Vatican City, Sep 13, 2016 / 13:33 pm
Don't let indifference stop you from an authentic encounter with another person, Pope Francis said Tuesday.
"In our families, at the dinner table, how many times while eating, do people watch the TV or write messages on their cell phones. Each one is indifferent to that encounter. Even within the heart of society, which is the family, there is no encounter," he lamented in his Sept. 13 homily at the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican.
He said that this situation of indifference should move us "to strive for this culture of encounter, just as simply as Jesus did so."
"Not just see, but look. Not just hear, but listen. Not just meet and pass by, but stop," Pope Francis said. In the face of tragedy, one should not just say, "What a shame, poor people." Rather, we should "allow ourselves to be moved by pity."