At final U.S. Mass, pope preaches openness and tender mercies

Pope Francis wound up his U.S. visit with a defense of the family as a place of “little miracles,” where gestures of compassion and tenderness often reflect true holiness.

The pope also said the church needs to recognize that the Holy Spirit works in many settings and among many people, sometimes bypassing “officialdom and inner circles.”

“To raise doubts about the working of the Spirit, to give the impression that it cannot take place in those who are not ‘part of our group’, who are not ‘like us’, is a dangerous temptation. Not only does it block conversion to the faith; it is a perversion of faith!” the pope said.

The pope spoke at a Mass celebrated on a Philadelphia parkway before several hundred thousand people, the culmination of a church-sponsored World Meeting of Families.

His homily made the point that family life is made up largely of small, tender gestures that are crucial in a world full of “new divisions, new forms of brokenness.”

The pope recalled the words of Jesus, “Whoever gives you a cup of water in my name will not go unrewarded.”

The pope added: “These little gestures are those we learn at home, in the family; they get lost amid all the other things we do, yet they do make each day different. 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. Like the warm supper we look forward to at night, the early lunch awaiting someone who gets up early to go to work. Homely gestures. Like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day’s work.”

The pope said people should ask themselves: “In my own home, do we shout or do we speak to each other in love and tenderness?”

“That’s a good way of measuring our love,” he said.

Pope to bishops: Families need our support, not complaints and criticism

It’s become increasingly clear during his U.S. trip that Pope Francis is trying to get bishops on board in his quest for a church that is more merciful, less judgmental and closer to its people.

That was the sub-theme at this morning’s encounter with international bishops attending the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.

The topic was the modern family, which usually prompts a litany of problems from church leaders. Pope Francis began his talk by stating that the “foremost pastoral challenge” facing the bishops is to recognize the family as a gift.

“For all the obstacles we see before us, gratitude and appreciation should prevail over concerns and complaints,” he said.

The pope did address the challenges facing families, in particular a “consumerism” mentality that has invaded even personal relationships – accumulating friends on social networks, for example. He also appeared to reference gay marriage when he noted “the unprecedented changes taking place in contemporary society, with their social, cultural – and now juridical – effects on family bonds.”

But as pastors, he said, the response is not to condemn or exclude:

Should we blame our young people for having grown up in this kind of society? Should we condemn them for living in this kind of a world? Should they hear their pastors saying that “it was all better back then”, “the world is falling apart and if things go on this way, who knows where we will end up?”

No, I do not think that this is the way. As shepherds following in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd, we are asked to seek out, to accompany, to lift up, to bind up the wounds of our time. To look at things realistically, with the eyes of one who feels called to action, to pastoral conversion. The world today demands this conversion on our part.

That “conversion on our part” was a pretty remarkable comment. He went on to explain that it’s a mistake for the church to interpret contemporary culture as merely indifferent to marriage, or engaged in selfishness. And it’s wrong to assume young people are “hopelessly timid, weak or inconsistent.”

“We must not fall into this trap,” he told the bishops.

The pope then turned the argument around, saying it’s the church’s responsibility to “rebuild enthusiasm for marriage.”

“We need to invest our energies not so much in explaining over and over the problems of the world around us and the merits of Christianity, but in extending a sincere invitation to young people to be brave and to opt for marriage and the family,” he said.

And in a line that reflected the “actions vs. words” theme of his pontificate, he added: “A Christianity which ‘does’ little in practice, while incessantly ‘explaining’ its teachings, is dangerously unbalanced. I would even say that it is stuck in a vicious circle.”

Shepherding, not talking, is what is required of bishops today, and they may need “infinite patience” in that process, he said.

He closed his speech with a rather amazing request that bishops “become more and more like fathers and mothers, and less like people who have simply learned to live without a family.”

Pope throws away speech, talks from his heart to families

If you want to see what Pope Francis’ preaching and pasturing style is all about, watch this from the vigil Saturday night in Philadelphia: