Vatican City (Wednesday, 01/07/2015, Gaudium Press) The Holy Father hold this Wednesday, January 7, his first General Audience of 2015. It took place at the Paul VI Center, for the third time since he began his pontificate.
 |
Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the family, inspired, he said, by the Christmas image of Our Lady who presents her Son to the world.
Reflecting on the role of mothers in society and in the Church, he pointed out that the Church too is a mother, “our mother” and that no believer is an orphan.
According to the Pontiff, “in the family there is the Mother” and “every human being owes his life to a mother”, since “it is little heard and helped little in everyday life, poorly considered in its central role in society” .
The Pope said that for all our symbolic glorification of mothers, their important contribution to the life of society, their daily sacrifices and their aspirations are not always properly appreciated.
Even in Christian communities – he said – often mothers are not listened to. He said that their voices should be taken more into consideration and they should be supported in their aspirations.
Soon after, the Pope stood before a personal recollection:
“I remember at home. We were five. Each one of us thought of doing his own thing, and did it. Our mother was always running from one place to another. “
The Holy Father also said that mothers “are an antidote to the spread of self-centeredness, a decline in openness, generosity and concern for others”.
“Many times I thought those mothers who received letters during the wars that informed the death of their children. How much mothers do suffer! ” he exclaimed.
“In a sense, motherhood is a kind of martyrdom,” he said. “In your generous gift, mothers conceive the children within it, give birth, breastfeeding, educate and give affection: they offer their lives to the children, a real maternal martyrdom.”
At the end of the Audience, Pope Francis asked the faithful to thank all the mothers “for all that they are in the family, and for what they give to the Church and to the world.” (LMI)
