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FOURTH WORLD MEETING
OF FAMILIES
ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II
25 January 2003 |
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1. My thoughts and prayers are with
you, dear families of the Philippines and from throughout the world,
as you gather in Manila for your Fourth World Meeting. With great
affection I greet all of you in the name of the Lord!
On this occasion I also offer a prayerful greeting to all the families
of the world which you represent: "Grace, mercy, and peace
from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord" (1 Tim 1:2).
I thank the Papal Legate, Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo,
for the kind words which he addressed to me on your behalf. To him
and to the staff of the Pontifical Council for the Family I express
my gratitude for the time and effort spent in preparing this Meeting.
I am likewise grateful to Cardinal Jaime Sin, the Archbishop of
Manila, who is generously hosting you during these days.
2. In the theological-pastoral session just concluded you discussed
the theme: "The Christian Family: Good News for the Third Millennium".
I chose these words with your World Meeting in mind, in order to
highlight the sublime mission of the family. By embracing the Gospel
and walking in its light, families are given the demanding responsibility
of bearing witness to its message.
Dear Christian families, proclaim joyfully to the whole world the
wonderful treasure which you, as domestic churches, possess! Christian
couples, in your communion of life and love, in your mutual self-giving
and in your generous openness to children, become, in Christ, the
light of the world. The Lord asks you daily to be like a lamp which
does not remain hidden, but is put "on a stand, and ... gives
light to all in the house" (Mt 5:15).
3. Above all, be "good news" for the third millennium
by remaining faithful to your vocation. Whether you were married
recently or many years ago, the Sacrament of Matrimony continues
to be your own special way of being disciples of Jesus, contributing
to the spread of the Kingdom of God and growing in the holiness
to which all Christians are called. As the Second Vatican Council
noted, Christian couples, in the fulfilment of their marital and
family responsibilities, "increasingly advance their own perfection
and their mutual sanctification" (Gaudium et Spes, 48).
Accept fully and without reserve the love which, in the Sacrament
of Matrimony, God first gave to you, and through which he enables
you to love others in turn (cf. 1 Jn 4:19). Stand firm in the one
conviction which can give meaning, strength and joy to your life:
Christ's love will never abandon you, his covenant of peace with
you will never fail (cf. Is 54:10). God's gifts and call are irrevocable
(cf. Rom 11:29). He has written your name on the palm of his hand
(cf. Is 49:16).
4. The grace which you received in marriage remains with you through
the years. Its source is in the pierced heart of the Redeemer, who
sacrificed himself on the altar of the Cross for the sake of the
Church, his Spouse, accepting death for the salvation of the world.
This grace remains ever close to that source: it is the grace of
a self-sacrificing love, a love which both gives and forgives. It
is the grace of a selfless love which forgets the hurt it has suffered,
a love faithful unto death, a love bursting with new life. It is
the grace of a generous love, which believes all things, bears all
things, hopes all things, endures all things, a love which has no
end, a love which is greater than all else (cf. 1 Cor 13:7-8).
Such a love is not always easy. Daily life is full of pitfalls,
tensions, suffering and even fatigue. But on this journey you are
not alone. Jesus is always present at your side, just as he was
for the newlyweds at Cana in Galilee during a moment of difficulty.
The Second Vatican Council reminds us that the Saviour remains close
to Christian couples and offers them help, so that, just as he loved
the Church and gave himself up for her, they too might always love
each other faithfully and with constant mutual concern (cf. Gaudium
et Spes, 48).
5. Christian couples, be "good news for the third millennium"
by bearing convincing and consistent witness to the truth about
the family.
The family founded on marriage is a patrimony of humanity, a great
good of priceless value, necessary for the life, development and
the future of peoples. According to the plan of creation established
in the beginning (cf. Mt 19: 4.8), the family is the setting in
which the human person, made in the image and likeness of God (cf.
Gen 1:26), is conceived and born, grows and matures. The family,
as the primary school in which the human person is formed (cf. Familiaris
Consortio, 19-27), is indispensable for a true "human ecology"
(Centesimus Annus, 39).
I am grateful for the testimonies which you have given this evening,
and which I have carefully followed. They bring to mind my own experiences
as a priest, as Archbishop of Krakow and in the nearly twenty-five
years of my papacy. As I have often said, the future of humanity
passes by way of the family (cf. Familiaris Consortio, 86).
I urge you, dear Christian families, to show by your daily lives
that despite numerous difficulties and obstacles marriage is able
to be fully lived out as a meaningful experience and as "good
news" for the men and women of today. Be leaders in the Church
and in the world: this is a responsibility flowing from your celebration
of the Sacrament of Matrimony, from your being a domestic church,
and from the marital mission which is yours as the primary cells
of society (cf. Apostolicam Actuositatem, 11).
6. Finally, dear Christian couples, if you wish to be "good
news for the third millennium", do not forget that family prayer
is a sure way to remain united in a way of life in harmony with
God's will.
When I proclaimed the Year of the Rosary several months ago, I recommended
this Marian devotion as a prayer of the family and for the family.
By reciting the Rosary, families "place Jesus at the centre,
they share his joys and sorrows, they place their needs and their
plans in his hands, they draw from him the hope and the strength
to go on" (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 42).
I entrust all of you to Mary, Queen of the Family; may she accompany
and sustain your life as families. I am also pleased to announce
that the Fourth World Meeting of Families will be held in Valencia,
Spain, in 2006.
As I now impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing, I leave you
with a final charge: with God's help, make the Gospel the guiding
principle of your families, and make your families a page of the
Gospel written for our time! |
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