|
Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
On
the Holy Family
"It Is Worth It to Work for the Family and Marriage"
H.H. Benedict XVI
December 30, 2007
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. Following the
narration of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, we stop to look at
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we look with adoration on the mystery of a
God that chose to be born of a woman, the holy Virgin, and to enter
this world by a path common to all men. In this way he sanctified
the reality of the family, filling it with divine grace and fully
revealing his vocation and mission.
The Second Vatican Council paid special attention to the family. The
spouses, it affirmed, are for each other and their children
witnesses of the faith and love of Christ (cf. "Lumen Gentium,"
No. 35). The Christian family participates in this way in the
prophetic vocation of the Church: With its manner of living, "The
Christian family loudly proclaims both the present virtues of the
kingdom of God and the hope of a blessed life to come" (ibid.).
As my venerable predecessor Pope John Paul II repeated untiringly,
the good of the person and of society is intimately linked to the
"good health" of the family (cf. "Gaudium et Spes," No. 47).
Because they are words of the council, the Church is committed to
the defense and promotion of the "the natural dignity of the married
state and the superlative value" of marriage and the family (ibid.).
With this end in mind, an important initiative is being celebrated
today in Madrid. I will address those participants now in Spanish.
Greetings to the participants in the family encounter that is taking
place this Sunday in Madrid, as well as to those cardinals, bishops
and priests that accompany them.
Upon contemplating the mystery of the Son of God that came into the
world surrounded by the affection of Mary and Joseph, I invite all
Christian families to experience the loving presence of the Lord in
their lives. I encourage them, inspired by love of Christ for all
mankind, to give witness before the world of the beauty of human
love, marriage and family. This, founded in the dissoluble union
between a man and a woman, constitutes the privileged environment in
which human life is welcomed and protected, from its beginning until
its natural end.
For this, parents have the right and fundamental obligation to
educate their children, in the faith and in the values that dignify
human existence. It is worth it to work for the family and marriage
because it is worth it to work for the human being, the most
valuable being created by God.
I direct myself in a special way to the children, so that they love
and pray for their parents and brothers and sisters; to the young
people, so that stimulated by the love of their parents, they follow
with generosity their own vocation to marriage, the priesthood or
religious life; to the elderly and the sick, so that they find the
help and understanding they need. And to you, beloved spouses, count
on the grace of God always, so that your love will be always more
and more fruitful and faithful.
In the hands of Mary, "who with her 'yes' opened the door of our
world to God" ("Spe Salvi"), I place the results of this
celebration. Thank you very much and happy holidays.
[Translation by Karna Swanson]
[After the Angelus, the Pope greeted the people in several
languages. In English, he said:]
I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors gathered for
this Angelus prayer. Today, in the heart of the Christmas season,
the Church celebrates the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. May
the mystery of God's love, made incarnate in the Child Jesus and
reflected in the home of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth, dwell in your
hearts and in your families throughout the coming year. Upon all of
you I invoke an abundance of Christmas joy and peace!
(c) Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
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