Summary of Pope Francis’ weekly general audience catechesis, Dec. 11
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
In our catechesis on the Creed, we now turn to the final article: “I believe in… life everlasting”. At Christ’s coming in glory as judge of the living and the dead, we will be held accountable before God for the good we have done or failed to do in this life. We tend to regard this final judgment with a certain trepidation, yet the Church invites us to see it as a source of consolation and joyful hope. The early Christians celebrated this hope using the expression Maranatha to invoke Christ’s return and the beginning of the great wedding feast of a humanity reconciled with God. At our judgement we will not be alone, for Jesus, our advocate with the Father, will be at our side, together with all the saints. For, as he tells us, the Son was sent into the world in order to save it, and those who believe in him will not be condemned. God’s judgement takes place in our lives each day, by the way in which we respond to Christ’s teaching and imitate him in serving our brothers and sisters. Let us prepare, then, to meet our judge with confidence and joyful trust in his promises.
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience. Upon you and your families I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!
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At the end of his general audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope mentioned the global Caritas Internationalis campaign, “One Human Family, Food for All”, to end hunger and food waste.
The Holy Father spoke out against the scourge of hunger, saying that “the scandal that millions of people suffer from hunger must not paralyze us, but push each and every one of us to act: singles, families, communities, institutions, governments, to eliminate this injustice”.
The Pope lent his full support to the Caritas campaign when it was launched this week by issuing a video message. In it, he noted that nearly one billion people still suffer from hunger worldwide today, and said: “We cannot look the other way and pretend this does not exist”.
The Gospel shows us the way, he said: “trust in the Lord’s providence and share our daily bread without wasting it.”
Pope Francis concluded his appeal, encouraging Caritas to carry this initiative forward, and inviting everyone to join in this “wave” of solidarity.
