Trust

Let us put our trust in God’s power at work! With him, we can do great things. He will give us the joy of being his disciples. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

each day

How marvellous it would be if, at the end of the day, each of us could say: today I have performed an act of charity towards others!Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit truly transforms us. With our cooperation, he also wants to transform the world we live in. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Dhaka

Join me in praying for the victims of the tragedy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that God will grant comfort and strength to their families, Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Dream

Dear young people, do not bury your talents, the gifts that God has given you! Do not be afraid to dream of great things! Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Attentive

At this time of crisis it is important not to become closed in on oneself, but rather to be open and attentive towards others. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Love story

POPE FRANCIS “We, the women and men of the Church are in the middle of a love story. Every one of us, is a ring in this love chain. If we don't understand this, we haven't yet understood what the Church is about.”

Christ will return

POPE FRANCIS “No one knows the day or hour when Christ will return; so we are called to be prepared for that encounter. That means learning to recognize the signs of His presence, keeping the faith alive through prayer and the Sacraments. We have to be vigilant so as to not fall asleep. We don't want to be sleeping Christians. We must be vigilant and not forget God.”

Talents

POPE FRANCIS “Dear youths, have you thought about your God given talents? Have you thought about how to use them to serve others? Don't hide your talents. Life is not about keeping those talents to yourself. You have to offer them.”

Faith alive

Let us keep the flame of faith alive through prayer and the sacraments: let us make sure we do not forget God. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex 8h

Second Coming

Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis on the Creed, we now consider the article which deals with Christ’s second coming: “He will come again in glory, to judge the living and the dead”. Just as human history began with the creation of man and woman in the image of God, so it will end with Christ’s return and the final judgment. The parables of Jesus help us to understand our responsibility before God and one another in this present age. The parable of the wise and foolish virgins reminds us that we must be spiritually prepared to meet the Lord when he comes. The parable of the talents emphasizes our responsibility to use wisely God’s gifts, making them bear abundant fruit. Here I would ask the many young people present to be generous with their God-given talents for the good of others, the Church and our world. Finally, the parable of the final judgement reminds us that, in the end, we will be judged on our love for others and especially for those in need. Through these parables, our Lord teaches us to await his coming with fear but confident trust, ever watchful for the signs of his presence and faithful in prayer and works of charity, so that when he comes he will find us his good and faithful servants.

Yes

Mary is the one who says “Yes”. Mary, help us to come to know the voice of Jesus better, and to follow it. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Love,Truth,Life

Each one of us longs for love, for truth, for life – and Jesus is all of these things in abundance! Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Ask Him

“I would like to ask you: have you sometimes heard the voice of the Lord which through a desire, a certain restlessness, invites you to follow Him more closely? Have you heard it? I can’t hear you…there you are! Have you had any desire to be apostles of Jesus? Youth must spend itself for high ideals. Do you think so? Do you agree? Ask Jesus what he wants from you and be brave! Be brave, ask Him!!!” POPE FRANCIS

Voice

“The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice and I know them.” The voice of Jesus is unmistakable! He guides us along the path of life. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Texas

Please join me in praying for the victims of the explosion in Texas and their families. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex 18 Apr

Witness

In our catechesis on the Creed during this Year of Faith, we now consider the article which deals with Christ’s Ascension: “He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father”. Saint Luke invites us to contemplate the mystery of the Ascension in the light of the Lord’s entire life, and particularly his decision to “ascend” to Jerusalem to embrace his saving passion and death in obedience to the Father’s will (cf. Lk 9:51). Two aspects of Luke’s account are significant. First, before returning to the glory of the Father, the risen Jesus blesses his disciples (Lk 24:50). Jesus thus appears as our eternal Priest. True God and true man, he now for ever intercedes for us before the Father. Second, Luke tells us that the Apostles returned to Jerusalem “with great joy” (Lk 24:51). They realize that the risen Lord, though no longer physically present, will always be with them, guiding the life of the Church until he returns in glory. As we contemplate the mystery of the Ascension, may we too bear joyful witness to the Lord’s resurrection, his loving presence in our midst, and the triumph of his Kingdom of life, holiness and love.

