At 9:00am today, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the Holy Father, Pope Francis presided over the celebration of the Mass in the Vatican Basilica. During the celebration, he witnessed the wedding of twenty Roman couples.
Present to concelebrate with the Pope were the Cardinal Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, His Eminence, Agostino Vallini; His Excellency, Filipo Iannone, Vice-regent and Director of the Centre for the Pastoral Care of Families in the Diocese of Rome and forty priests, friends of the couples who were wed.
Today’s first reading speaks to us of the people’s journey through the desert. We can imagine them as they walked, led by Moses; they were families: fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, grandparents, men and women of all ages, accompanied by many children and the elderly who struggled to make the journey. This people reminds us of the Church as she makes her way across the desert of the contemporary world; it reminds us of the People of God composed, for the most part, of families.
This makes us think of families, our families, walking along the paths of life with all their day to day experiences. It is impossible to quantify the strength and depth of humanity contained in a family: mutual help, educational support, relationships developing as family members mature, the sharing of joys and difficulties. Families are the first place in which we are formed as persons and, at the same time, the bricks for the building up of society.
Let us return to the biblical story. At a certain point, the people became impatient on the way (Num 21:4). They were tired, water supplies were low and all they had for food was manna, which, although plentiful and sent by God, seemed far too meagre in a time of crisis. And so they complained and protested against God and against Moses: Why did you make us leave?... (cf. Num 21:5). They were tempted to turn back and abandon the journey.
Here our thoughts turn to married couples who become impatient on the way, the way of conjugal and family life. The hardship of the journey causes them to experience interior weariness; they lose the flavour of matrimony and they cease to draw water from the well of the Sacrament. Daily life becomes burdensome, and often, even nauseating.
During such moments of disorientation – the Bible says – poisonous serpents came and bit the people, and many died. This caused the people to repent and to turn to Moses for forgiveness, asking him to beseech the Lord so that he would cast out the snakes. Moses prayed to the Lord, and the Lord offered a remedy: a bronze serpent set on a pole; whoever looked at it would be saved from the deadly poison of the vipers.
What is the meaning of this symbol? God did not destroy the serpents, but rather offered an antidote: by means of the bronze serpent fashioned by Moses, God transmitted his healing strength, namely his mercy, which was more potent than the Tempter’s poison.
As we heard in the Gospel, Jesus identified himself with this symbol: out of love the Father gave his only begotten Son so that men and women might have eternal life (cf. Jn 3:13-17). The Father's immense love spurred the Son to become man, to become a servant and to die for us upon a cross. Out of such love, the Father raised up his son, giving him dominion over the entire universe. This is expressed by Saint Paul in his hymn in the Letter to the Philippians (cf. 2:6-11). Whoever entrusts himself to Jesus crucified receives the mercy of God and finds healing from the deadly poison of sin.
The cure which God offered the people applies also, in a particular way, to spouses who have become impatient on the way and who succumb to the dangerous temptation of discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abandonment … To them too, God the Father gives his Son Jesus, not to condemn them, but to save them: if they entrust themselves to him, he will bring them healing by the merciful love which pours forth from the Cross, with the strength of his grace that renews and sets married couples and families once again on the right path.
The love of Christ, which has blessed and sanctified the union of husband and wife, is able to sustain their love and to renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes lost, wounded or worn out. The love of Christ can restore to spouses the joy of journeying together. This is what marriage is all about: man and woman walking together, wherein the husband helps his wife to become ever more a woman, and wherein the woman has the task of helping her husband to become ever more a man. This is the task that you both share. I love you, and through this love I help you to become ever more a woman; I love you, and through this love I help you to become ever more a man. Here we see the reciprocity of differences. The path is not always a smooth one, free of disagreements, otherwise it would not be human. It is a demanding journey, at times difficult, and at times turbulent, but such is life! Within this theology which the word of God offers us concerning the people on a journey, spouses on a journey, I would like to give you some advice. It is normal for husband and wife to argue: it’s normal. It always happens. But my advice is this: never let the day end without having first made peace. Never! A small gesture is sufficient. Thus the journey may continue. Marriage is a symbol of life, real life: it is not fiction! It is the Sacrament of the love of Christ and the Church, a love which finds its proof and guarantee in the Cross. My desire for you is that you have a good journey, a fruitful one, growing in love. I wish you happiness. There will be crosses! But the Lord is always there to help us move forward. May the Lord bless you!
