May the memory of such events, in particular the tragedy of the Shoah that struck the Jewish people, awaken an ever more convinced respect of the dignity of every person, so that all men will perceive themselves as one great family. Almighty God illumine hearts and minds, so that such tragedies will not be repeated!
It's a prayer that we should all repeat -- that we see ourselves as a family under God, and that we respect each other. Unfortunately, with just a quick glance at the news we see how far we are from realizing that. But we can pray, and we can hope, and we can make efforts to change our own hearts to be more aware of this and to be more closely united to God.
The bulk of the Audience was on a beloved Saint who was so close to God, that he even shared the wounds of His Son! If you didn't have a chance to see our Salt + Light Television presentation of the General Audience with English translation on Thursday January 28th at 3:30pm or 9:30pm ET, I'd like to share some quotes from Pope Benedict's excellent talk.
... St. Francis does not renew the Church without or against the Pope, but only in communion with him. The two realities go together: the Successor of Peter, the bishops, the Church founded on the succession of the Apostles and the new charism that the Holy Spirit created at this moment to renew the Church. True renewal grows together.
... [Francis] knew that Christ never is "mine" but always is "ours," that "I" cannot have Christ and "I" cannot reconstruct against the Church, his will and his teaching -- but only in communion with the Church, built on the succession of the Apostles, is obedience to the Word of God also renewed.
Francis always showed great deference to priests, and recommended that they always be respected, even in the case when, at the personal level, they are not very worthy. He cherished, as motivation for this profound respect, the fact that they have received the gift of consecrating the Eucharist. Dear brothers in the priesthood, let us never forget this teaching: the holiness of the Eucharist asks us to be pure, to live in a consistent way with the mystery we celebrate.