Gulf Pine Catholic

16 Gulf Pine Catholic • January 7, 2022 Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to married couples for the “Amoris Laetitia Family” year, 2021-2022 Dear married couples throughout the world! In this “Amoris Laetitia Family” Year, I am writing to express my deep affection and closeness to you at this very special time. Families have always been in my thoughts and prayers, but especially so during the pan- demic, which has severely tested everyone, especially the most vulnerable among us. The present situation has made me want to accompany with humility, affection and openness each individual, married couple and family in all those situations in which you find yourselves. We are being asked to apply to ourselves the calling that Abraham received from the Lord to set out from his land and his father’s home towards a foreign land that God himself would show him (cf. Gen 12:1). We too have experienced uncertainty, loneliness, the loss of loved ones; we too have been forced to leave behind our certainties, our “comfort zones”, our familiar ways of doing things and our ambitions, and to work for the wel- fare of our families and that of society as a whole, which also depends on us and our actions. Our relationship with God shapes us, accompanies us and sends us forth as individuals and, ultimately, helps us to “set out from our land”, albeit in many cases with a certain trepidation and even fear in the face of the unknown. Yet our Christian faith makes us realize that we are not alone, for God dwells in us, with us and among us: in our families, our neighborhoods, our work- places and schools, in the cities where we live. Like Abraham, all husbands and wives “set out” from their own land at the moment when, in response to the vocation to conjugal love, they decide to give themselves to each other without reserve. Becoming engaged already means setting out from your land, since it calls you to walk together along the road that leads to marriage. Different situations in life, the passage of time, the arrival of children, work and illness, all challenge cou- ples to embrace anew their commitment to one another, to leave behind settled habits, certainties and security, and to set out towards the land that God promises: to be two in Christ, two in one . Your lives become a single life; you become a “we” in loving communion with Jesus, alive and present at every moment of your existence. God is always at your side; he loves you unconditionally. You are not alone! Dear spouses, know that your children -- especially the younger ones -- watch you attentively; in you they seek the signs of a strong and reliable love. “How impor- tant it is for young people to see with their own eyes the love of Christ alive and present in the love of spouses, who testify by the reality of their lives that love for ever is possible!” [1] Children are always a gift; they change the history of every family. They are thirsty for love, gratitude, esteem and trust. Being parents calls you to pass on to your children the joy of realizing that they are God’s children, children of a Father who has always loved them tenderly and who takes them by the hand each new day. As they come to know this, your children will grow in faith and trust in God. To be sure, raising children is no easy task. But let us not forget that they also “raise” us. The family remains the pri- mary environment where edu- cation takes place, through small gestures that are more eloquent than words. To edu- cate is above all to accompany the growth process, to be pres- ent to children in many differ- ent ways, to help them realize that they can always count on their parents. An educator is someone who spiritually “gives birth” to others and, above all, becomes personally engaged in their growth. For parents, it is important to relate to children with an authority that grows day by day. Children need a sense of security that can enable them to have confidence in you and in the beauty of your life together, and in the certainty that they will never be alone, whatever may come their way. As I have already noted, we are becoming increas- ingly aware of the laity’s identity and mission in the Church and in society. You have the mission of trans- forming society by your presence in the workplace and ensuring that the needs of families are taken into due account. Married couples too should take the lead ( prim- erear ) [2] in their parochial and diocesan community through their initiatives and their creativity, as an expres- sion of the complementarity of charisms and vocations in the service of ecclesial communion. This is especially true of those couples who, together with the Church’s pastors, “walk side by side with other families, to help those who are weaker, to proclaim that, even amid diffi- culties, Christ is always present to them.” [3] Therefore, I encourage you, dear married couples, to be active in the Church, especially in her pastoral care of families. “Shared responsibility for her mission demands that married couples and ordained ministers, especially bishops, cooperate in a fruitful manner in the care and custody of the domestic Churches”. [4] Never forget that the family is the “fundamental cell of society” ( Evangelii Gaudium , 66). Marriage is an important part of the proj- ect of building the “culture of encounter” ( Fratelli Tutti , 216). Families are thus called to bridge generations in passing on the values that forge true humanity. New cre- ativity is needed, to express, amid today’s challenges, the values that constitute us as a people, both in our societies and in the Church, the People of God. Marriage, as a vocation, calls you to steer a tiny boat -- wave-tossed yet sturdy, thanks to the reality of the sacrament -- across a sometimes stormy sea. How often do you want to say, or better, cry out, like the apostles: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ( Mk 4:38). Let us never forget, though, that by virtue of the sacrament of matrimony, Jesus is present in that boat; He is concerned for you and He remains at your side amid the tempest. In another Gospel passage, as they rowed with difficulty, the disciples saw Jesus coming to them on the waters and welcomed Him into their boat. Whenever you are buffeted by rough winds and storms, do the same thing: welcome Jesus into your boat, for once He “got into the boat with them... the wind ceased” ( Mk 6:51). It is important that, together, you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Only in this way, will you find peace, overcome conflicts and discover solutions to many of your problems. Those problems, of course, will not disappear, but you will be able to see them from a different perspective. Only by abandoning yourselves into the Lord’s hands will you be able to do what may seem impossible. Recognize your own weakness and powerlessness in the face of so many situations all around you, but at the same time be certain that Christ’s power will thus be mani- fested in your weakness (cf. 2 Cor 12:9). It was pre- cisely in the midst of the storm that the apostles came to know the kingship and divinity of Jesus, and learned to trust in him. With these biblical passages in mind, I would now like to reflect on some of the difficulties and opportuni- ties that families have experienced during the current pandemic. For instance, the lockdown has meant that there was more time to be together, and this proved a unique opportunity for strengthening communication within families. Naturally, this demands a particular exercise of patience. It is not easy to be together all day long, when everyone has to work, study, recreate and rest in the same house. Don’t let tiredness get the better of you: may the power of love enable you to look more to others -- to your spouse, to your children -- than to your own needs and concerns. Let me remind you of what I said in Amoris Laetitia (cf. Nos. 90-119), inspired by Saint Paul’s hymn to charity (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-3). Implore the gift of love from the Holy Family and reread Paul’s celebration of charity, so that it can inspire your deci- sions and your actions (cf. Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). In this way, the time you spend together, far from being a penance, will be become a refuge amid the storms. May every family be a place of acceptance and understanding. Think about the advice I gave you on the importance of those three little words: “please, thanks, sorry”. [5] After every argument, “don’t let the day end without making peace.” [6] Don’t be ashamed to kneel together before Jesus in the Eucharist, in order to find a few moments of peace and to look at each other with tenderness and goodness. Or when one of you is a little angry, take him or her by the hand and force a complicit smile. You might also recite together a brief prayer each evening before going to bed, with Jesus at your side. For some couples, the enforced living conditions dur- ing the quarantine were particularly difficult. Pre-existing problems were aggravated, creating conflicts that in some cases became almost unbearable. Many even expe- rienced the breakup of a relationship that had to deal with a crisis that they found hard or impossible to man- age. I would like them, too, to sense my closeness and my affection. SEE AMORIS LAETITIA FAMILY, PAGE 19 Pope Francis