Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mexico City (Agenzia Fides) – The 6th World Meeting of Families ended with a moving Solemn Mass that ended with the live televised message via satellite given by His Holiness Benedict XVI, who also imparted his apostolic blessing on those present. The Mass was presided by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State and Papal Legate. It was attended by over 20 Cardinals and 200 Bishops from all over the world. During the ceremony, over 100 couples renewed their marriage commitments before the Papal Legate.
In his homily, Cardinal Bertone made reference to the readings from the Mass, saying that “the principle that regulates and provides a basis for ethical conduct is the fear of the Lord: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord...Fear of the Lord impels the renunciation of sin and the fulfillment of his will, made concrete in moral norms.” These ethical values and moral norms are part of the logic and dynamism of life, which tends towards fullness. Thus, “to accept them means to follow the direction of one's human growth, being faithful to God and faithful to oneself.”
“The Christian family places at the center of its attention the person of the Lord Jesus, it welcomes him into the home, prays and gathers around him, seeks to share his teachings, his sentiments, his desires, and to fulfill his will,” the Papal Legate continued. The Cardinal affirmed that it is the faith that transforms family relationships and activities and creates a climate of joy and communion. This is precisely “the family as educator in human and Christian values” in which “many virtues are practiced, united and sublimated by charity.”
While all the members of the family should participate in the development of human and Christian values, the Cardinal reminded parents of their unique responsibility, which they should carry out in imitation of Mary and Joseph. In this sense, the Vatican Secretary of State made an appeal to parents to love their children and make them feel loved, appreciated, respected, and understood, as “feeling loved gives rise to gratitude and trust in others, in themselves and in the love of the Heavenly Father; and it is a call to respond to love with love.” He also asked that they respect the personality and vocation of their children. “To educate them is to help them to develop their hidden potential and support them so they can be fully themselves according to the plan God has for their lives. Take care of them as a gift that has been entrusted to you, without being possessive.”
“A good educative relationship involves tenderness and affection, and at the same time, rationality and authority,” Cardinal Bertone said. Thus, he exhorted them to “be close to their children and cultivate dialogue with them. Dear fathers and mothers, be generous with your children, without being permissive; be demanding without being severe; be clear with them and do not contradict yourselves; know how to say yes or no in the right moment. Be coherent and give them a good example.” In this manner, “you can help your children to mature [with] a balanced personality, constructive and creative, solid and reliable, capable of confronting the challenges and the tests of life, which are never lacking.”
Lastly, the Papal Legate recalled that “formation in human and Christian values requires a family founded in a monogamous matrimony and open to life; it requires a united and stable family.”
Thus, regardless of human weakness, spouses should “seek with the grace of God to live ever more coherently in love as a total gift of one's life from one to the other, making of their family a living Gospel.” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 20/1/2009)
