Vatican City, 14 September 2014 (VIS) –
This morning, Pope Francis celebrated the marriage of twenty couples
from Rome, the diocese of which he is bishop, during a Holy Mass
celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica. The cardinal vicar of Rome,
Agostino Vallini, and Archbishop Filippo Iannone, vice-regent and
director of the diocesan Centre for Family Pastoral, concelebrated
with the Pontiff.
The couples married by the Pope,
according to a press release from the Vicariate of Rome, are like
many others, engaged for different lengths of time; some already live
together, others have children, and others met within the parish. The
youngest couple were born in 1986 and 1989 respectively, whereas the
eldest were born in 1958 and 1965.
In his homily, the Holy Father,
commenting on the Bible passage that speaks of the long and wearisome
journey of the people of Israel through the desert, spoke of marriage
as a path with areas of light and shadows, during which the mercy and
grace of Christ can regenerate and channel married and family life.
“Today’s first reading speaks to us
of the people’s journey through the desert”, he began. “We can
imagine them as they walked, led by Moses; they were families:
fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, grandparents, men and women of
all ages, accompanied by many children and the elderly who struggled
to make the journey. This people reminds us of the Church as she
makes her way across the desert of the contemporary world, reminds us
of the People of God composed, for the most part, of families.
“This makes us think of families, our
families, walking along the paths of life with all their day to day
experiences. It is impossible to quantify the strength and depth of
humanity contained in a family: mutual help, educational support,
relationships developing as family members mature, the sharing of
joys and difficulties. Families are the first place in which we are
formed as persons and, at the same time, the 'bricks' for the
building up of society.
“Let us return to the biblical story.
At a certain point, 'the people became impatient on the way'. They
are tired, water supplies are low and all they have for food is
manna, which, although plentiful and sent by God, seems far too
meagre in a time of crisis. And so they complain and protest against
God and against Moses: 'Why did you make us leave?'. They are
tempted to turn back and abandon the journey.
“Here our thoughts turn to married
couples who 'become impatient on the way', the way of conjugal and
family life. The hardship of the journey causes them to experience
interior weariness; they lose the flavour of matrimony and they cease
to draw water from the well of the Sacrament. Daily life becomes
burdensome, and often, even 'nauseating'. During such moments of
disorientation – the Bible says – poisonous serpents come and
bite the people, and many die. This causes the people to repent and
to turn to Moses for forgiveness, asking him to beseech the Lord so
that he will cast out the snakes. Moses prays to the Lord, and the
Lord offers a remedy: a bronze serpent set on a pole; whoever looks
at it will be saved from the deadly poison of the vipers.
“What is the meaning of this symbol?
God does not destroy the serpents, but rather offers an 'antidote':
by means of the bronze serpent fashioned by Moses, God transmits his
healing strength, namely his mercy, which is more potent than the
Tempter’s poison.
“As we have heard in the Gospel,
Jesus identifies Himself with this symbol: out of love the Father
'has given' His only begotten Son so that men and women might have
eternal life. Such immense love of the Father spurs the Son to become
man, to become a servant and to die for us upon a cross. Out of such
love, the Father raises up his Son, giving Him dominion over the
entire universe. This is expressed by Saint Paul in his hymn in the
Letter to the Philippians. Whoever entrusts himself to Jesus
crucified receives the mercy of God and finds healing from the deadly
poison of sin.
“The cure which God offers the people
applies also, in a particular way, to spouses who 'have become
impatient on the way' and who succumb to the dangerous temptation of
discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abandonment. To them too, God
the Father gives His Son Jesus, not to condemn them, but to save
them: if they entrust themselves to Him, He will bring them healing
by the merciful love which pours forth from the Cross, with the
strength of His grace that renews and sets married couples and
families once again on the right path.
“The love of Christ, which has
blessed and sanctified the union of husband and wife, is able to
sustain their love and to renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes
lost, wounded or worn out. The love of Christ can restore to spouses
the joy of journeying together. This is what marriage is all about:
man and woman walking together, wherein the husband helps his wife to
become ever more a woman, and wherein the woman has the task of
helping her husband to become ever more a man. This is the task that
you both share. 'I love you, and for this love I help you to become
ever more a woman'; 'I love you, and for this love I help you to
become ever more a man'. Here we see the reciprocity of differences.
The path is not always a smooth one, free of disagreements, otherwise
it would not be human. It is a demanding journey, at times difficult,
and at times turbulent, but such is life! Within this theology which
the word of God offers us concerning the people on a journey, spouses
on a journey, I would like to give you some advice. It is normal for
husband and wife to argue: it’s normal. It always happens. But my
advice is this: never let the day end without having first made
peace. Never! A small gesture is sufficient. Thus the journey may
continue. Marriage is a symbol of life, real life: it is not
'fiction'! It is the Sacrament of the love of Christ and the Church,
a love which finds its proof and guarantee in the Cross. My desire
for you is that you have a good journey, a fruitful one, growing in
love. I wish you happiness. There will be crosses! But the Lord is
always there to help us move forward. May the Lord bless you!”.
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