When there are no Christian communities, families feel alone and loneliness does a lot of damage, the Pontiff warned the international leaders of the “Teams of Our Lady” Movement, an institution to discover and live the richness of the sacrament of marriage through dialogue. , prayer and formation.
Sebastian Samson Ferrari – Vatican City
Take care of the newlyweds, because it is important that they “live a nuptial mystagogy that helps them experience the beauty of the sacrament received and a spirituality as a couple,” was one of the requests made by the Holy Father to the international leaders of the “Teams” Movement. of Our Lady”, whom he received in audience this Saturday morning, May 4, at the Vatican. Founded in 1938 by the French priest Henri Caffarel, the organization, committed to families, today supports 74,000 couples around the world in their married life.
This institution “is constantly growing and is made up of thousands of teams around the world, by many families who try to live Christian marriage as a gift,” said Francisco, who referred to the true “cultural storm” that it is going through. the Christian family in this change of era. Therefore, the work of said entity “is precious for the Church”, given that “closely accompany marriages so that they do not feel alone in the difficulties of life and in their marital relationship.” In this way, he continued, “they are an expression of the Church ‘on the way out’, which shows itself close to the situations and problems of the people and is committed without reservation for the good of the families of today and tomorrow.
Accompanying marriages today constitutes, in the opinion of the Successor of Peter, a “true mission.”
The Holy Father considered that in today’s world “it is very urgent to help young people discover that Christian marriage is a vocationa specific call that God addresses to a man and a woman so that they can fully realize themselves in their generative capacity, becoming father and mother, and providing the world with the grace of the sacrament they have received.”
“This grace, Francis stressed, is the love of Christ that unites that of spouses, it is his presence between them and it is God’s fidelity to the love that unites them. It is He who gives them the strength to grow together every day and stay together”.
Marriage, a “beat of three”
The Bishop of Rome observed that today it is thought that the success of a marriage depends only on the willpower of the people. It is not like this; If it were, it would be a burden, a yoke placed on the shoulders of two poor creatures.
Marriage, on the other hand, the Pontiff asserted, is a “time of three,” in which the presence of Christ in the midst of the spouses makes the journey possible, transforming the yoke into a game of glances: the gaze between the spouses, the look between spouses and Christ. Like a game that lasts a lifetime and in which you win together if Everyone strives to take care of their own relationship: guarding it as a precious treasure and helping each other in married life to cross that access door that is Christ every day. He himself has said it: «I am the door. He who enters through me will be saved” (Jn 10.9).
And speaking of looks, the Pope recounted a moving experience:
“Once, in a General Court, there was a couple – 60 years of marriage (marriage) – she was 18 years old when she got married and he was 21. So they were 78 and 81 (years old). And I asked: ‘And now they are still loving each other?’ And they looked at each other and then came to me, with tears in their eyes… ‘We still love each other!’
Help newlyweds with a “catechumenal itinerary”
Next, Francis shared two brief reflections: the first, relating to newlyweds, in which he explained that “in the first years of marriage it is especially necessary to discover faith within the marital union; to taste and savor it by learning to pray.” together”.
“There are so many, he said, who get married today without understanding what relationship faith has with their married life, perhaps because before marriage no one taught them.” For this reason, he invited them to “help them through a “catechumenal” itinerary of rediscovery of personal and couple faith, so that from the beginning they learn to make space for Jesus and, with Him, they can take care of their marriage.” .
Be like flames that light other flames of faith
Bergoglio highlighted the association’s work with priests, calling it “very valuable, since you can do a lot in parishes and communities, encouraging the reception of younger families.” Later, he pointed out that we must begin again from the new generations “to make the Church fruitful, favoring the emergence of many small ‘domestic churches’ where people live a Christian lifestyle, where they feel familiar with Jesus and where they learn to Listen to those around us as Jesus listens to us.
He entrusted them to be like flames that ignite other flames of faith, especially among younger couples, not to allow them to accumulate suffering and wounds in the solitude of their homes and to help them discover the oxygen of faith with tenderness, patience and trust under the action of the Holy Spirit.
Be careful with clericalism
The second thought that Francis left them was about the importance of co-responsibility between spouses and priests within the entity. In this sense, he encouraged them to bring the complementarity of the two vocations to the parishes, once they understood it and lived it concretely, “so that, in turn, both lay people and priests discover that richness and that need.” “This, he noted, will help to overcome that clericalism that makes the Church less fruitful – be careful with clericalism – and will also help spouses to discover that, through marriage, they are called to a mission. Indeed, they are who have the gift and responsibility of building, together with ordained ministers, the ecclesial community”.
The Holy Father added that “when there are no Christian communities, families feel alone and loneliness does a lot of damage.” With their charisma, the “Teams of Our Lady” can become “solicitous rescuers of those in need, of those who are alone, of those who have problems in their families and do not know who to talk to, either because they are ashamed or have lost the hope”. He asked them in the dioceses to “help families understand the importance of supporting each other and working together; to build communities where Christ can “dwell” in homes and family relationships.”
Finally, on the way to the International Meeting of the foundation, which will take place in July 2024 in Turin, Francis wished you that in the midst of the synodal process that we are experiencing, “May it also be for you a time of listening to the Spirit and of fruitful preparation at the service of the God’s Kingdom”.
“That in this year, dedicated to prayer, you can discover and rediscover the pleasure of praying together at home; with simplicity and in daily life,” he told them.