POPE'S SPEECH TO FAMILIES IN TUXTLA GUTIERREZ<\/p>\n
\t\tDear brothers and sisters,<\/p>\n
\t\tI thank God for being here, on Chiapaneca soil. It feels good to be here on this soil, on this\u00a0
\n\t\tland; it is good to be here in this place which, with you here, has a family flavour, a home flavour. I\u00a0
\n\t\tgive thanks for your faces and your presence; I give thanks to God because of the heart-beat of his\u00a0
\n\t\tpresence in your families. I also thank you, families and friends, for giving us your witness, for\u00a0
\n\t\topening to us the doors of your homes, the doors of your lives; you have allowed us to sit with you\u00a0
\n\t\tsharing both in the bread that nourishes you and in the sweat of your brow as you face the\u00a0
\n\t\tdifficulties of every day. It is the bread representing the joys, the hopes and the hard sweat with\u00a0
\n\t\twhich you confront sadness, disillusion and failings. I thank you for allowing me to enter into your\u00a0
\n\t\tfamilies, your homes, and to sit at your tables.<\/p>\n
\t\tManuel, before thanking you for your testimony, I want to thank your parents who both\u00a0
\n\t\tknelt in front of you holding up the paper you read from. What a striking image! Two parents on\u00a0
\n\t\ttheir knees before their son who is ill. Let us never forget this image. They probably fall out now\u00a0
\n\t\tand again but which husband and wife doesn\u00e2??t? And when mother-in-laws are involved, even more\u00a0
\n\t\tso, but this does not matter: they love each other. They have shown us that they love each other\u00a0
\n\t\tand, out of this love, they can kneel before their infirm son. Thank you friends for this testimony\u00a0
\n\t\twhich you gave us and I encourage you to carry on forwards. Thank you! And you, Manuel, I\u00a0
\n\t\tthank you for your witness and especially for your example. I liked the expression you used 'to put\u00a0
\n\t\tyour heart into it\u00e2?\u009d [echarle ganas] describing the attitude you took after speaking with your parents.\u00a0
\n\t\tYou began to put your heart into your life, your family, your friends; you put your heart into us\u00a0
\n\t\tgathered here. Thank you. I believe that this is what the Holy Spirit always wants to do in our\u00a0
\n\t\tmidst: to put a new heart into us, giving us reasons to keep on taking risks for the good of the\u00a0
\n\t\tfamily, dreaming and building a life that has this sense of home, of family. Do we put our heart\u00a0
\n\t\tinto it? [They reply, 'yes\u00e2?\u009d]. Thank you!\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tThis is something which God the Father has always dreamt of and for which God the Father\u00a0
\n\t\thas fought for a very long time. When everything seemed lost that afternoon in the Garden of Eden,
\n\t\tGod the Father put a new heart into that young couple and told them that everything was not lost.\u00a0
\n\t\tAnd when the people of Israel felt that they could not go on journeying through the desert, God the\u00a0
\n\t\tFather put his heart into it by giving them manna from heaven. And when the fullness of time\u00a0
\n\t\tcame, God the Father put his heart into it, into humanity, by sending us his Son.