Sacrifice

To enter into the glory of God demands daily fidelity to his will, even when it requires sacrifice. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Alive

Jesus’ ascension into heaven does not mean his absence, but that he is alive among us in a new way, close to each one of us. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Persecution

POPE FRANCIS “Let us pray especially for Christians who suffer persecution – [and] in these times, there are many Christians who suffer persecution, a great many, in many countries: let us pray for them from our heart, with love, that they might feel the living and comforting presence of the Risen Lord.” The Pope also explained how the Apostles were able to face with joy the suffering they had to go through, at the hands of their persecutors. POPE FRANCIS “Their faith was based on so powerful and personal an experience of Christ crucified and risen, that they were not afraid of anything or anyone, and even saw their persecution as a badge of honor, that made them capable of following in the footsteps of Jesus and to be like Him, bearing witness [to Him] with their lives.” Pope Francis urged pilgrims to respond to adversity and misunderstandings with “love and with the power of truth.” The same way Jesus did so during His Passion.

Inconsistency

“We are at the tomb of Saint Paul, a great yet humble Apostle of the Lord, who proclaimed Him by word, bore witness to Him by martyrdom and worshiped Him with all his heart.” “Inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the Church’s credibility.” POPE FRANCIS

Shedding Blood

“There are the saints of every day, the 'hidden' saints, a sort of “middle class of holiness” to which we can all belong. But in different parts of the world, there are also those who suffer, like Peter and the Apostles, on account of the Gospel; there are those who give their lives in order to remain faithful to Christ by means of a witness marked by the shedding of their blood.” POPE FRANCIS

Centre

Worshipping God means learning to be with him, stripping away our hidden idols and placing him at the centre of our lives. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Bear Witness

Let us not forget: if we are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, our lives must bear witness to what we preach. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex 14 Apr

New Life

“In our continuing catechesis on the Creed during this Year of Faith, we now consider the meaning of Christ’s resurrection for us and for our salvation. The Lord’s death and resurrection are the foundation of our faith; by his triumph over sin and death, Christ has opened for us the way to new life. Reborn in Baptism, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and become God’s adoptive sons and daughters. God is now our Father: he treats us as his beloved children; he understands us, forgives us, embraces us, and loves us even when we go astray. Christianity is not simply a matter of following commandments; it is about living a new life, being in Christ, thinking and acting like Christ, and being transformed by the love of Christ! But this new life needs to be nourished daily by hearing God’s word, prayer, sharing in the sacraments, especially Penance and the Eucharist, and the exercise of charity. God must be the center of our lives! By our daily witness to the freedom, joy and hope born of Christ’s victory over sin and death, we also offer a precious service to our world, helping our brothers and sisters to lift their gaze heavenward, to the God of our salvation.”

Joy

If we act like children of God, knowing that he loves us, our lives will be made new, filled with serenity and joy. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Transform

Being a Christian is not just about following commandments: it is about letting Christ take possession of our lives and transform them. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Peace

“It is a gift, it's a precious gift that Christ gives to His disciples, after having passed through death and hell. He give peace, as promised. This peace is the fruit of the victory of God's love over evil, is the fruit of forgiveness.” POPE FRANCIS

Tenderness

How beautiful is the gaze with which Jesus regards us – how full of tenderness! Let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God. Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Resurrection

“Taking up the series of Catecheses on the Creed, we now turn to the article: “He rose again on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures Our belief in Christ’s Resurrection is the very heart of our faith, the basis of our hope in God’s promises and our trust in his victory over sin and death. The first witnesses of the Resurrection were women: moved by love to go to the tomb, they accept with joy the message of the Resurrection and then tell the good news to the Apostles. So it must be with us; we need to share the joy born of our faith in the Resurrection! In Church’s history, women have had a special role in opening doors to faith in Christ, for faith is always a response to love. With the eyes of faith, we too encounter the risen Lord in the many signs of his presence: the Scriptures, the Eucharist and the other sacraments, and the acts of charity, goodness, forgiveness and mercy which bring a ray of his Resurrection into our world. May our faith in the risen Christ enable us to be living signs in our world of the triumph of life and hope over evil, sin and death”.

