Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!

The word of God proclaimed in this Sunday's liturgy offers us some fundamental criteria for thought and action. In the Letter to the Romans, we read that every commandment is "summed up in this word, 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Rom 13:9). Saint Paul insists on this point with a very powerful image, one that also appears in the Lord's Prayer. He writes: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another" (v. 8).

Jesus taught us to ask for and to practice the forgiveness of debts. Yet there is one debt we owe to one another that does not enslave us: the debt of mutual love. All the attention, care and goodness we have received make us freer and more capable of responsibility.

In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus suggests at least two ways for every Christian community to practice mutual love. The first is to become capable of fraternal correction. This is a delicate art, too often forgotten, that calls for frankness and a gradual approach. Speaking honestly with one another — first face to face, then, if necessary, with two or three others, and finally, when required, with the whole community — means facing reality and transforming problems and conflicts into opportunities for growth. Complaining and speaking ill of others are easier, but they accomplish nothing and leave many situations paralyzed. The Gospel, instead, teaches us the freedom that comes through charity.

There is also a second way of loving one another as brothers and sisters, which, for Jesus, transforms even our prayer: coming to an agreement. Not only when there is a conflict, but also when asking God for some gift. The Lord says: "If two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven" (Mt 18:19). This promise suggests that we can have shared desires, shared sorrows and shared hopes, and that through prayer we can grow in unity. Without faith, each person might feel alone and become suspicious of others, seeing them as strangers and enemies. By grace, however, we are brothers and sisters who can live in harmony: meeting one another, forgiving one another and listening to one another in the Lord.

Let us ask Mary, who, after the angel's announcement, went in haste to her cousin Elizabeth to share the joy and the hardship of pregnancy, to teach us, too, the joyful debt of fraternal love.

[After the Angelus]

Dear brothers and sisters,

With a sorrowful heart, I have followed the news of the latest violent attacks that have recently struck several cities and civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, causing the deaths of innocent people. My heart goes out to the suffering people, who for years have lived in anguish and fear.

I renew my appeal to put an end to the violence, to stop the destruction and to open hearts to dialogue and peace! I hope that the efforts undertaken in these days to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and open space for diplomacy.

Let us raise our prayers to the Lord, that concord may prevail in all the conflicts of the world.

I extend a warm welcome to all of you, Romans and pilgrims from various countries. Thank you for being here!

In a particular way, I greet the community of the Interdiocesan Seminary Studienhaus Sankt Lambert of Lantershofen (Germany).

I also joyfully welcome the pilgrimage of the Parish of Sant'Ulderico Vescovo in Musestre (Treviso), as well as the Diocesan Choir of the Diocese of Oppido Mamertina-Palmi, accompanied by the Bishop.

As we gradually resume our ordinary activities after the summer break, let us ask the Lord to accompany us and sustain us with his light.

I wish everyone a happy Sunday!