\n\t\tSimilarly, all of us here have had this experience, in different moments and different ways;\u00a0
\n\t\tGod the Father has put his heart into it for us. We can ask ourselves: why? Because he cannot do\u00a0
\n\t\totherwise. God our Father does not know how do to anything else but love us and put his best into\u00a0
\n\t\tus, encouraging us, helping us move forward... for he can do thing else, because his name is love,\u00a0
\n\t\this name is gift, his name is self-giving, his name is mercy. This he has shown us with complete\u00a0
\n\t\tpower and clarity in Jesus, his Son, who risked everything to the end so as to once again make\u00a0
\n\t\tpossible the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom that invites us to share in a new mindset, that puts into\u00a0
\n\t\tmotion a dynamic power capable of opening the heavens, capable of opening our hearts, our minds,\u00a0
\n\t\tour hands and capable of challenging us with new possibilities. This is a Kingdom which has the\u00a0
\n\t\tfeeling of family, the flavour of a life shared. In Jesus and with Jesus this Kingdom is possible. He\u00a0
\n\t\tis capable of changing our perspectives, attitudes, and feelings, which are often watery and dulled\u00a0
\n\t\tinto party wine, superficial. He can heal our hearts and invite us again and again, seventy times\u00a0
\n\t\tseven, to begin anew. He can make all things new.<\/p>\n
\t\tManuel, you asked me to pray for the many adolescents who are disillusioned and on a\u00a0
\n\t\twrong path. How well we know this. Many adolescents who are deflated, tired and without\u00a0
\n\t\taspirations. And as you yourself rightly said, this attitude often comes from a feeling of loneliness,\u00a0
\n\t\tfrom not having someone to talk to. Think of fathers and mothers: do they speak to their sons or\u00a0
\n\t\tdaughters or are they always busy or in a rush? Do they play with their children? This reminds me\u00a0
\n\t\tof the witness which Beatrice gave us. Beatrice, you said: 'the struggle has always been difficult because of uncertainty and loneliness\u00e2?\u009d. How many times did you feel singled out, judged: 'that\u00a0
\n\t\tone\u00e2?\u009d? Let us think of all those people, of all those women who go through what Beatrice went\u00a0
\n\t\tthrough. Uncertainty, insufficiency, and often not having the bare essentials, can lead to despair,\u00a0
\n\t\tcan make us deeply anxious because we cannot see a way to go on, especially when we have\u00a0
\n\t\tchildren in our care. Uncertainty is not only a threat to our stomach (which is already serious), but\u00a0
\n\t\tit can also threaten our soul, demoralizing us and taking away our energy so that we seek apparent\u00a0
\n\t\tsolutions that in the end solve nothing. And you were brave Beatrice, thank you. There is a kind of\u00a0
\n\t\tuncertainty which can be very dangerous, which can creep in surreptitiously; it is the uncertainty\u00a0
\n\t\tborn of solitude and isolation. And isolation is always a bad counsellor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tManuel and Beatrice both used, without realizing it, the same expression; both showed us\u00a0
\n\t\tthat very often the greatest temptation we face is to cut ourselves off, and far from putting our heart\u00a0
\n\t\tinto things, this attitude of isolation ends up, like a moth, corroding and wither our souls.\u00a0
\n\t\tThe way to overcome the uncertainty and isolation which makes us vulnerable to so many\u00a0
\n\t\tapparent solutions \u00e2?? as Beatrice mentioned \u00e2?? can be found on different levels. One is through\u00a0
\n\t\tlegislation which protects and guarantees the bare necessities of life so that every home and every\u00a0
\n\t\tperson can develop through education and dignified employment. There is, on the other hand, what\u00a0
\n\t\tthe witness of Humberto and Claudia made evident when they explained how they tried to convey\u00a0
\n\t\tto others the love of God that they experienced through service and generous giving. Laws and\u00a0
\n\t\tpersonal commitment make good duo that can break the spiral of uncertainty. And you have the\u00a0
\n\t\tinspiration, you pray, and you are united to Jesus, and you are involved in the life of the Church. You used a beautiful expression: 'Let us take communion with the brother who is weak, ill, needy,\u00a0
\n\t\tin prison\u00e2?\u009d. Thank you. Thank you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tToday we see how on different fronts the family is weakened and questioned. It is regarded\u00a0
\n\t\tas a model which has done its time, but which has no place in our societies; these, claiming to be\u00a0
\n\t\tmodern, increasingly favour a model based on isolation. Societies become increasingly inoculated\u00a0
\n\t\t\u00e2?? they refer to themselves as societies which are free, democratic, sovereign \u00e2?? but they are\u00a0
\n\t\tinoculated by ideological colonizations which destroy; and we end up being ideological colonies\u00a0
\n\t\tthat then have a destructive effect on families, the family cell, which is the basis of every healthy