Women

“The first witnesses of the Resurrection are women. This is beautiful, and this is the mission of women, of mothers and grandmothers, to give witness to their children and grandchildren that Christ is Risen! Mothers go forward with this witness!” POPE FRANCIS

Love Him

God loves us. We must not be afraid to love him. The faith is professed with the lips and with the heart, through words and through love.Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex

Happy Easter

Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy Easter! Happy Easter! What a joy it is for me to announce this message: Christ is risen! I would like it to go out to every house and every family, especially where the suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons. Most of all, I would like it to enter every heart, for it is there that God wants to sow this Good News: Jesus is risen, there is hope for you, you are no longer in the power of sin, of evil! Love has triumphed, mercy has been victorious! The mercy of God always triumphs! We too, like the women who were Jesus' disciples, who went to the tomb and found it empty, may wonder what this event means (cf. Lk 24:4). What does it mean that Jesus is risen? It means that the love of God is stronger than evil and death itself; it means that the love of God can transform our lives and let those desert places in our hearts bloom. The love God can do this! This same love for which the Son of God became man and followed the way of humility and self-giving to the very end, down to hell - to the abyss of separation from God - this same merciful love has flooded with light the dead body of Jesus, has transfigured it, has made it pass into eternal life. Jesus did not return to his former life, to earthly life, but entered into the glorious life of God and he entered there with our humanity, opening us to a future of hope. This is what Easter is: it is the exodus, the passage of human beings from slavery to sin and evil to the freedom of love and goodness. Because God is life, life alone, and we are his glory: the living man (cf. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, 4,20,5-7). Dear brothers and sisters, Christ died and rose once for all, and for everyone, but the power of the Resurrection, this passover from slavery to evil to the freedom of goodness, must be accomplished in every age, in our concrete existence, in our everyday lives. How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbour, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that the Creator has given us and continues to give us. God's mercy can make even the driest land become a garden, can restore life to dry bones (cf. Ez 37:1-14). So this is the invitation which I address to everyone: Let us accept the grace of Christ's Resurrection! Let us be renewed by God's mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish. And so we ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world. Peace for the Middle East, and particularly between Israelis and Palestinians, who struggle to find the road of agreement, that they may willingly and courageously resume negotiations to end a conflict that has lasted all too long. Peace in Iraq, that every act of violence may end, and above all for dear Syria, for its people torn by conflict and for the many refugees who await help and comfort. How much blood has been shed! And how much suffering must there still be before a political solution to the crisis will be found? Peace for Africa, still the scene of violent conflicts. In Mali, may unity and stability be restored; in Nigeria, where attacks sadly continue, gravely threatening the lives of many innocent people, and where great numbers of persons, including children, are held hostage by terrorist groups. Peace in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in the Central African Republic, where many have been forced to leave their homes and continue to live in fear. Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow. Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this twenty-first century; human trafficking is the most extensive form of slavery in this twenty-first century! Peace to the whole world, torn apart by violence linked to drug trafficking and by the iniquitous exploitation of natural resources! Peace to this our Earth! Made the risen Jesus bring comfort to the victims of natural disasters and make us responsible guardians of creation. Dear brothers and sisters, to all of you who are listening to me, from Rome and from all over of the world, I address the invitation of the Psalm: "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever. Let Israel say: 'His steadfast love endures for ever'" (Ps 117:1-2). Greeting Dear Brothers and Sisters, to you who have come from all over the world to this Square at the heart of Christianity, and to you linked by modern technology, I repeat my greeting: Happy Easter! Bear in your families and in your countries the message of joy, hope and peace which every year, on this day, is powerfully renewed. May the risen Lord, the conqueror of sin and death, be a support to you all, especially to the weakest and neediest. Thank you for your presence and for the witness of your faith. A thought and a special thank-you for the beautiful flowers, which come from the Netherlands. To all of you I affectionately say again: may the risen Christ guide all of you and the whole of humanity on the paths of justice, love and peace.