24/06/2022

HEARTWORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER AT THE TENTH WORLD CONGRESS OF FAMILY

WHĐ (June 24, 2022) - The 10th World Meeting of Families with the theme "Family Love: Vocation and Path to Holiness" organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life was opened on June 22, 2022 in Rome. The Congress brings together about 2,000 official delegates of bishops' conferences, Catholic family associations, and movements from 120 countries. The programs are also attended by millions online, or at the initiative of local Churches around the world.

During the opening festival, after listening to the testimonies of five families from Rome, Ukraine and Congo from experiences of crisis, difficulty, and loss to overcoming everything to protect the family, and opening up to receive and serve others, Pope Francis gave an exhortation to families.

Below are some heartfelt words in the Holy Father's Exhortation, which is not only intended to welcome and thank the families present but also a profound encouragement for each family in real life:

1. Let's move forward

Marriage and family life is the path to holiness, but it is a path full of difficulties. Therefore,

- Take a step forward, even if it's small.

- Start from where you are, and from there, try to journey together: together as married couples, together in your family, with other families, and with the Church.

- Never forget that closeness is God's "style", closeness and tender love.

- With the grace of the sacrament, God turns marriage into a wonderful journey to walk with Him, never alone.

- We can have the loveliest dreams, the loftiest ideals, but in the end, we discover our own limits, which on our own we cannot overcome, but need to open ourselves to God, to His love and grace.

2. Realize: Marriage is a Gift

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Catholic marriage is a gift, not a form or rule. Indeed,

- Marriage is a miraculous gift, containing the power of God's own love: strong, persistent, faithful, ready to start again after each failure or moment of weakness.

- In marriage, Christ gives himself to you, so that you can find the strength to give yourself to each other. So remember: family life is not “mission impossible”!

- Family is not a lofty ideal that cannot be achieved in reality. God solemnly guarantees His presence in marriage and family, not only on the wedding day but throughout life.

3. Be persistent when faced with difficulties

People are not perfect, so there is no perfect family. Because really,

- You get married because you want to base your marriage on the love of Christ, a love as solid as a rock.

- Every marriage has times of crisis. We need to talk about this, not hide it, so that we can take steps to overcome these crises.

- Forgiveness heals all wounds. Forgiveness is a gift from the source of grace that Christ pours out on couples and entire families, when we let Him act, and when we run to Him. Parents' forgiveness is also a wonderful witness to their children

- From the depths of our hearts, we long for a love that has no end, and the fruits of love are not scattered. None of us want a love that is short-term or marked by an expiration date.

- We suffer deeply every time failure, irresponsibility, and sin sink the ship of marriage. But even in the midst of trial, God always sees what is in our hearts.

- It is important for us not to continue dwelling on the worst, but to maximize the best, the great goodness that every man and woman can have, and start anew from there.

4. Be Open to Welcome

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Opening our hearts to accept each other, and from there, being able to welcome others are wonderful features of family life. Indeed,

- Welcoming is a true "charism" of families, especially families with many children! We might think that, in a large family, it becomes more difficult to welcome others; However, that is not a problem, because families with many children are "trained" to make room for others. They always have room for others.

- In family life, we experience what it means to be welcomed. Husband and wife are the first people to "welcome" and accept each other, as they committed on their wedding day "I welcome you...". Later, when they give birth to a child, they will welcome new life."

- In families, it is natural to welcome the weak: accepting a disabled child, an elderly person in need of care, a family member in difficulty and no one else... This gives hope.

5. Look to the world

Human fraternity is reflected from knowing how to accept and enrich each other's differences in marriage and family. So,

- Living in a family with people who are different from us, we learn to become brothers and sisters. We learn to overcome division, prejudice and narrow-mindedness, to build something great and beautiful together, on the basis of what we have in common.

- Every family has a mission to carry out in the world, a witness to give... Let us ask ourselves: What is the word that God wants to say through our lives to the people we meet? What “steps” is God asking our families to take today?

*****

All events come and go, while marriage and family life continues every day with all shades of happiness, success, hope,... mixed with challenges, weakness, failure... But we do not get depressed, despair, or angrily give up on life. Because we know that, in faith, love, and humility, they all become the driving force, pushing us forward, where God, who is eternal love, is standing at the end of the road.

Nt. Anna Ngoc Diep, OP Dominicans of the Sacred Heart Transliterated from: catholicnewsagency ; vatican.va (June 22); and aleteia.org (June 23, 2022)