, that we are precious in his eyes, and that he holds us in the palm of his hand.
We are branches of the same vine, we are communicating vessels: the good and the bad each one does is poured out on the others. To the extent that we remain in God we draw closer to others, and to the extent that we draw closer to others we remain in God. #ChristianUnity
I wish to thank all those who, during this Week, have prayed and will continue to pray for #ChristianUnity.
Let us not ignore God’s word! It is a love letter, written to us by the One who knows us best. In reading it, we again hear his voice, see his face and receive his Spirit. #SundayOfTheWord
May the Word of God sown in the soil of our hearts, lead us in turn to sow hope through closeness to others. Just as God has done with us. #SundayOfTheWord
Prior to every word of ours about God, there is his word to us, his Word who continues to tell us: “Do not be afraid, I am with you. I am at your side and I will always be there”. #SundayOfTheWord vatican.va/content/f…
Jesus speaks of God to everyone, wherever they find themselves: he speaks “walking along the shore”,to fishermen who were “casting their nets” (Mk 1:16).He speaks to people in the most ordinary times and places. Here we see the universal power of the Word of God. #SundayOfTheWord
The #WordOfGod consoles and encourages us. At the same time it summons us to conversion, challenges us, frees us from the bondage of our selfishness. For His word has the power to change our lives and to lead us out of darkness into the light.
The #WordofGod took on a face. The invisible God let Himself be seen, heard and touched (see 1 Jn 1:1-3). The word is effective only if it is “seen”, if it engages us in experience, in dialogue. Thus, the invitation to “come and see” was, and continues to be, essential.
I would like to devote this Message for World Communications Day this year to the invitation to “come and see” (Jn 1:46). In order to tell the truth we need to go and see, listen to people and confront reality. #WCD vatican.va/content/f…
During this time of serious hardship, this #Prayer is even more necessary so that unity might prevail over conflicts. Our good example is fundamental: it is essential that Christians pursue the path toward full visible unity. #ChristianUnity
I strongly encourage all States and all people to work decisively toward promoting conditions necessary for a world without nuclear weapons, contributing to the advancement of #peace and multilateral cooperation which humanity greatly needs today.
Each one of us Christians is a branch of the one vine which is Jesus; and all of us together are called to bear the fruits of this common membership in Christ. #Prayer #ChristianUnity
#ChristianUnity can be achieved only as a fruit of #prayer. Jesus opened the way for us by praying. Our prayer for unity is thus a participation in the Lord’s prayer, who promised that any prayer said in His name would be heard by the Father.
The world’s faith depends on #ChristianUnity; in fact, the Lord asked that we be one “so the world might believe” (Jn 17:21). The world will not believe because of our convincing arguments, but because we have borne witness to that love that unites us and draws us near. #Prayer
After the Last Supper, Jesus prayed for His own, “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21). This means that we are not able to achieve unity with our own strength. Above all, unity is a gift, it is a grace to be requested through #prayer. #ChristianUnity
Jesus invites us to abide in Him so as to bear much fruit (see Jn 15:5-9). Abiding in the Lord means finding the courage to step outside of ourselves to take care of others' needs and give a Christian witness in the world. #Prayer #UnityOfChristians
Today The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins. This year, the theme refers to Jesus’s counsel: “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit” (cf. Jn 15:5-9). #PrayTogether
Let us pray together for our brothers and sisters of Sulawesi, in Indonesia, hit by a strong earthquake. May the Lord console and sustain the efforts of all those who are engaged in bringing aid. Let us also pray for the victims of the airplane accident in Indonesia.
The design that God has for each one of us is always a design of love. And the greatest joy for every believer is to respond to that call, offering one’s entire being to the service of God and the brothers and sisters. #Angelus
We are always on a journey in life. Let us choose the path of God! We will discover that there are no unexpected events, no uphill path, and no night that cannot be faced with Jesus.
In each act of service, in every work of #mercy we perform, God manifests Himself; God sets His gaze upon the world.
God overcomes the world's evil by taking it upon himself. This is also how we can lift others up: not by judging, not by suggesting what to do, but by becoming neighbours, empathizing, sharing God's love.
In difficult and dark moments let us find the courage to say: "Blessed are you, Lord". Let us praise the Lord: this will be so good for us. #Prayer #GeneralAudience
We possess a great wealth that depends on what we are: the life we have received, the good within us, the indelible beauty God has given us by making us in his image. All these things make each of us precious in his eyes, each one of us is priceless and unique in history.
A society is all the more human to the degree that it cares effectively for its most frail and suffering members, in a spirit of fraternal love. vatican.va/content/f…
It is striking that the Lord spent most of his time on Earth living an ordinary life, without standing out. It is a beautiful message that reveals the greatness of daily life, the importance in God's eyes of every gesture and moment of life, even the most simple.
I am praying for the United States of America, shaken by the recent attack on Congress. I pray for those who lost their life. Violence is always self-destructive. I urge everyone to promote a culture of encounter and of care to construct the common good.