Present to concelebrate with the Pope were the Cardinal Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, His Eminence, Agostino Vallini; His Excellency, Filipo Iannone, Vice-regent and Director of the Centre for the Pastoral Care of Families in the Diocese of Rome and forty priests, friends of the couples who were wed.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the Mass celebrated with couples
who were celebrating their wedding
Today’s first reading speaks to us of the people’s journey through the desert. We can imagine them as they walked, led by Moses; they were families: fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, grandparents, men and women of all ages, accompanied by many children and the elderly who struggled to make the journey. This people reminds us of the Church as she makes her way across the desert of the contemporary world; it reminds us of the People of God composed, for the most part, of families.
This makes us think of families, our families, walking along the paths of life with all their day to day experiences. It is impossible to quantify the strength and depth of humanity contained in a family: mutual help, educational support, relationships developing as family members mature, the sharing of joys and difficulties. Families are the first place in which we are formed as persons and, at the same time, the bricks for the building up of society.
Let us return to the biblical story. At a certain point, the people became impatient on the way (Num 21:4). They were tired, water supplies were low and all they had for food was manna, which, although plentiful and sent by God, seemed far too meagre in a time of crisis. And so they complained and protested against God and against Moses: Why did you make us leave?... (cf. Num 21:5). They were tempted to turn back and abandon the journey.
Here our thoughts turn to married couples who become impatient on the way, the way of conjugal and family life. The hardship of the journey causes them to experience interior weariness; they lose the flavour of matrimony and they cease to draw water from the well of the Sacrament. Daily life becomes burdensome, and often, even nauseating.
During such moments of disorientation – the Bible says – poisonous serpents came and bit the people, and many died. This caused the people to repent and to turn to Moses for forgiveness, asking him to beseech the Lord so that he would cast out the snakes. Moses prayed to the Lord, and the Lord offered a remedy: a bronze serpent set on a pole; whoever looked at it would be saved from the deadly poison of the vipers.
What is the meaning of this symbol? God did not destroy the serpents, but rather offered an antidote: by means of the bronze serpent fashioned by Moses, God transmitted his healing strength, namely his mercy, which was more potent than the Tempter’s poison.
As we heard in the Gospel, Jesus identified himself with this symbol: out of love the Father gave his only begotten Son so that men and women might have eternal life (cf. Jn 3:13-17). The Father's immense love spurred the Son to become man, to become a servant and to die for us upon a cross. Out of such love, the Father raised up his son, giving him dominion over the entire universe. This is expressed by Saint Paul in his hymn in the Letter to the Philippians (cf. 2:6-11). Whoever entrusts himself to Jesus crucified receives the mercy of God and finds healing from the deadly poison of sin.
The cure which God offered the people applies also, in a particular way, to spouses who have become impatient on the way and who succumb to the dangerous temptation of discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abandonment … To them too, God the Father gives his Son Jesus, not to condemn them, but to save them: if they entrust themselves to him, he will bring them healing by the merciful love which pours forth from the Cross, with the strength of his grace that renews and sets married couples and families once again on the right path.
The love of Christ, which has blessed and sanctified the union of husband and wife, is able to sustain their love and to renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes lost, wounded or worn out. The love of Christ can restore to spouses the joy of journeying together. This is what marriage is all about: man and woman walking together, wherein the husband helps his wife to become ever more a woman, and wherein the woman has the task of helping her husband to become ever more a man. This is the task that you both share. I love you, and through this love I help you to become ever more a woman; I love you, and through this love I help you to become ever more a man. Here we see the reciprocity of differences. The path is not always a smooth one, free of disagreements, otherwise it would not be human. It is a demanding journey, at times difficult, and at times turbulent, but such is life! Within this theology which the word of God offers us concerning the people on a journey, spouses on a journey, I would like to give you some advice. It is normal for husband and wife to argue: it’s normal. It always happens. But my advice is this: never let the day end without having first made peace. Never! A small gesture is sufficient. Thus the journey may continue. Marriage is a symbol of life, real life: it is not fiction! It is the Sacrament of the love of Christ and the Church, a love which finds its proof and guarantee in the Cross. My desire for you is that you have a good journey, a fruitful one, growing in love. I wish you happiness. There will be crosses! But the Lord is always there to help us move forward. May the Lord bless you!
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