Pope
Benedict XVI began his visit to Milan for the 7th World Meeting of Families by
addressing a huge crowd in the Piazza in front of Milan’s Cathedral, the Duomo.
The Pope in his inaugural address to the enthusiastic crowds, called for the
creation a future built upon the Christian family. “Faith in Jesus Christ, who died and rose for us, who is living among us, must animate the entire fabric of your life, personal and communal, private and public, so as to enable a stable and authentic 'well-being' beginning with the family,”
Over
a three day visit the Pope met with many of thousands of pilgrims from over 150
countries who gathered in Milan for the meeting on the theme of “The Family:
Work and Celebration.” Pope Benedict described the family as “humanity’s principal
patrimony, coefficient and sign of a true and stable culture in favor of man.”
The Holy Father announced during the last day of his Milan visit that
the eighth World Meeting of Families will be held in Philadelphia, U.S.A. in
the year 2015. "I send my warm greetings to Archbishop Charles
Chaput", he said, "and to the Catholics of that great city, and look
forward to meeting them there, along with numerous families from all around the
world".
Pope
Benedict told the meeting of that the family based upon marriage can
revolutionize modern society for the better.
“Your vocation is not easy to live, especially today, but the vocation to love is a wonderful thing, it is the only force that can truly transform the world,”
Pope
Benedict was concluding a three-day visit to the event in northern Italy which brought together families from over 150 countries to pray,
celebrate and study marriage and family life.
The
Pope used his homily to provide some advice on the “elements that build up
family life.”
He
recommended:
“maintaining a constant relationship with God and participating in the life of the Church,” “cultivating dialogue, respecting the other’s point of view, being ready for service and patient with the failings of others,” agreeing on “principles of upbringing,” “being open to other families, attentive towards the poor, and responsible within civil society.”
The
Pope also stressed the importance of family life built upon a man and woman who
are married to each other. This is because God “created us male and female,
equal in dignity, but also with respective and complementary characteristics,
so that the two might be a gift for each other, might value each other and
might bring into being a community of love and life.”
He
told the married couples present in the large outdoor congregation that they
were “not giving each other any particular thing or activity” in marriage “but
your whole lives.”
This
love becomes most fruitful in its desire to “accomplish one another’s good” as
well as in the “generous and responsible procreation of children,” followed by
their “vigilant and wise education.”
The
Pope also explained that the benefits of married families go beyond the spouses
and children to include society at large, since “family life is the first and
irreplaceable school of social virtues, such as respect for persons,
gratuitousness, trust, responsibility, solidarity, cooperation.”
He
then urged parents to transmit to their children “with serenity and trust,
reasons for living, the strength of faith, pointing them towards high goals and
supporting them in their fragility.”
Pope
Benedict next turned his attention to the children present and encouraged them
to “always maintain a relationship of deep affection and attentive care for
your parents, and see that your relationships with your brothers and sisters
are opportunities to grow in love.”
Towards
the conclusion of his homily, the Pope addressed the damaging impact that
modern economic theories based upon “a utilitarian concept of work, production
and the market” can have upon the family.
Both
God’s plan and experience, he said, show that this “one-sided logic of sheer
utility and maximum profit” is not conducive to the good of the person, family
or society.
“Indeed,
the utilitarian mentality tends to take its toll on personal and family
relationships, reducing them to a fragile convergence of individual interests
and undermining the solidity of the social fabric.”
One
of the ways in which Christian families can combat this trend is by making sure
they keep Sunday as a special day for the family each week. It should be a day “of
man and his values,” set aside for “conviviality, friendship, solidarity,
culture, closeness to nature, play, sport,” said the Pope.
“Dear
families, despite the relentless rhythms of the modern world, do not lose a
sense of the Lord’s Day! It is like an oasis in which to pause, so as to taste
the joy of encounter and to quench our thirst for God.”
