The Word Among Us Press - Pope Francis Speaks to Families: Words of Joy and Life

Pope Francis

Speaks to Families

WORDS OF

Joy

AND

Life

Copyright 2015 Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Compilation Copyright 2015 The Word Among Us Press

All rights reserved

Published by The Word Among Us Press

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Frederick, Maryland 21704

www.wau.org

5

ISBN: 978-1-59325-272-4

eISBN: 978-1-59325-467-4

Pope Franciss homilies and addresses are taken from the Vatican translation and can be found on the Vatican website, www.vatican.va. Used with permission of Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Scripture texts used in this work are taken from the Catholic Edition of Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1965, 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Koechel Peterson & Associates
Cover image: Pope Francis hugs a child as he arrives to lead the weekly audience in St. Peters Square at the Vatican,
June 19, 2013. Reuters/Stefano Rellandini

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the author and publisher.

Made and printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015934604

CONTENTS

Thinkstock Photos

INTRODUCTION

F ew public figures in modern times have grasped the imagination of the world as Pope Francis has. His charm, his sincerity, and his ability to express profound concepts in a down-to-earth way have won him the respect and attention of millions. This book draws from the rich vein of wisdom that he has offered to the modern family.

The excerpts you will find here are taken from many different occasions and settings but consistently echo the themes that we have come to expect of Pope Francis. Rich messages of forgiveness, caring, and love are delivered with a practicality and gentle humor. He has words for those in all stages of family lifethose engaged to be married, husbands and wives, parents, grandparents, young people, and children.

The contemporary social landscape has changed. We see the family and marriage undergoing a deep inner crisis in the countries of the Western world, Pope Francis has observed. This makes the family a new mission field for the Church. The Holy Father calls on families to be witnesses to the world of fidelity, purity, and humble service. Above all, he says, we need Godhis help, his strength, his blessing, his mercy, his forgiveness.

We hope that you and your family will experience great blessings from the words in this book. It is not all comfortable readingfollowing Gods plan for your family can be challenging at times. But the wisdom it conveys is essential if our families are to become the strong building blocks that the Church is built upon. May the Lord give you and your familythe domestic churchall the grace and strength you need to be witnesses of Gods love and mercy to the world.

The Word Among Us Press

Prayer for the Synod on the Family

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

in you we contemplate

the splendor of true love,

to you we turn with trust.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

grant that our families too

may be places of communion and prayer,

authentic schools of the Gospel,

and small domestic Churches.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

may families never again

experience violence, rejection, and division:

may all who have been hurt or scandalized

find ready comfort and healing.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

may the approaching Synod of Bishops

make us once more mindful

of the sacredness and inviolability of the family,

and its beauty in Gods plan.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,

graciously hear our prayer.

CHAPTER

MARRIAGE

T his sacrament [Matrimony] leads us to the heart of Gods design, which is a plan for a covenant with his people, with us all, a plan for communion. At the beginning of the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, at the culmination of the creation account, it says: God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.... Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 1:27; 2:24).

The image of God is the married couple: the man and the woman; not only the man, not only the woman, but both of them together. This is the image of God: love, Gods covenant with us, is represented in that covenant between man and woman. And this is very beautiful! We are created in order to love, as a reflection of God and his love. And in the marital union, man and woman fulfill this vocation through their mutual reciprocity and their full and definitive communion of life.

GENERAL AUDIENCE, ST. PETERS SQUARE, APRIL 2, 2014

W hen a man and woman celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony, God, as it were, is mirrored in them; he impresses in them his own features and the indelible character of his love. Marriage is the icon of Gods love for us. Indeed, God is communion too: the three Persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit live eternally in perfect unity. And this is precisely the mystery of matrimony: God makes of the two spouses one single life. The Bible uses a powerful expression and says one flesh, so intimate is the union between man and woman in marriage. And this is precisely the mystery of marriage: the love of God which is reflected in the couple that decides to live together. Therefore a man leaves his home, the home of his parents, and goes to live with his wife and unites himself so strongly to her that the two becomethe Bible saysone flesh.

GENERAL AUDIENCE, ST. PETERS SQUARE, APRIL 2, 2014

T hose who celebrate the sacrament [of Matrimony] say, I promise to be true to you, in joy and in sadness, in sickness and in health; I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. At that moment, the couple does not know what will happen, nor what joys and pains await them. They are setting out, like Abraham, on a journey together. And that is what marriage is! Setting out and walking together, hand in hand, putting yourselves in the Lords powerful hands. Hand in hand, always and for the rest of your lives. And do not pay attention to this makeshift culture, which can shatter our lives.

ADDRESS TO THE PILGRIMAGE OF FAMILIES, ST. PETERS SQUARE, OCTOBER 26, 2013

T he love of Christ, which has blessed and sanctified the union of husband and wife, is able to sustain their love and to renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes lost, wounded, or worn out. The love of Christ can restore to spouses the joy of journeying together. This is what marriage is all about: man and woman walking together, wherein the husband helps his wife to become ever more a woman, and wherein the woman has the task of helping her husband to become ever more a man. This is the task that you both share. I love you, and for this love I help you to become ever more a woman; I love you, and for this love I help you to become ever more a man.