Prayer to the Holy Family by Pope Francis
A nascence brandish is pictured equally Pope Francis recites the Angelus prayer on the feast of the Holy Family unit, Dec. 26, 2021, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. The pope said every bit a "Christmas souvenir" he had written a letter to families. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Covid-19 pandemic has been tough on families, only with extra patience and faith, bonds tin abound stronger, Pope Francis wrote in a letter of the alphabet released on the feast of the Holy Family.
"Union, equally a vocation, calls y'all to steer a tiny boat — wave-tossed yet sturdy, thanks to the reality of the sacrament — across a sometimes stormy sea," he told couples in the letter published Dec. 26.
Like the disciples who were foundering on the Sea of Galilee, couples must keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, he said. "Only in this manner, will you observe peace, overcome conflicts and discover solutions to many of your problems. Those issues, of course, will non disappear, but you lot will exist able to meet them from a different perspective."
Reciting the midday Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter'southward Square December. 26, Pope Francis said he had written the letter as a "Christmas gift" to married couples during the celebration of the "Amoris Laetitia Family" Year, a yr defended to re-reading his 2016 exhortation on marriage and family unit life.
In his Angelus talk, the pope commented on the twenty-four hour period'southward Gospel reading about a 12-year-erstwhile Jesus staying behind in Jerusalem and making Mary and Joseph frantic.
"In the Gospel, we run into that even in the Holy Family things did non all go well: At that place were unexpected problems, anxiety, suffering. The Holy Family unit of holy cards does not exist," he said.
When Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the temple and enquire him why he worried them so, he tells them, "Did you not know that I must exist in my Father's house?"
Mary and Joseph do not understand, the pope said. "They need time to acquire to know their son. That's the way it is with us besides: Each day, a family unit needs to larn how to listen to each other to understand each other, to walk together, to face conflicts and difficulties."
In his alphabetic character to families, like in "Amoris Laetitia," Pope Francis paid tribute to the strength and tenacity of couples as they face existent difficulties together on the journey of life.
Like Abraham, called by God to set out to an unknown country, he wrote, with the pandemic "we, too, have experienced uncertainty, loneliness, the loss of loved ones; nosotros, too, take been forced to leave backside our certainties, our 'comfort zones,' our familiar ways of doing things and our ambitions, and to piece of work for the welfare of our families and that of society as a whole, which also depends on us and our deportment."
The pandemic lockdowns, quarantines and periods of isolation "meant that there was more than time to be together, and this proved a unique opportunity for strengthening communication inside families," the pope said. Merely that too demanded patience.
"Don't exist ashamed to kneel together earlier Jesus in the Eucharist, in order to find a few moments of peace and to look at each other with tenderness and goodness."
"It is not piece of cake to be together all mean solar day long, when everyone has to work, study, recreate and rest in the same house," he said.
When nerves are frazzled, the pope said, try to put the needs of others start and re-read the hymn to dearest from ane Corinthians 13 "so that it can inspire your decisions and your actions" and "the time you spend together, far from being a penance, will be become a refuge among the storms."
Pope Francis also told married couples, "Don't be aback to kneel together before Jesus in the Eucharist, in social club to observe a few moments of peace and to await at each other with tenderness and goodness."
And, for couples whose issues were exacerbated by the pandemic and led to a breakup, Pope Francis said, "I would like them, too, to sense my closeness and my affection."
Simply he urged them to be civil to ane some other, peculiarly in front of their children so that the pain of seeing their parents separate is non made worse past seeing them constantly fighting.
"Children are always a gift," the pope wrote. "They are thirsty for dearest, gratitude, esteem and trust."
Parents must laissez passer on to their children "the joy of realizing that they are God's children, children of a Begetter who has always loved them tenderly and who takes them by the hand each new day," he said. "Every bit they come to know this, your children will abound in religion and trust in God."
Addressing engaged couples, Pope Francis said he knows the pandemic has been especially difficult for those trying to plan a future together.
"In your journey toward marriage," he told them, "always trust in God's providence, however limited your ways, since at times, difficulties tin can bring out resources we did non fifty-fifty think we had. Do not hesitate to rely on your families and friends, on the ecclesial customs, on your parish, to help you set up for union and family life by learning from those who have already advanced forth the path on which you are now setting out."
The 85-year-old pope also expressed his affection to grandparents, specially those who are feeling isolated or solitary. He urged families to make greater efforts to be with them or at least be in touch with them.
Source: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/12/26/pope-francis-family-letter-242124
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