Italian
“We received life before we wanted it. As Pope Francis taught, ‘all men are children, but none of us chose to be born’ (Angelus, January 1, 2025). Not only that. As soon as we were born, we needed others to survive, we wouldn’t have made it on our own: someone else saved us, taking care of us, of our body as well as our spirit. All of us live, therefore, thanks to a relationship, that is, a free and liberating bond of humanity and mutual care.” This morning, Pope Leo XIV said during the homily delivered on the occasion of the solemn celebration held in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of families and children, grandparents, and the elderly.
“It is true, sometimes this humanity is betrayed. For example, whenever freedom is invoked not to give life, but to take it; not to help, but to harm. However, even in the face of evil, which divides and kills, Jesus continues to pray to the Father for us, and his prayer acts as a balm on our wounds, becoming for all a message of forgiveness and reconciliation. The Lord’s prayer gives full meaning to the bright moments of our love for each other, as parents, grandparents, sons, and daughters. And this is what we want to proclaim to the world: we are here to be ‘one’ as the Lord wants us to be ‘one,’ in our families and where we live, work, and study: different, yet one, many, yet one, always, in every circumstance and at every age of life.” After the reminder to be united and not divided, Pope Leo XIV recalled that “from families the future of peoples is born.”
“Today’s world needs the conjugal alliance to know and welcome the love of God and to overcome, with its unifying and reconciling strength, the forces that disintegrate relationships and societies.”
With a heart “full of gratitude and hope,” the Pope addressed the spouses saying, “marriage is not an ideal, but the canon of true love between man and woman: total, faithful, fruitful love (Saint Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae, 9). While transforming you into one flesh, this same love makes you capable, in the image of God, of giving life.”
Finally, the encouragement of Leo XIV, be “examples of consistency for your children, behaving as you want them to behave, educating them to freedom through obedience, always seeking in them the good and the means to increase it. And you, children, be grateful to your parents: saying “thank you” for the gift of life and for everything that comes with it every day is the first way to honor father and mother (cf. Ex 20:12). And to you, dear grandparents and elders, I recommend that you watch over those you love, with wisdom and compassion, with the humility and patience that years teach.”
Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
