The Voice of Our Shepherd

EDITORIAL: Best quotes from the papal trip to the U.S.

(photo: Jeffrey Bruno photo)

The following is a collection of quotes from Pope Francis during his Sept. 22-27 visit to the United States:

 

 

“God is living in our cities. The Church is living in our cities, and she wants to be like yeast in the dough. She wants to relate to everyone, to stand at everyone’s side, as she proclaims the marvels of the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace. ‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.’ And we ourselves are witnesses of that light.”

         Mass at Madison Square Garden, New York

 

“At the risk of oversimplifying, we might say that we live in a culture which pressures young people not to start a family, because they lack possibilities for the future. Yet this same culture presents others with so many options that they, too, are dissuaded from starting a family.”

         Congress, Washington

 

“How good it is for us to pray together. How good it is to encounter one another in this place where we see one another as brothers and sisters, where we realize that we need one another. Today I want to be one with you. I need your support, your closeness. I would like to invite you to pray together, for one another, with one another. That way we can keep helping one another to experience the joy of knowing that Jesus is in our midst.”

         St. Patrick’s Charitable Center, Washington

 

“I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life.”

          Congress, Washington

 

“The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic.” 

         U.N. General Assembly, New York

 

“Here, amid pain and grief, we also have a palpable sense of the heroic goodness which people are capable of, those hidden reserves of strength from which we can draw.”  

         9/11 Memorial, New York

 

“During these days of the World Meeting of Families, I would ask you in a particular way to reflect on our ministry to families, to couples preparing for marriage and to our young people. I know how much is being done in your local Churches to respond to the needs of families and to support them in their journey of faith. I ask you to pray fervently for them and for the deliberations of the forthcoming synod on the family.”

         Cathedral-Basilica of

         Sts. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia

 

“May this country and each of you be renewed in gratitude for the many blessings and freedoms that you enjoy. And may you defend these rights, especially your religious freedom, for it has been given to you by God himself.”

          Independence Mall, Philadelphia

 

“The most beautiful thing that God made was the family. The family is a factory of hope! In families there are always difficulties, but those difficulties are overcome by love. Let us protect the family, because our future is in the family!”    

          Festival of Families, Philadelphia

 

“As pastors, we bishops are called to collect our energies and to rebuild enthusiasm for making families correspond ever more fully to the blessing of God which they are!”

         St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia

 

“Holiness is always tied to little gestures. They are the quiet things done by mothers and grandmothers, by fathers and grandfathers, by children. They are little signs of tenderness, affection and compassion. Love is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home. Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love. That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches.”

            Closing Mass of papal trip, Philadelphia

 

“Your care for me and your generous welcome are a sign of your love for Jesus and your faithfulness to him. So, too, is your care for the poor, the sick, the homeless and the immigrant, your defense of life at every stage and your concern for family life.”

               Airport departure, Philadelphia

 

Jeffrey Bruno photo