Today I could not celebrate Baptisms in the Sistine Chapel, as is customary. I am praying for all the children who at this time are receiving Baptism, the Christian identity, the grace of forgiveness and of redemption.
The Father says to each one of us, as He did to Jesus: “You are my beloved Son”. We are God's beloved children. This is our deepest identity. It is the first point of the spiritual life and we are reminded about it by Jesus first public gesture. #BaptismoftheLord
This is the great meaning of #Christmas: God becomes man so that we can become children of God.
Christmas is passing. But we must return to family life, to work, transformed, we must return glorifying and praising God for all that we have heard and seen. We must bring the good news to the world: Jesus is our saviour.
May the Child of Bethlehem help us, then, to be generous, supportive and helpful, especially towards those who are vulnerable, the sick, those unemployed or experiencing hardship.
I extend my affection to the brothers and sisters of the Oriental Churches, Catholic and Orthodox, who celebrate the Nativity of the Lord today. To them, I wish them a Holy Christmas in the light of Christ our peace and our hope!
Today we celebrate World Missionary Child Day. I thank all the children and boys and girls who are involved. I encourage you to be joyful witnesses of Jesus, seeking to always bring fraternity among your peers.
Like the Magi, we too are called to allow ourselves to be attracted, illuminated and converted by Christ: He is the journey of faith, through prayer and the contemplation of God’s works, which continually fill us with every new joy and wonder.
The first step towards an attitude of worship is to “lift up our eyes”. When we lift up our eyes to God, life’s problems do not go away, but we feel certain that the Lord grants us the strength to deal with them. vatican.va/content/f…
To worship the Lord, we first have to “lift up our eyes”: not to let ourselves be imprisoned by those imaginary spectres that stifle hope, knowing that the Lord is aware of our troubles, attentive to our prayers and not indifferent to the tears we shed.
In the Child Jesus, God shows Himself to be lovable, full of goodness and gentleness. We can truly love a God like that with all our hearts.
As he did in Bethlehem, so too with us, God loves to work wonders through our poverty. He placed the whole of our salvation in the manger of a stable. He is unafraid of our poverty, so let us allow his mercy to transform it completely!
Jesus is the eternal Word of God, who has always thought of us and wanted to communicate with us. #Angelus
Looking at the Nativity scene, we can become a little childlike and allow the wonder of the “marvellous” way in which God wanted to come into the world to be reborn in us. This will revive tenderness in us; and today we are in great need of tenderness!
#Peace can become a reality if we begin to be in peace with ourselves and with those who are near us, removing the obstacles that prevent us from taking care of those who find themselves in need and in indigence. #WorldPeaceDay vatican.va/content/f…
Holy Mother of God, to you we consecrate this New Year. You, who know how to cherish things in your heart, care for us, bless our time, and teach us to find time for God and for others. vatican.va/content/f…
The blessing and praise that the Lord loves the most is love of neighbour. We praise him for this, because we believe and we know that all the good that is accomplished day after day on earth, in the end, comes from him.
We thank God for for the good things that have taken place during the pandemic, for the many people who, without making noise, have tried to make the weight of this trial more bearable.
#Christmas is the feast of Love incarnate, born for us in Jesus Christ. He is the light of humanity shining in the darkness, giving meaning to human existence and all of history.
The Son of God comes down from heaven and comes to earth to bring us to heaven! This is what we need to meditate on, contemplate, what we need to reflect on during #Christmas.
The #prayer of thanksgiving begins by recognizing that we were thought of before we learned how to think; we were loved before we learned how to love. If we view life like this, then “thank you” becomes the driving force of our day. #GeneralAudience
Yesterday, an earthquake in Croatia caused victims and caused serious damage. I express my closeness to the wounded and to those who have been affected by the quake and I pray in particular for those who have lost their lives and for their families.
The Son of God was born an outcast, in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God. He came into the world as each child comes into the world, weak and vulnerable, so that we can learn to accept our weaknesses with tender love.
While humanity’s ruin is that everyone goes their own way, in the nativity scene everyone converges upon Jesus, Prince of Peace in the night of the world. #Nativityscene
I have decided to declare a special year dedicated to the Family #Amorislaetitia, which will be inaugurated on the next Solemnity of Saint Joseph. Let us entrust this journey with families all over the world to the Holy Family of Nazareth.
We too can change evil into good each day. Loving actions change history: even the ones that are small, hidden, everyday. For God guides history through the humble courage of those who pray, love and forgive.
Saint Stephan is the first martyr, the first of a host of brothers and sisters who continue to bring the light into the darkness – while he was on the receiving end of the stones of hatred, reciprocated with words of forgiveness. He thus changed history.
In the past few days I have received Christmas greetings from Rome and other parts of the world. Since it is impossible to respond to everyone, I express my gratitude to everyone, especially for the gift of prayer, which I willingly reciprocate.
May Christmas be an opportunity for all of us to rediscover the family as a cradle of life and faith, a place of acceptance and love, dialogue, forgiveness, fraternal solidarity and shared joy, a source of peace for all humanity.
