GENERAL
AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
The family - 12. Marriage
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning,
Our reflection on God’s original plan
for man and woman as a couple, after having considered the two narratives
from the Book of Genesis, now turns directly to Jesus.
At the beginning of his Gospel, John the
Evangelist narrates the episode of the wedding at Cana, at which the Virgin
Mary and Jesus were present with his first disciples (cf. Jn 2:1-11). Jesus not
only participated at that wedding, but “saved the feast” with the miracle of
wine! Thus, the first of His prodigious signs, with which He reveals his glory,
He performed in the context of a wedding, and it was an act of great sympathy
for that nascent family, entreated by Mary’s motherly care. This reminds us of
the Book of Genesis, when God completes his work of creation and makes his
masterpiece; the masterpiece is man and woman. And here at a marriage, at a
wedding feast, Jesus begins his own miracles with this masterpiece: a man and a
woman. Thus Jesus teaches us that the masterpiece of society is the family: a
man and a woman who love each other! This is the masterpiece!
Since the time of the wedding at Cana, many
things have changed, but that “sign” of Christ contains an ever valid message.
Today it seems difficult to speak of marriage as a feast which is renewed in
time, in the various seasons of the couple’s lifetime. It is a fact that
progressively fewer people are getting married; this is a fact: young people
don’t want to get married. In many countries the number of separations is
instead increasing while the number of children decreases. The difficulty of
staying together — both as a couple and as a family — leads to bonds being
broken with ever increasing frequency and swiftness, and the children
themselves are the first to suffer the consequences. Let us consider that the
first victims, the most important victims, the victims who suffer the most in a
separation are the children.
Should you feel from childhood that marriage
is a “temporary” bond, unconsciously it will be so for you. In fact, many young
people are led to reject the very plan of an irrevocable bond and of a lasting
family. I believe that we must reflect very seriously on why so many young
people “don’t feel like” getting married. There is a culture of the provisional
... everything is provisional, it seems there is nothing definitive.
This matter of young people not wanting to
marry is one of the emerging concerns of today: why aren’t young people getting
married? Why is it that they frequently prefer cohabitation and “limited
responsibility”? Why is that many — even among the baptized — have little trust
in marriage and in the family? If we want young people to be able to find the
right road to follow, it is important to try to understand this. Why do they
have no trust in the family?
The difficulties are not only economic,
although these are truly serious. Many believe that the changes that have
occurred in these last decades were put in motion by the emancipation of women.
But even this argument is invalid, it’s false, it isn’t true! It is a form of
male chauvinism, which always seeks to dominate women. We give the bad
impression that Adam gave, when God asked him: “Why did you eat the fruit of
the tree?”, and he said: “The woman gave it to me”. It’s the woman’s fault. The
poor woman! We must defend women! In fact, nearly all men and women would want
stable emotional security, a solid marriage and a happy family. The family tops
all the indices of wellbeing among young people; but, fearing mistakes, many do
not want to even consider it; even being Christians, they do not consider the
sacrament of matrimony, the single and unrepeatable sign of the covenant, which
becomes a testimony of faith. Perhaps this very fear of failure is the greatest
obstacle to receiving the Word of Christ, which promises his grace to the
conjugal union and to the family.
The most persuasive testimony of the blessing
of Christian marriage is the good life of Christian spouses and of the family.
There is no better way to speak of the beauty of the sacrament! A marriage consecrated
by God safeguards that bond between man and woman that God has blessed from the
very creation of the world; and it is the source of peace and goodness for the
entire lifetime of the marriage and family. For example, in the first ages of
Christianity, this great dignity of the bond between man and woman overcame an
abuse then held normal, namely the husbands’ right to repudiate their wives,
even for reasons based on pretext or to humiliate. The Gospel of the family,
the Gospel which proclaims this very Sacrament overcame this culture of
customary repudiation.
The Christian seed at the root of equality
between spouses must bear new fruit today. The witness of the social dignity of
marriage shall become persuasive precisely in this way, the way of a testimony
which attracts, the way of reciprocity between them, of complementarity between
them.
For this reason, as Christians, we must
become more demanding in this regard. For example: firmly support the right to
equal pay for equal work; why is it taken for granted that women should earn
less than men? No! They have the same rights. This disparity is an absolute
disgrace! At the same time, recognize women’s motherhood and men’s fatherhood
as an always precious treasure, for the good of their children above all.
Likewise, the virtue of the hospitality of Christian families today takes on a
crucial importance, especially in situations of poverty, degradation, and
domestic violence.
Dear brothers and sisters, do not be afraid
to invite Jesus to your wedding feast, to invite Him to our home, that He may
be with us and safeguard the family. And we mustn’t be afraid to also invite
his Mother Mary! When Christians marry “in the Lord”, they are transformed into
an effective sign of God’s love. Christians do not marry for themselves alone:
they marry in the Lord for the good of the entire community, society as a
whole.
I will also speak about this beautiful
vocation of Christian matrimony in the next catechesis.
Special greetings:
I offer an affectionate greeting to all the
English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Audience, including
those from England, Ireland, Sweden, Africa, Australia, Japan, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States. May your pilgrimage to
the Eternal City confirm you in love for our Lord and his Church. May God bless
you all!
I offer a cordial welcome to Italian-speaking
pilgrims. I greet the priests from Milan, the seminarians from Messina and
Catania, and the students of the Vatican School of Library Science, in
particular Anita and the Centro Italiano Femminile
della Sardegna. May the visit to the Tombs of the Apostles foster in
everyone sincere solidarity toward our brothers and sisters and the rediscovery
of Christian joy.
I direct a special thought to young
people, the sick and to newlyweds. Today we
are celebrating the Feast of St Catherine of Siena, Patron of Italy and of
Europe. Let us greet our Patron with a round of applause! May her life enable
you, dear young people, to comprehend the meaning of a life lived
for God; may her unshakable faith help you, dear sick people, to
trust in the Lord in moments of discomfort; and may her strength before the
powerful indicate to you, dear newlyweds, the values that truly
matter in family life.
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