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INTENTION : |
For families in crisis. Let us pray
that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other's gifts, even in their differences.
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Where can we go, when a family is in crisis? A perennial question that needs fitting responses from families and consoling words from our Shepherd. Here are five "Step Forward" proposals by Pope Francis to all families who face joys and concerns, hardships and hopes of family lives. This is in response to the testimonies shared by some families.
1. Sacrament - "A step forward" towards marriage.
Inevitably, every marriage comes with its hardships and hopes. Taking insight from Luigi and Serena, whose reason that led them to baptize their children were these beautiful words: "Despite our noblest human efforts, we are not sufficient unto ourselves". It is true, we can have the loveliest dreams, the loftiest ideals, but in the end, we also discover - and this is wisdom - our own limitations, which we cannot overcome by ourselves but by opening ourselves to God the Father, to His love and His grace. That is the meaning of the sacraments of baptism and of matrimony: they are the concrete help that God gives us in order not to leave us alone, precisely because "we are not sufficient unto ourselves". It was good to hear those words: "we are not sufficient unto ourselves".
Marriage is not a formality you go through. In marriage, Christ gives Himself to you, so that you can find the strength to give yourselves to one another. So, take heart: family life is not "mission impossible! By the grace of the sacrament, God makes it a wonderful journey, to be undertaken together with Him and never alone. The family is not a lofty ideal that is unattainable in reality. God solemnly promises His presence in your marriage and family, not only on the day of your wedding, but for the rest of your lives. And He keeps supporting you, every day of your journey.
2. The cross - "A step forward" to embrace the pain of illness.
Roberto and Maria Anselma shared the moving story of their family, and in particular about Chiara. They spoke of the cross, which is part of the life of every individual and of every family. The heavy cross of Chiara's sickness and death did not destroy their family or eliminate the serenity and peace of their hearts. Their faces reflect their inner strength. Not downcast, desperate or angry with life. Quite the opposite! They witness great serenity and faith. For them it is "Chiara's serenity that opened a window onto eternity". To see how she experienced the trial of her illness helped them to lift up their gaze, not to remain imprisoned in grief, but to be open to something greater: the mysterious plans of God, to eternity, to heaven. We must thank them for this witness of faith! Inspiringly, Chiara had also said: "God puts a truth in each of us and it is not possible to misunderstand it". God put into Chiara's heart the truth of a holy life, and so she wished to preserve the life of her child at the cost of her own life. As a wife and mother, Maria, alongside her husband and father, they followed the way of the Gospel of the family, simply and spontaneously. Maria's heart also welcomed the truth of the cross as gift of self: hers was a life given to her family, to the Church and to the whole world. We always need great examples to look to. May Chiara be an inspiration on our own journey of holiness, and may the Lord support and make fruitful every cross that families have to bear.
3. Sincere communication - "A step forward" towards forgiveness.
Every marriage has a crisis. Paul and Germaine found the courage to share the crisis they went through in marriage. Every marriage has its moments of crisis. We need to say this, not to hide it, and to take steps to overcome those crises. No pretense to sweeten matters with a bit of sugar! Call every cause of the crisis by its name: insincerity, infidelity, the misuse of money, the idols of power and career, growing resentment and hardness of heart. All of us relived our own experiences of pain before similar situations of broken families. To see a family break up is a tragedy that cannot leave us indifferent. The laughter of married couples disappears, children are troubled, serenity is lost. And most of the time, nobody knows exactly what to do.
A reconciling story transmits hope. Deep within the heart of each person is the desire for love not to end. No one wants a love that is short-term or is marked with an expiration date. So even amid the tempest, God sees what is in our hearts. The start of a journey of rapprochement and healing in relationship happens when husband and wife begin to talk to one another, to be open and sincere with each other, to acknowledge faults, to pray together with other couples, and all those things bring both to reconciliation and forgiveness.
In a reconciled parent, children will see something much more important: they see the humility to beg forgiveness and the God-given strength to pick yourselves up after the fall. They realize they will make mistakes too in life and are not perfect, but they will also remember that the Lord raises us up, that all of us are forgiven sinners, that we have to beg forgiveness from others but also be able to forgive ourselves. The lesson that they learned will remain in their hearts forever.
4. Hospitality - "A step forward" towards welcome.
In Pietro and Erika's generosity, they welcomed Iryna and Sofia who fled from the war in Ukraine, into their already large family. Both did so out of gratitude to God and with a spirit of faith, as a call from the Lord. For Erika, welcoming them was a "blessing from heaven". Indeed, welcoming is a genuine "charism" of families, and especially of large families! We may think that, in a large home, it is harder to welcome other people; yet that is not the case, for families with numerous children are "trained" to make room for others. They always have room for others.
In the end, this is what family is all about. In the family, we experience what it is to be welcomed. Husbands and wives are the first to "welcome" and accept one another, as they said they would do on the day of their marriage: "I take you ..." Later, as they bring a child into the world, they welcome that new life. Whereas in cold and anonymous situations, the weak are often rejected, in families it is natural to welcome them: to accept a child with a disability, an elderly person in need of care, a family member in difficulty who has no one else This gives hope .... Families are places of welcome, and woe if they were to disappear! Society would become cold and unbearable without welcoming families. Welcome and generous families give "warmth" to society.
5. Open encounter - "A step forward" towards fraternity.
Zakia's story was built on the very high ideals which she described: "We based our family on authentic love, with respect, solidarity and dialogue between our cultures". Nothing of that was lost, not even after the tragedy of Luca's death. Not only do the example and the spiritual legacy of Luca continue to live on and to speak to the consciences of many people, but also the organization that Zakia founded in some way carries on his mission. Indeed, we can say that Luca's diplomatic mission has now become "a mission of peace" on the part of their entire family. In her story, we see clearly how what is human and what is religious can become intertwined and bring forth precious fruit. In Zakia and Luca, we find the beauty of human love, passion for life, altruism and fidelity to one's own beliefs and religious tradition, as a source of inspiration and interior strength.
Such a family expresses the ideal of fraternity. In addition to being husband and wife, you lived as brother and sister in your humanity, in your differing religious experiences, and in your commitment to society. This too is a lesson that is learned in the family. Living in the family together with others different from ourselves, we learn to be brothers and sisters. We learn to overcome divisions, prejudices and narrow-mindedness, and to build together something grand, something beautiful, on the basis of what we have in common. Lived examples of fraternity, like that of Luca and Zakia, give us hope; they help us to look with greater confidence at our world, so torn by division and hostility.
Each family has a mission to carry out in our world, a testimony to give. We the baptized are especially called to be "a message that the Holy Spirit takes from the riches of Jesus Christ and gives to His people" (Gaudete et Exsultate, 21). For this reason, ask yourselves this question: What "step forward" is He asking of our family, my family, today? Everyone should ask this. Pause and listen. Let yourselves be changed by Him, so that you too can change the world and make it "home" for all those who need to feel welcomed and accepted, for all those who need to encounter Christ and to know that they are loved. We need to live with our eyes raised to heaven: as Blessed Maria and Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi used to say to their children, confronting the efforts and joys of life, "always looking from the roof upwards".
Edited and adapted from source:
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/june/documents/20220622-incontromondiale-famiglie.html
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