As Pope Francis turns 88 today, we offer moving meditations from throughout his pontificate:
“The Lord loves us tenderly. ... He does not love us with words. He approaches us, and in being close to us gives us his love with the deepest possible tenderness.” (Sacred Heart Solemnity 2013, Homily)
“… the one who evangelizes is evangelized, the one who transmits the joy of faith receives more joy. Dear young friends ... do not be afraid to be generous with Christ, to bear witness to his Gospel. ... Bringing the Gospel is bringing God’s power to pluck up and break down evil and violence, to destroy and overthrow the barriers of selfishness, intolerance and hatred, so as to build a new world. Dear young friends, Jesus Christ is counting on you! The Church is counting on you! The Pope is counting on you! May Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, always accompany you with her tenderness: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ Amen.” (World Youth Day Rio homily)
“And the Church is called to carry out her mission in charity … conscious of her duty to seek out and care for hurting couples with the balm of acceptance and mercy; to be a ‘field hospital’ with doors wide open to whoever knocks in search of help and support; even more, to reach out to others with true love, to walk with our fellow men and women who suffer, to include them and guide them to the wellspring of salvation.” (Homily, 2015)
“‘The Church must accompany with attention and care the weakest of her children, who show signs of a wounded and troubled love, by restoring in them hope and confidence, like the beacon of a lighthouse in a port or a torch carried among the people to enlighten those who have lost their way or who are in the midst of a storm.’ Let us not forget that the Church’s task is often like that of a field hospital.” (Amoris Laetitia, 291).
“Dear sister, dear brother, if your sins frighten you, if your past worries you, if your wounds do not heal, if your constant failings dishearten you and you seem to have lost hope, do not be afraid. God knows your weaknesses and is greater than your mistakes. He asks of you only one thing: that you not hold your frailties and sufferings inside. Bring them to him, lay them before him and, from being reasons for despair, they will become opportunities for resurrection. Do not be afraid! The Blessed Virgin Mary accompanies us: She cast her own anxiety upon God. The angel’s proclamation gave her good reason to be afraid. He proposed to her something unimaginable and beyond her abilities, something that she could not handle alone. … Yet Mary did not object. Those words — ‘do not be afraid’ – were sufficient for her; God’s reassurance was enough for her. She clung to him, as we want to do … .” (Solemnity of the Annunciation Homily, 2022)
“The joy of the Gospel is such that it cannot be taken away from us by anyone or anything (Jn 16:22). The evils of our world — and those of the Church — must not be excuses for diminishing our commitment and our fervor. Let us look upon them as challenges which can help us to grow. With the eyes of faith, we can see the light which the Holy Spirit always radiates in the midst of darkness, never forgetting that ‘where sin increased, grace has abounded all the more’ (Rm 5:20).” (Evangelii Gaudium, 84)
“It is understandable, then, that the Church has chosen the image of the heart to represent the human and divine love of Jesus Christ and the inmost core of his Person. Yet, while the depiction of a heart afire may be an eloquent symbol of the burning love of Jesus Christ, it is important that this heart not be represented apart from him. In this way, his summons to a personal relationship of encounter and dialogue will become all the more meaningful. [33] The venerable image portraying Christ holding out his loving heart also shows him looking directly at us, inviting us to encounter, dialogue and trust; it shows his strong hands capable of supporting us and his lips that speak personally to each of us.” (Dilexit Nos)
“Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.” (Bull of Indiction for Jubilee 2025)
“Hope finds its supreme witness in the Mother of God. In the Blessed Virgin, we see that hope is not naive optimism but a gift of grace amid the realities of life. ... At the foot of the cross, she witnessed the passion and death of Jesus, her innocent son. Overwhelmed with grief, she nonetheless renewed her fiat, never abandoning her hope and trust in God. ... In the travail of that sorrow, offered in love, Mary became our Mother, the Mother of Hope. It is not by chance that popular piety continues to invoke the Blessed Virgin as Stella Maris, a title that bespeaks the sure hope that, amid the tempests of this life, the Mother of God comes to our aid, sustains us and encourages us to persevere in hope and trust.” (Bull of Indiction for Jubilee 2025)
“The act of love — repeating the words ‘Jesus I love you’ — which became as natural to Therese as breathing, is the key to her understanding of the Gospel. With that love, she immersed herself in all the mysteries of the life of Christ, making herself his contemporary and placing herself within the Gospel together with Mary and Joseph, Mary Magdalene and the apostles.” (apostolic exhortation on St. Thérèse)
“In the Catholic tradition there is this motto, this saying: Ad Iesum per Mariam, that is, ‘to Jesus by means of Mary.’ Our Lady lets us see Jesus. She opens the doors to us, always! Our Lady is the mother who leads us by the hand towards Jesus. Our Lady never points to herself; Our Lady points to Jesus. And this is Marian piety: to Jesus by the hands of Our Lady. The true and only mediator between us and Christ, indicated as such by Jesus Himself, is the Holy Spirit. Mary is one of the means the Holy Spirit uses to bring us to Jesus.” (General audience, Nov. 13, 2024)
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