Pope: restoring social honor to the fidelity of love, the promise made between spouses
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - " It is necessary to restore social honor to the fidelity of love", the fidelity to promises made. "It is not by chance, that this principle of fidelity to the promise of love and generation is written in God's Creation as a perennial blessing, to which the world is entrusted".
The promise, the foundation of the entire family reality, was the focus of Pope Francis’ catechesis for the general audience today, during which he once again called for prayers for "the Synod Fathers: God bless their work, carried out with creative fidelity, trusting that He was the first, the Lord - He, the first! - He is faithful to his promises”.
After touring among the 30 thousand people present in St Peter's Square in his open topped jeep, Francis said that "in the last meditation we reflected on important promises that parents make to children from the moment they are thought of in love and conceived in the womb. We may add that, on closer inspection, the whole family is really founded on a promise, just think about it: the identity of the family is founded on a promise: it can be said that the family lives as a result of the promise of love and fidelity that man and the woman make each other. It involves a commitment to welcome and educate their children; but also it takes place in taking care of elderly parents, to protect and care for the weaker members of the family, helping one another to realize their qualities and accept their limits. And the marital promise widens to share the joys and sufferings of all fathers, mothers, children, with generous openness to human society and the common good. A family that closes in on itself is a contradiction, a mortification of the promise that gave birth to it and makes it live. Never forget: the identity of the family is always a promise that extends and expands to the whole family and also to all mankind. "
"Today the honor of fidelity to the promise of family life appears greatly weakened. On the one hand, because of a misunderstood right to self- satisfaction, at all costs and in any relationship, exalted as a non-negotiable principle of freedom . "On the other hand, because relational bonds and commitment to the common good rest solely on constraints of law. But, in reality, no one wants to be loved only for their goods or by obligation. Love, as well as friendship, owe their strength and their own beauty to this fact: they generate a bond without taking away freedom: love is free, the promise of the family is free and that's the beauty! . Without freedom there is no friendship, without freedom there is no love, without freedom there is no marriage. Therefore, freedom and truth are not opposed to each other, indeed, support each other, both in interpersonal relationships, both social ones. In fact in a culture of global communication, just think of the damage that the inflation of broken promises produce, in various fields, as well as an indulgence for infidelity to ones’ word and commitments”.
"Yes, dear brothers and sisters, loyalty is a promise of commitment that is self-fulfilling, growing in free obedience to the word given. Fidelity is a trust that "wants" to be truly shared, and hope that "wants" to be nourished together. And speaking of fidelity I remember what our elders, our grandparents say: 'Ah, in the bygone days when you made an agreement, gave your handshake, it was enough to make you keep your promise! And this is a fact that also has its social origin in the family, in the handshake man and woman go forward together, all lifelong".
"Fidelity to promises is a masterpiece of humanity! If we look at its daring beauty, we are afraid, but if we despise its courageous tenacity, we are lost. No loving relationship - no friendship, no form of loving, no happiness of the common good – can live up to our desire and our hope, if it fails to inhabit this miracle of the soul. And I say "miracle", because the power and persuasion of fidelity, in spite of everything, never ceases to enchant and amaze us. Honoring your word, fidelity to your promise, cannot be bought or sold. They cannot be forced, but neither safeguarded without sacrifice. "
"No other school can teach the truth of love, if the family does not. No law can impose the beauty and heritage of this treasure of human dignity, if the personal bond between love and generation does not write it in our flesh. "
"Brothers and sisters, we must restore social honor the fidelity of love: Restore social honor to fidelity. We must free from the shadows the daily miracle of millions of men and women who regenerate their family foundation, thanks to which every society lives, because without it they would be unable able to guarantee survival. It is not by chance that this principle of fidelity to the promise of love and generation is written in God's creation as a perennial blessing, which is entrusted to the world. "
"If St. Paul can say that the family bond mysteriously reveals a decisive truth for the binding of the Lord and the Church, he means that here the Church a blessing to be preserved and from which it constantly has to learn, before educating or disciplining it . We entrust our fidelity to our promise to the grace and mercy of God. Love for the human family, in good times and bad, is a point of honor for the Church! God help us to live up to this promise. "
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