The Pope at Mass with children: “The Holy Spirit is with us in life”

Charlotta Smedes – Vatican City

The final event for the first World Children's Day — an event initiated by Pope Francis that brought together some 50,000 young people at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on Saturday — was a Mass held in St. Peter's Square.

This Sunday, the Church celebrated the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Pope spoke about this feast in his sermon.

In his address to the gathered children, he emphasized the unity and deep love of the Holy Trinity, describing it as a family. He explained: “We pray to God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. How many 'gods' are there? One God in three persons.”

The Pope continued by asking the gathered children: “When we pray to God the Father, what prayer do we all pray?” “Our Father,” they replied, and the Pope encouraged them to always seek guidance from God, the Father who created us all and loves us deeply.

Furthermore, he turned his attention to Jesus, the Son, and spoke of the importance of Jesus in their lives. He said: “We pray to Jesus because he helps us, and he is close to us, and when we eat, we eat with Jesus and he forgives us all our sins.” Then he asked: Is it true that Jesus forgives everything? And the children answered “Yes!”

Then Pope Francis continued his talk about the Holy Spirit. He explained that understanding the Holy Spirit can be a challenge, describing it as the divine presence within us that we receive in baptism and the sacraments. “The Holy Spirit is the one who follows us through life,” he told the children, before encouraging them to repeat the same phrase together. He explained that the Holy Spirit guides them to do good, comforts them and strengthens them in difficult times.

Finally, the Pope spoke to the children about Mary. “What is the name of our mother in heaven?” He asked, and the children answered: “Mary.” Then they prayed the “Hail Mary” together.

The sermon ended by calling on the children to pray for their parents, grandparents, and sick children, and for peace in the world. The Pope concluded his speech by saying: “Pray that we can all move forward together.”