\n\t\tsociety.<\/p>\n
\t\tIt is true that living in family is not always easy, and can often be painful and stressful but,\u00a0
\n\t\tas I have often said referring to the Church, I prefer a wounded family that makes daily efforts to\u00a0
\n\t\tput love into play, to a family and society that is sick from isolationism or a habitual fear of love. I\u00a0
\n\t\tprefer a family that makes repeated efforts to begin again, to a family and society that is narcissistic\u00a0
\n\t\tand obsessed with luxury and comfort. How many children do you have? 'No, we don\u00e2??t have\u00a0
\n\t\tchildren as we like to go on holidays, be tourists, and I want to buy a villa\u00e2?\u009d. Luxury and comfort\u00a0
\n\t\twithout children, and yet, when you then want a child, it\u00e2??s too late. This is so harmful, is it not? I\u00a0
\n\t\tprefer a family with tired faces from generous giving, to a family with faces full of makeup that\u00a0
\n\t\tknow nothing of tenderness and compassion. I prefer a man and a woman, don Aniceto and his\u00a0
\n\t\twife, with faces that are wrinkled due to the daily struggles over the 50 years of strong married\u00a0
\n\t\tlove; and here we have them, and their son has learned the lesson from them and is now 25 years married. These are families. When I asked don Aniceto and his wife which of them showed more\u00a0
\n\t\tpatience during these last 50 years, they replied 'Both us, Father\u00e2?\u009d. Because in order to get to the\u00a0
\n\t\tpoint they have reached after 50 years, you need patience, love and mutual forgiveness. 'Father, a\u00a0
\n\t\tperfect family never gets into arguments\u00e2?\u009d. This is not true, it is quite helpful when couples argue\u00a0
\n\t\tnow and again and when the odd plate is thrown: it\u00e2??s okay, do not be afraid. My only advice is that\u00a0
\n\t\tthey never let the sun set without making peace, because if they are at odds with each other at the\u00a0
\n\t\tend of the day, they will wake up to a cold war, a cold war is very dangerous in the family because\u00a0
\n\t\tit undermines, from within, the hard earned wrinkles of conjugal fidelity. Thank you for the testimony of loving each other for over 50 years. Thank you.<\/p>\n
\t\tAnd speaking of wrinkles, to change the subject a little, I remember the testimony of a great\u00a0
\n\t\tactress \u00e2?? an actress of Latin American films \u00e2?? almost in her sixties, and showing some wrinkles on\u00a0
\n\t\ther face. She was advised to have some work done on her face so as to carry on working\u00a0
\n\t\tsuccessfully. Her response was quite clear: 'These wrinkles cost me a lot of work, much effort,\u00a0
\n\t\tmuch pain and a full life, so I would never even dream of touching them; they are the signs of my\u00a0
\n\t\tlife history. And I am still a great actress\u00e2?\u009d. The same thing happens in marriage. Married life has\u00a0
\n\t\tto be renewed every day. And, as I said before, I prefer families with wrinkles, with wounds, and\u00a0
\n\t\tscars, but who carry on moving forwards; for these wounds, scars and wrinkles are the fruit of a\u00a0
\n\t\tfaithful love which has had its share of difficulties. Love is not easy, it not easy, but the most\u00a0
\n\t\tbeautiful thing is when a man and a woman can offer each other true love and offer it for life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tI have been asked to pray for you and I want to do so now. You Mexicans have something\u00a0
\n\t\textra; you run ahead with an advantage. You have a Mother, la Guadalupana. La Guadalupana\u00a0
\n\t\twanted to visit this land and this gives us the certainty of her intercession so that our dream, which\u00a0
\n\t\twe call the family, may not be lost through uncertainty or solitude. She is a Mother and is always\u00a0
\n\t\tready to defend our families, our future; she is always ready to put her heart into it by giving us her\u00a0
\n\t\tSon. For this reason, I invite you, as you are, without moving around too much, to hold hands and\u00a0
\n\t\taddress her together: 'Hail Mary...\u00e2?\u009d.<\/p>\n
\t\tAnd let us not forget Saint Joseph, quiet, a worker, but always at the forefront looking after\u00a0
\n\t\this family. Thank you, and may God bless you. And pray for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tAnd now I would like to invite, in the context of this celebration of the family, married\u00a0
\n\t\tcouples here present, in silence, to renew their marriage vows. And those who are preparing for\u00a0
\n\t\tmarriage, ask for the grace of a faithful family, full of love. In silence, renew your marriage vows\u00a0
\n\t\tand fianc\u00e9es pray for the grace of fidelity and love in the family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
February 15, 2016. The Pope's speech to the families in Tuxtla Gutierrez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":35526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"","video_descarga":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/","international_url":"","type":"none","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}