Jubilee Audience with Francis: May (Jesus, joy, piety, charity, mercy)

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For Jesus to feel mercy was equivalent to sharing in the sadness of the one He met but at the same time working personally to transform it into joy.

 From the audience
Among the many aspects of mercy, there is one that consists in feeling compassion or being moved in face of those who are in need of love. Pietas – piety – is a concept that was present in the Greco-Roman world, where, however, it indicated an act of submission to superiors: first of all the devotion owed to the gods, then the respect of children for their parents, especially the elderly. Today, instead, we must be careful not to identify piety with that rather defused pietism, which is only a superficial emotion and offends the other’s dignity. In the same way, this piety is not to be confused either with the compassion we feel for the animals that live with us, and remaining indifferent in face of the sufferings of brothers. How often do we see people attached to cats and dogs, who then leave their neighbor without helping him, the woman neighbor who is in need … This is not right. The piety we wish to talk about is a manifestation of God’s mercy. It is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that the Lord offers to His disciples to make them “docile in obeying divine inspirations” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1830).
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