Nearly everything in the book is directed at clergy, so sometimes as a lay person it's hard to connect with.

Slightly repetitive, but very important messages about having a heart for the needy and marginalized.

Two things I really, really liked about this:

1. He advocates meditation without calling it meditation (you should sit still and listen each day)

2. Helping the poor is not enough - you need to fight the structures of poverty

Although there was way too much Jesus talk for me in this book, I think this pope has it right. I'm grateful he's around in this world and I get to live in a time where he is living. He's an amazing guy.

An excellent spiritual reading as we prepare ourselves for the Year of Mercy. Mercy is not only at the heart of the Papacy of Francis, it's also at the heart of the mission of the Church. As sinners journeying to fullness of life as a community, the Church, God's love is cannot but be mercy.

I've been picking this book up periodically to read an entry at a time in order to allow me time to ponder. I continue to maintain great respect for this pontiff. Of course, we will have to agree to disagree on some topics (i.e. the role of women in the church, etc), but his honesty and back to the basics boosts me up when I'm surrounded by so much of everything else.

If I chose a favorite excerpt of this book, I'd have to share every page. If you care about mercy and justice, love and truth, Church and the world, read this book. You will be challenged, yes, but in the most merciful of ways. Thank you, Pope Francis. I am grateful for you.

See one of my favorite excerpts at this blog review: http://www.tamarahillmurphy.com/blogthissacramentallife/what-i-read-september-november-from-the-book-pile-2016/2016/11/10?rq=what%20i%20read

I'm not Catholic but I've been as taken with Francis as the next person since he became Pope. I mean, just look at the guy's smile; it's pretty hard not to like him. My admiration for him only increased with this series of speeches and homilies, all of which are earnest pleas for the church to reorient their entire lives to emanate love for all. He wants that to bleed out into a restructuring of how society helps the poor and underprivileged, how Catholic authorities relate to their parishioners, and how each of us treat each other day to day. In a way, I view him as the same sort of person as Barack Obama: a charismatic person who presides over an institution allergic to being reformed for the better who, behind the scenes, will occasionally act in a disappointingly pragmatic way towards said institution as a result. Just as Obama had his drone strikes, deportations, etc., there are a host of things I vehemently disagree with Francis and the Catholic Church as a whole on and they admittedly tarnish my idea of his character as a whole. But, having recently read a book about the history of the papacy, I'd honestly say this guy is one of the best Popes we've had, same as Obama was one of the best presidents. Perfect? No. But much better than average? Definitely. Especially after reading this, I truly think the world is better for having his voice and influence in it.

I really like this book. I really like this pope. First 'catholic' book I read. It had some great thoughts in it, but I missed the truly deep stuff, but that's something you could expect because it are his homilies written down. Fav parts were probably the last two chapters.
A book with more than his sermons would probably get four stars.

Not to be read as a novel. Read one article a day and reflected on it. Pope France's is very practical.

In retrospect, this was best read not as an audiobook. For one thing, something about the narrator's cadence bothered me, but even more so, there's a lot here to digest, and if my attention wandered at all I missed major points for the chapter at hand. This isn't a single, coherent book, but a compilation of Pope Francis' speeches (and some writings) in his first year as pope, so it covers a broad range but doesn't go deep into everything. I'd like to read his latest book, and then possibly go back and read this more slowly. There's very little here that I disagree with, even though I disagree with some aspects of Catholic teaching, but Pope Francis doesn't spend time on the "culture wars" topics—he's much more concerned with how we live day to day, how we pray, and how we care for those most in need. Some of his advice is practical, though much of it is pretty overarching, which is not surprising since these were all relatively short speeches or writings. In any case, I'm glad I read this in advance of attending World Youth Day this summer.