ANGELUS OF 12/28/08
FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY
The Holy Family, N. Poussin, 1641. Oil on canvas.
The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, USA.
Dear brothers and sisters!
On this Sunday after the Nativity of the Lord, we celebrate the joy of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
The context is most appropriate because Christmas is, par excellence, the feast of the family. This is shown by so many social customs and traditions, especially that of family reunions for festive meals and the exchange of gifts and best wishes.
But how can we not also highlight that these circumstances amplify the inconveniences and the pain caused by certain family wounds?
Jesus was born and grew up in a human family: The Virgin Mary was his mother, and Joseph became a father to him. They raised and educated him with immense love.
The family of Jesus truly deserves to be called 'holy' because it was entirely gripped by the desire to do the will of God, incarnated in the adorable presence of Jesus.
On the one hand, it was a family like any other, and as such, is a model of conjugal love, of collaboration, of sacrifice, of trust in divine Providence, of industry and solidarity - in short, of all those values that a family protects and promotes, contributing in a primary way to forming the fabric of every society.
At the same time, the Family of Nazareth is unique, different from all other families, because of its singular calling linked to the mission of the Son of God.
Precisely because of this uniqueness, it shows to every family, primarily Christian families, the horizon of God, the kind but demanding primacy of his will, the prospect of heaven for which we are destined.
For all this, let us give thanks to God, but also to the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, who, with such faith and willingness, cooperated in the Lord's plan of salvation.
In order to express the beauty and the value of the family, thousands of families have gathered in Madrid today, and I wish to address them now in Spanish:
I extend a heartfelt greeting to the participants gathered together in Madrid on this intimate holiday, in order to pray for the family and to commit yourselves to work for its sake with fortitude and hope.
The family is certainly a grace from God which allows what he is - Love - to shine through. A love that is completely free, which supports fidelity without limits, even in moments of difficulty or dejection.
These qualities are embodied eminently in the Holy Family, through which Jesus came to the world and 'grew in wisdom', under the exquisite care of Mary and the fathful protection of St. Joseph.
Dear families, do not allow that love, openness to life, and the incomparable links that hold your homes together, be devalued.
Ask the Lord constantly, praying together, so that your plans may be illumined by faith and exalted by divine grace on the path to holiness.
In this way, with the joy of sharing everything in love, you will be giving the world a beautiful testimonial of how important the family is to the human being and to society.
The Pope is by your side, imploring the Lord especially for those who most need health, employment, comfort and companionship. At this Angelus prayer, I commend you all to our Mother in heaven, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.
He concluded in Italian:
Dear brothers and sisters, in speaking of the family, I cannot fail to remind you that from January 14-18, 2009, the VI World Encounter of Families will take place in Mexico City.
Let us pray for this important Church event, and entrust every family to the Lord, especially those who are most tried by the difficulties of life and by the wounds of imcomprehension and divisions.
May the Redeemer, born in Bethlehem, give everyone the serenity and the strength to walk together on the path of goodness.
After the prayers, he said:
Dear brothers and sisters,
The Holy Land, which in this Christmas season is at the center of the thoughts and affections of all the faithful in every part of the world, is once again enveloped in an explosion of unprecedented violence.
I am profoundly pained by the deaths, the injuries, the material damage, the sufferings and the tears of the peoples who have been victims of this tragic sequence of attacks and reprisals.
The earthly homeland of Jesus cannot continue to witness such bloodshed repeated endlessly! I implore for an end to such violence, which is to be condemned in every manifestation, and for the resumption of the truce in the Gaza Strip.
I ask for an impulse of humanity and wisdom from all those who have a responsibility for this situation, and I ask the international community to leave nothing undone to help Israelis and Palestinians come out of this dead end, and not to be resigned, as I said two days ago in the message Urbi et Orbi - to the perverse logic of encounter and violence but to take the road of dialog and negotiation.
Let us entrust to Jesus, Prince of Peace, our fervent prayer for these intentions, and to him, to Mary and Joseph, we pray: "Holy Family of Nazareth, trained to suffer, give peace to the world". And give it today, above all, to the Holy Land.
On Christmas Eve in 1968, Pope Paul VI celebrated Holy Mass at the (steel) plant of Italsider, now ILVA, in Taranto. To commemorate that event, the Archbishop of Taranto, Mons. Benigno Papa, presided this morning at a Eucharistic Celebration in that same place.
To him and to all the workers, I address a warm greeting. I take the occasion to express my concern for the increase in the forms of dangerous working conditions, and I make an appeal that working conditions should always be worthy for all.
Finally, in his greeting to Italians, he said:
Today is the centenary of the tragic earthquake that struck Messina, razing it almost completely to the ground and reaping thousands of victims. But the people of Messina did not allow themselves to be defeated and, sustained by extraordinary solidarity, raised themselves again.
My predecessor, St. Pius X, who would have wanted to go to Messina himself, sent the people of Messina enormous amounts of aid and took in their seminarians in Rome.
At a distance of a hundred years, I wish to send all the people of Messina an affectionate thought with the wish that Christian hope may always burn in their hearts.