Every human being is worthy by the mere fact of having been willed, created, and loved by God. There is no situation that causes the Lord to turn His gaze away from us. It is a consoling truth that accompanies us at all times and reminds us that His merciful love always outweighs whatever good or evil we may have done. #ApostolicJourney
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In the Eucharist, we find a visible manifestation of the reality that we are the Church of Christ, His members, His body. We are brothers and sisters in Him. And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: "In Illo uno unum". #CorpusChristi#MagnificaHumanitas
The Holy Spirit challenges us today regarding our relationship with technology and the ongoing digital revolution. Technology has the power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice. #MagnificaHumanitas
In life we understand that the more fragile a beauty, the more it calls for care and responsibility. This is the main meaning of my presence today in Acerra: to confirm and encourage the surge of dignity and responsibility that every honest heart feels when life sprouts and is immediately threatened by death. https://t.co/NGdBnVvjVH
As evidenced by the unbridled promotion and implementation of technology at the expense of human dignity, we are truly experiencing an eclipse of the sense of what it means to be human. It is imperative to recover an understanding of the true meaning and grandeur of humanity as intended by God. It is in this sense that the challenge we currently face is not technological, but anthropological, and it is my hope that the Encyclical Letter to be published within a few days will contribute to answering this challenge.
Practical assistance offered to the disadvantaged allows them to experience God’s love, and opens a path for them to enter into a lasting relationship with God. At the same time, it enables us to come into contact with the flesh of Christ by seeking to see and serve Him in our brothers and sisters (cf. Mt 25:31-46). In this way, our works of charity become a mutual encounter with the Lord who is present among us.
While our suffering world greatly needs the #peace of Christ, the divisions among Christians weakens our capacity to be effective bearers of that peace. If the world is to take our preaching to heart, we must, therefore, be constant in our prayers and efforts to remove any stumbling blocks that hinder the proclamation of the Gospel. #ChristianUnity
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The Holy Spirit unites people and vocations in freedom, so that no one may live only for themselves any longer. Each Sunday calls us out of the “tomb” of isolation and seclusion, so that we may meet in the garden of communion where the Risen One watches over us. https://t.co/eeCd8ye3nE
God dwells in our hearts. Every #Vocation requires us to dialogue intimately with God, with true joy and generosity. He is the One who calls and invites us to respond, despite the deafening noise of the world.
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In these days, troubling news has also arrived of clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I urgently appeal for a return to dialogue. Let us #PrayTogether that harmony may prevail in all conflicts throughout the world. Only peace, a gift of God, can heal the wounds between peoples.
As we begin our journey through #Lent, let us ask the Lord to grant us the gift of true conversion of heart, so that we may better respond to His love for us and share that love with those around us.
If we allow it, Christ’s salvific act can transform all our relationships: with God, with other people, and with creation. As followers of Jesus, we are called to promote lifestyles and policies that focus on the protection of human dignity and of all of creation. Let us ask for the grace to see our struggles through the gaze of the Resurrection, and may we influence the world with hope and Easter joy. #GeneralAudience
Dear friends, today I turn seventy years old. I give thanks to the Lord and to my parents; and I thank all those who have remembered me in their prayers.
Cultivating our heart takes effort. It is the greatest work. Yet by digging deep and humbling ourselves, we draw ever closer to the Lord, who emptied Himself to become like us.
We are called to share our experience of faith with others, bearing witness to the love of Christ and becoming missionary disciples. Let us not limit ourselves to theoretical knowledge alone, but live our faith in a concrete way, experiencing God's love in our daily lives.