25-26 August in Dublin. At the general audience in St. Peter's Square Francis wished a “Happy Spring” and explained: even Christian life “blooms”, but the roots must be “watered”

The Pope will participate in the World Meeting of Families on 25 and 26 August in Dublin. He announced this himself at the end of the general audience. After the catechesis, Francis met some Irish faithful present in St. Peter's Square who presented him the icon of the Holy Family, the official image of the event. "On the occasion of the next World Meeting of Families I intend to go to Dublin from 25 to 26 August this year", the Pope said. "I thank the civil authorities and all those who are working together to prepare this trip.

The Pontiff's participation in the World Meeting of Families to be held from 21 to 26 August had not yet been officially confirmed. In St. Peter's Square there are two Irish families, the Tobin of Co Kildare and the Bushells living in Rome, who brought the official icon of the Holy Family to the Pope. The icon had been blessed by the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin last August at the start of the one-year countdown and then later toured around the Irish parishes. "I greet in particular the Irish pilgrims who accompany the icon of the ninth World Meeting of Families, which will take place in Dublin next August," Francis said during the final greetings. Francis will travel to Ireland after John Paul II had been there in 1979.

As soon as he arrived in the churchyard of St. Peter, to begin the general audience, the Pope spontaneously told the faithful: "Today is the first day of spring: Happy spring!", and added, "But what happens in spring? Plants and trees bloom. Let me ask you a few questions, tell me: do sick trees and plants bloom well if they are sick? No! Can a tree or plant that is not watered, by the rain or artificially, blossom well? No. Can a tree and a plant whose roots have been taken away or that has no roots, bloom? Without root you can not bloom".

"This is the message: Christian life must be a life that must flourish in works of charity, in doing good, but if you have no roots, you cannot flourish, and the root is Jesus. If you are not with Jesus, you will not flourish. And if you do not water your life with prayer and the sacraments, will you have Christian flowers? No, because prayer and the sacraments water our roots and our life flourishes. I hope that this spring will be a spring of flowers for you, as will Easter be: a spring of good deeds, a spring of virtue, a spring of doing good to others. And remember this very beautiful verse of my homeland: what blossoms from a tree comes from what it has underground, never cut off your roots with Jesus.

Francis, who continued a cycle of catechesis on the meaning of the Mass, focused his speech on catechesis: "All of us were forgiven at baptism and all of us are forgiven or will be forgiven every time we approach the sacrament of penance, and do not forget: Jesus always forgives, Jesus never tires of forgiving, it is us who grow tired of asking forgiveness," he said. "If we are to move in procession to make Communion, we go to the altar, in reality it is Christ who comes to meet us to assimilate us to himself. An encounter with Jesus takes place!”.

To nourish ourselves with the Eucharist "means to let ourselves be changed for we are receiving", "every time we make communion we look more like Jesus, we transform ourselves more in Jesus", the Pope stressed: "Just as bread and wine are converted into the Body and Blood of the Lord, so those who receive them with faith are transformed into a living Eucharist". The faithful, he recalled, "normally approach the Eucharist in processional form and communicate with devotion by standing, or on their knees, as established by the Episcopal Conference, receiving the sacrament in their mouths or, where it is permitted, on their hands, as they prefer", and after Communion, "to guard the gift received in our hearts, silence helps us, silent prayer: stretch that moment of silence a little by speaking with Jesus in your hearts, or even a psalm or hymn can helps us to be with the Lord". The Eucharist, the Pope concluded, "makes us strong to bear fruit, flowers of good deeds, to live as Christians".

Among the groups of faithful he addressed at the end of the audience, the Pope particularly welcomed the participants at the Conference for the relatives of the Fallen in the theatre of operation during Peace supporting Missions, who were accompanied by the Military Ordinary for Italy, Monsignor Santo Marcianò: "They - he said - are heroes of the homeland and of humanity".