Every Wednesday of the year the Pope Francis holds a General Audience during which he greets the groups of pilgrims present and imparts his lessings to all in various languages.
The audience takes place every Wednesday at 10am and is either held in the Paul VI Audience Hall or, depending on the size of the audience, in Saint Peter’s Basilica or Saint Peter’s Square. In summer the audiences can be suspended or, if the Pope moves to his summer residence, they can be held at Castel Gandolfo.
Today, the Pope in his audience emphasized and encouraged people to encounter God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, with a reminder that the tender forgiveness of God is greater than our “ugliest” sin.
He said; “God always forgives: put this in your head and heart. God always forgives. We are the ones who get tired of asking for forgiveness. But he always forgives, even the ugliest things,” he said in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.
He also spoke about God’s tenderness and mercy, Pope Francis said that the “things of God always reach us through the mediation of human experiences.”
The Pope dedicated this week to a reflection on Saint Joseph as “a father of tenderness.”
As a part of this theme, he reflected on a Bible verse from the Book of Hosea: “He taught him to walk, taking him by the hand; he was for him like a father who raises an infant to his cheeks, bending down to him and feeding him. (Hos. 11:3-4).”
At the end of the audience, he ended with the prayer of St Joseph as follow:
St Joseph, father in tenderness,
teach us to accept that we are loved precisely in that which is weakest in us.
Grant that we may place no obstacle
between our poverty and the greatness of God’s love.
Stir in us the desire to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation,
that we may be forgiven and also made capable of loving tenderly
our brothers and sisters in their poverty.
Be close to those who have done wrong and are paying the price for it;
Help them to find not only justice but also tenderness so that they can start again.
And teach them that the first way to begin again
is to sincerely ask for forgiveness, to feel the Father’s caress.
Amen.
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