Pope Francis’s visit to the US, particularly his addresses to Congress, to the UN General Assembly and to victims of sex abuse, were very well covered by the media. But he also gave other speeches that were also very important pastorally. Extracts from three such speeches are reproduced below.

Holiness, happiness

While celebrated the closing Mass of the World Meeting of Families, the Pope said: “Like happiness, holiness is always tied to little gestures. These gestures are those we learn at home, in the family; they get lost amid all the other things we do, yet they make each day different. They are the quiet things done by mothers and grandmothers, by fathers and grandfathers, by children, by siblings.

“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. 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. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to grow in faith.”

Corner stores and supermarkets

While speaking to bishops who attended the World Meeting of Families, Pope Francis made an analogy of corner stores of times past versus today’s supermarkets, saying: “the world seems to have become one of these great supermarkets… There are no longer close personal relationships.

“Today’s culture seems to encourage people not to bond with anything or anyone, not to trust. The most important thing nowadays seems to be to follow the latest trend or activity.

“This is even true of religion. Today, consumerism determines what is important. Consuming relationships, consuming friendships, consuming religions, consuming, consuming… Whatever the cost or consequences. A consumption which does not favour bonding, a consumption which has little to do with human relationships.

“Social bonds are a mere ‘means’ for the satisfaction of ‘my needs’.”

The resulting culture does great harm, the Pope said, suggesting that “at the root of so many contemporary situations is a kind of impoverishment born of a widespread and radical sense of loneliness”.

‘I come not only as a pastor, but as a brother’

Pope Francis told inmates at the Curran-Fromhold correctional facility that he came to visit them not only as a pastor but as a brother.

The Pope reminded the inmates that Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, which were covered in dust, bruises or cuts from stones.

“That is why we see Jesus washing feet, our feet, the feet of his disciples, then and now,” he said. “Life is a journey, along different roads, different paths, which leave their mark on us.”

“He doesn’t ask us where we have been, he doesn’t question us about what we have done. Rather, he tells us: ‘Unless I wash your feet, you have no share with me. Unless I wash your feet, I will not be able to give you the life which the Father always dreamed of, the life for which he created you.’”

The Pope said that life “means getting our feet dirty” and encouraged the inmates to allow Christ to cleanse them.

“All of us need to be cleansed, to be washed. All of us, and me in first place. All of us are being sought out by the Teacher, who wants to help us resume our journey.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)