POPE FRANCIS Lent Angelus Message “In these days the Church asks us to ponder with joy and gratitude God’s immense love..."

(Vatican Radio) In his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of Lent as a time for each of us “to promote change and conversion” in our lives. Lent, the Pope said, should help us to get out of “the tired habits and lazy addictions to evil that deceive us.” 

During this season, we are invited us to be more keenly aware “of the redemptive work of Christ,” and “to live out our Baptism with greater commitment.”

It was a theme taken up in the English-language summary of the Pope’s remarks: 

“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.”

Pope Francis concluded his remarks by re-iterating the “essential elements” of Lent: “giving thanks to God for the mystery of his crucified love” along with “true faith, conversion, and an opening of the heart” to our brothers. 

Below, please find the English language summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis at his weekly General Audience, with the Holy Father’s greetings for English-speaking pilgrims: 

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: Saluto tutti i pellegrini di lingua inglese presenti a questa Udienza, specialmente quelli provenienti da Malta, Danimarca, Svezia, Indonesia, Canada e Stati Uniti. A tutti auguro che il cammino quaresimale che oggi iniziamo ci porti alla gioia della Pasqua con cuori purificati e rinnovati dalla grazia dello Spirito Santo. Su voi e sulle vostre famiglie invoco la gioia e la pace in Cristo nostro Redentore! 
Speaker: 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! (Vatican Radio) In his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of Lent as a time for each of us “to promote change and conversion” in our lives. Lent, the Pope said, should help us to get out of “the tired habits and lazy addictions to evil that deceive us.” 

During this season, we are invited us to be more keenly aware “of the redemptive work of Christ,” and “to live out our Baptism with greater commitment.”

It was a theme taken up in the English-language summary of the Pope’s remarks: 

“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.”

Pope Francis concluded his remarks by re-iterating the “essential elements” of Lent: “giving thanks to God for the mystery of his crucified love” along with “true faith, conversion, and an opening of the heart” to our brothers. 

Below, please find the English language summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis at his weekly General Audience, with the Holy Father’s greetings for English-speaking pilgrims: 

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: Saluto tutti i pellegrini di lingua inglese presenti a questa Udienza, specialmente quelli provenienti da Malta, Danimarca, Svezia, Indonesia, Canada e Stati Uniti. A tutti auguro che il cammino quaresimale che oggi iniziamo ci porti alla gioia della Pasqua con cuori purificati e rinnovati dalla grazia dello Spirito Santo. Su voi e sulle vostre famiglie invoco la gioia e la pace in Cristo nostro Redentore! 
Speaker: 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! 


Text from Vatican Radio website