Three Words

At his General Audience on Wednesday, in the first of a series of audience addresses looking at family life in its lived reality, Pope Francis spoke of three key words for family life. This is not the first time that he has spoken of them. They are: please, thank you and sorry. Vatican Information Service report here, and I expect that the full English text of the audience address will eventually be posted here.

The first word is “please. “To enter into the life of another person, even when that person forms part of our life, requires the delicacy of a non-intrusive attitude, that renews trust and respect. Confidence, then, does not authorise us to take everything for granted. Love, the more intimate and profound it is, the more it demands respect for freedom and the capacity to wait for the other to open the door of his or her heart”.

I expect that in these forthcoming addresses we will see Pope Francis' particular charism as Successor of St Peter - that of a pastor (where Pope John Paul II manifested the charism of a philosopher and Pope Benedict XVI manifested the charism of an academic).