(ZENIT, Vatican City, June 1, 2016).- Here is the Vatican-provided English-language summary of Pope Francis’ General Audience this morning in St. Peter’s Square:

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Speaker: Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis for this Holy Year of Mercy, we now turn to the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Lk 18:9-14). Jesus contrasts the arrogance and self-righteousness of the Pharisee’s prayer with the tax collector’s humble recognition of his sinfulness and need for the Lord’s mercy. True prayer is born of a heart which repents of its faults and failings, yet pleads for the grace to live the great commandment of love of God and neighbour. Indeed, the proud disdain of the Pharisee for the sinner at his side prevents him from being righteous in God’s sight. To pray well, then, we need to look into our own hearts and there, in humble silence, let the Lord speak to us. The honesty and humility which God asks of us is the necessary condition for our receiving his mercy. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the model of such prayer. In her Magnificat, she tells us that God looks with favour on the humility of his servants, and hears their plea. May she, our Mother, help us to pray as we ought.

Speaker: I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from England, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nigeria, Canada and the United States of America. With prayerful good wishes that the present Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Before the General Audience this morning, Pope Francis received members of the Institute of Jainology of London in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall:

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I welcome you and I like this encounter, an encounter that nourishes our responsibility to care for Creation, a gift that we all have received – the gift of Creation -so that it grows and is cared for. Creation is God’s mirror, the mirror of the Creator, the mirror of nature, of all nature, the life of nature, and is our mirror, too.

We all love Mother Earth, because she is the one who has given us life and protects us; I would also call her Sister Earth, who accompanies us during our journey through life. But our responsibility is a bit like caring for it a bit like one does for a mother or sister, that is to say to do so with responsibility, tenderness, and peace.

I thank you for all that you do in this task and we remain united in this ideal, in this task, in this work to make sure our Mother or Sister Earth is guarded; in the knowledge that [we are] caring and protecting Creation, the Earth, it is to treat and care for all humanity. Thank you.

[Original text: Italian] [Translation by Deborah Castellano Lubov]