Pope preaches homily on joy, speaks about babies crying in church
December 15, 2014
Pope Francis visited the suburban Roman parish of San Giuseppe all’Aurelio on December 14 and celebrated an evening Mass after meeting with parish groups.
“The Church is with you, she welcomes you always, especially this parish,” the Pope told members of the local Romani (gypsy) community, according to Vatican Insider. “Always be close to the Church. Don’t lose hope.”
Calling children’s tears “the best sermon,” the Pope told parents of children baptized in the last year that “children cry, they are noisy, they don’t stop moving. But it really irritates me when I see a child crying in church and someone says they must go out. God’s voice is in a child’s tears: they must never be kicked out of church.”
After meeting with the sick and hearing confessions, the Pope offered Mass and preached on the importance of gratitude and joy.
It “hurts to see Christians with a bitter face, restless with bitterness because they are not at peace,” he said. “Saints have the face of joy.”
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Further information:
- Pope celebrates Mass for Gaudete Sunday at Roman parish (Vatican Radio)
- “Christmas is not about consumerism, it’s about helping others. The Church is close to the Roma communities” (Vatican Insider)
- Parish website
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Posted by: JimKcda -
Dec. 15, 2014 8:51 PM ET USA
We used to belong to a parish where, if a baby started crying during the homily, tha pastor would stop for a few seconds and then say, in a loud voice "Listen, can you hear it? The voice of the future church!" And then he would continue and most of the time the baby would stop crying! And if he noticed a parent taking a fussy or misbehaving child out of the church, he would say, "Don't take that child out, s/he needs to hear this!" Needless to say, families all felt very welcome in that parish.
