Please, thank you, and sorry are three words so important in our life that we very often forget. They are necessary to maintain healthy relation in every field of the life. In sport the relations among coaches, players, parents and managers might be ruled by these three simple words but also in the dialogue we have continuously with ourselves it is very bad that we insult ourselves after mistakes and that we don’t show respect for what we do. Reading these words of pope Francis will provide insights about our communications style with ourselves and with the other persons we meet everyday.
Pope Francis emphasized the importance of three words: please, thank you and sorry, which he has repeatedly stated in the past as being fundamental to the family.
“‘May I’ is a kind request to be able to enter into the life of someone else with respect and care,” said the Pope. We must learn to ask: may I do this? Are you happy if we do this? That we make these plans, that we educate our children in this way? Would you like to go out this evening? Asking permission is knowing how to enter somebody else’s life with courtesy. Sometimes we can charge in, as if we were wearing heavy walking boots and stomp around the life of a partner. True love does not impose itself with hardness and aggression. And today, in our families, in our world, often violent and arrogant, there is a need for far more courtesy.”
“‘Thank you’: it seems easy to say,” explained Francis, “but we know this is not always the case. We teach it to our children, but then we forget ourselves. Do we know how to say thank you? In your relationship, and in your future as married couples, it is important to keep alive your awareness that the other person is a gift from God, and we should always give thanks for gifts from God. … It is not merely a kind word to use with strangers, in order to be polite. It is necessary to know how to say thank you, to journey ahead together”.
The Pope then discussed the word ‘sorry’. “In our lives we make many errors, many mistakes. We all do. … And this is why we need to be able to use this simple word, ‘sorry’. Let us learn to recognise our mistakes and to apologise. ‘I’m sorry I raised my voice; I’m sorry I didn’t stop to say hi; I’m sorry I was late; sorry if I was quiet this morning; sorry if I spoke too much without listening; sorry I forgot’… Also in this way, the Christian family grows. We are all aware that the perfect family does not exist, nor does the perfect husband, nor the perfect wife. Let’s not even think about the mother-in-laws. We exist, and we are sinners. Jesus, who knows us well, teaches us a secret: never let a day go by without asking forgiveness, or without restoring peace to your home… Arguments between husband and wife are normal, but never end the day without making peace… the next day, the feelings you kept inside will be colder and harder.”
