During the first Lenten meditation of the season, the Preacher of the Papal Household urged Catholics to rediscover humility and spiritual “smallness” as the foundation of true peace and conversion.
According to Vatican News, Capuchin friar Fr. Roberto Pasolini delivered the first of a series of Lenten sermons on March 6 in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, with Pope Leo XIV present. The reflections will continue on Fridays throughout Lent and focus on the theme, “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). Conversion to the Gospel according to Saint Francis.”
Fr. Pasolini centered his first meditation on the theme of conversion and humility, emphasizing that lasting peace does not begin with politics or power but with a transformation of the human heart.
“In the days that are once again marked by pain and violence, to speak of smallness might seem to be an abstract discourse, almost a spiritual luxury,” he said. Yet, he added, it is “a practical responsibility, linked to the destiny of the world,” according to Vatican News.
Our Important Lenten Message – Please Watch
The preacher explained that peace grows from people who embrace humility rather than domination. “Peace,” he said, “is not only born from political agreements or diplomatic or military strategies, but from men and women who find the courage to be small,” according to Vatican News.
This courage, he noted, means stepping back from revenge, refusing violence, and choosing dialogue even when circumstances seem hostile to peace.
Reflecting on the example of St. Francis of Assisi, Fr. Pasolini described the saint as a witness to the transforming power of the Gospel. According to Vatican News, he called St. Francis “a man traversed by the fire of the Gospel, capable of rekindling in each of us the longing for a new life in the Spirit.”
The Capuchin friar explained that authentic conversion begins with God’s initiative rather than human effort. “Evangelical conversion,” he said, “is first and foremost God’s initiative, in which man is called to participate in full freedom,” according to Vatican News.
This conversion takes place deep within the human heart, where God’s image is waiting to be renewed. Fr. Pasolini said it occurs “in the most intimate point of our nature, where the image of God impressed upon us waits to be reawakened,” according to Vatican News.
He also warned that modern culture often avoids speaking about sin, which weakens our understanding of both responsibility and holiness. According to Vatican News, Fr. Pasolini said that when sin disappears from our vocabulary, “holiness too becomes an abstract and incomprehensible destiny.”
Recognizing sin, he explained, reminds humanity of the reality of freedom. With that freedom, people can either build or destroy—“himself, others, the world,” according to Vatican News.
At the center of Christian conversion, however, stands humility. Fr. Pasolini said humility is not weakness but a way of returning to truth about who we are before God.
According to Vatican News, he explained that humility helps reduce “the inflated image we have of ourselves” and restores us to our true identity. Rather than diminishing human dignity, humility leads people back to their authentic greatness in God.
Drawing again from the life of St. Francis, the preacher said that embracing smallness opens the way to spiritual strength. According to Vatican News, he explained that “the greatness of man comes through his smallness.”
Those who become spiritually “small,” like children before God, discover a unique spiritual power. Fr. Pasolini said that the little ones “awaken mercy,” which he described as “perhaps the most precious energy in the world,” according to Vatican News.
The Capuchin friar concluded by reminding the faithful that conversion is not a single moment but a lifelong journey.
According to Vatican News, he said that “to convert means to continually begin again this movement of the heart,” opening our poverty to God’s grace again and again.
True Christian humility, he noted, becomes most visible during moments of conflict and suffering. It is precisely when people feel the instinct to defend themselves or dominate others that the Gospel calls them to choose the path of the Cross.
The meditation ended with a prayer drawn from St. Francis of Assisi, asking God to help believers follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ and grow in the humility that leads to lasting peace.
Your support brings the truth to the world.
Catholic Online News exists because of donors like you. We are 100% funded by people who believe the world deserves real, uncensored news rooted in faith and truth — not corporate agendas. Your gift ensures millions can continue to access the news they can trust — stories that defend life, faith, family, and freedom.
When truth is silenced, your support speaks louder.
