Holy Father Pope Francis dedicated the catechesis of his general audience to the fourth commandment: “Honour your father and mother.” “Honouring parents leads to a long happy life,” said Pope Francis during Wednesday’s general audience, pointing out that the word “happiness” in the Ten Commandments appears only in relation to parents. In fact, the fourth commandment a promise – “so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
As reported by Vatican News, Holy Father Pope Francis remarked that “Through the help of human sciences, we are able to understand whether someone has grown up in a healthy and balanced environment or has experienced abandonment or violence in childhood. The fourth commandment does not require mothers and fathers to be perfect, and speaks about the children’s duty regardless of their parents’ merits. Even if not all parents are good and not every childhood is happy, all children can be happy, because the achievement of a full and happy life depends on being grateful to those who have given birth.” Further, His Holiness added, “Whatever be a man’s past, the fourth commandment gives us the orientation that leads to Christ in whom the true Father is manifested who invites us to “be born again from on high”. Hence the “enigmas of our lives are enlightened when we discover that God has always prepared us for a life as His children, where every act is a mission received from Him.”
The Pontiff concluded his general audience by urging the faithful to visit their parents in their old age, and also never to insult the parents of others using ugly and abusive words, saying they have given life.
