The pope’s weekly teachings pop with truth, freshness and vitality
If you have five minutes and a smartphone while waiting in the grocery store checkout line, you have enough time to read one of Pope Francis’ recent Wednesday audiences on the family.
Through this yearlong series, Pope Francis has been preparing the church for the World Meeting of Families this month in Philadelphia, as well as for the bishops’ Synod on the Family, which will gather in Rome in October. He urges prayer for the success of these important events, and highlights the importance of educating ourselves more deeply about the truth of marriage and family at this time.
If you asked me as a theologian, my top reading recommendation to prepare for these historic meetings would be to feast your mind and soul on Vatican II’s teaching on marriage and family in Gaudium et Spes, paragraphs 48–52. I’d follow that up with St. John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio, the document that resulted from the last time the worlds’ bishops met for a Synod on the Family, in 1980. These documents are beautiful and rich, something every Catholic deserves to read (and they’re free online!).
Profound truths, spontaneous style
But as a busy mother of four, I know that sometimes you need a more bite-sized nugget of truth, beauty and goodness that you can squeeze in amidst your daily duties.
Maybe you find yourself in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. Instead of picking up the lifestyle magazine to learn how to incorporate pickled orange rind into an ironic retro cocktail, try pulling out your mobile device, pulling up the Vatican website (English version), and drinking in some of the wonderful reflections in this year’s family-themed cycle of audiences. You’ll find they pop with a freshness and vitality that ranges in flavor from simple and sweet to heart-wrenching.
In this series of catechetical talks, Pope Francis, with his signature style — direct, intimate, spontaneous, somewhat folksy — delivers profound truths about the human person. He issues serious challenges to live the truth of who we are — created in the image of God as men and women, called to loving communion in marriage to form the family — and to live this as true disciples of Christ.
You might read from the reflections on themes such as the mother, the father, the child, or masculinity and femininity. You might choose the reflections on the importance of grandparents, brothers and sisters. Perhaps you’ll be drawn to his reflection about the important time of engagement, or the marriage itself, which he notes is “not merely a ceremony in a church, with flowers, a dress, photographs” but is a “sacrament that takes place in the Church, and which also makes the Church, by giving rise to a new family community” (May 6).
Endearing charm, serious challenges
Other reflections treat the sad realities of death, poverty and family wounds, including the often-overlooked spiritual wounds children suffer from divorce: “When a dad and mom hurt one another, the souls of their children suffer terribly. … And these wounds leave a mark that lasts their whole lives. … Frequently these children hide to cry alone” (June 24). He asks us disciples in the church to pray for help to approach broken families with the charity of Jesus’ merciful heart.
Even while speaking about the more lighthearted topic of manners and courtesy in family life (May 13), Pope Francis follows endearing charm with serious challenge. He counsels frequent use of three expressions — “May I?” “Thank you.” “Forgive me.” — that are “so simple that perhaps they even bring a smile to our face.” But asking your family “Do you mind if I do this? Would you like me to do this?” is not only “well-mannered indeed, but it is also full of love,” and it does families much good. Gratitude is the mark of a noble soul, and “Forgive me” is required to heal family fights: “Don’t let the sun go down on your family without having made your peace. Do you understand me? It’s not easy, but you have to do it. It will help to make life so much more beautiful.”
Through this series of audiences, Pope Francis challenges the church to restore marriage and family to a place of honor, for “The Church herself is fully involved in the story of every Christian marriage: she is built on their successes and she suffers in their failures.” She is indissolubly wedded to marriage and family life — even more so than many of us are to our phones!
Originally posted on Northwest Catholic – September 2015