Here is the Vatican-provided English-language summary of Pope Francis’ General Audience this morning in St. Peter’s Square:
***
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis for this Holy Year of Mercy, we now turn to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus, lying outside the closed door of the rich man’s house, longs to eat even the scaps that fall from his table. Lazarus represents the silent cry of the poor in every time and place, and the paradox of a world in which astonishing wealth coexists with scandalous poverty. When both men die, their situation is reversed. Lazarus, whose name means “God helps”, is brought to the bosom of Abraham, while the rich man is in torment, thirsting even for a drop of water. Abraham has to explain to him how, in the mystery of divine justice, the mercy we seek from God is linked to the mercy we show to others. The doors of heaven are closed to those who close their hearts to the needs of the poor. Only conversion can open hearts to the truth of God’s word and its saving message, which, as Our Lady sings in her Magnificat, overturns the situations of this world by the triumph of God’s justice and mercy.
Speaker: I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from England, Ireland, Malta, Russia, Slovakia, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Canada and the United States of America. With prayerful good wishes that the present Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you
