March 5, 2014 - Pope Francis held his weekly general audience on Ash Wednesday, where
he delivered a catechesis on the significance of the Lenten period leading up to Easter.
The general audience is an opportunity for pilgrims and tourists visiting Rome to
be able to see and hear the Pope, and also receive his blessing. The general audience
of Feb. 5 was held in the open, in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square. It began with aides
reading a passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew, in several languages. Listen:
Pope
Francis then delivered his main discourse in Italian - summaries of which were read
out by aides in various languages, including in English. But first, the aide greeted
the Pope on behalf of the English-speaking pilgrims. Listen:
…
Dear Brothers and Sisters: Today, Ash Wednesday, begins our Lenten journey of penance,
prayer and conversion in preparation for the Church’s annual celebration of the saving
mysteries of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. In these days the Church asks
us to ponder with joy and gratitude God’s immense love revealed in the paschal mystery
and to live ever more fully the new life we have received in Baptism. This journey
of spiritual renewal in the footsteps of Christ also calls us to acknowledge and respond
to the growing spiritual and material poverty in our midst. Specifically, it means
consciously resisting the pressure of a culture which thinks it can do without God,
where parents no longer teach their children to pray, where violence, poverty and
social decay are taken for granted. May this Lent, then, be a time when, as individuals
and communities, we heed the words of the Gospel, reflect on the mysteries of our
faith, practice acts of penance and charity, and open our hearts ever more fully to
God’s grace and to the needs of our brothers and sisters.
Pope Francis
then greeted the English-speaking pilgrims in Italian. Listen:
…
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, including those
from Malta, Denmark, Sweden, Indonesia, Canada and the United States. May the Lenten
journey we begin today bring us to Easter with hearts purified and renewed by the
grace of the Holy Spirit. Upon you and your families I invoke joy and peace in Christ
our Redeemer! (BLESSING)