Pope’s Sunday ‘Angelus’ on Holy Family

(December 28, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday held up the Holy Family of Nazareth as the model of human families and reiterated the value of marriage between man and woman. Speaking on the feat of the Holy Family during the traditional midday ‘Angelus’ prayer in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope said that God chose to reveal himself by being born in a human family, thus the human family became an icon of God. He commented on Sunday Mass Gospel where Mary and Joseph, having lost the 12-year old Jesus, found him after 3 days among the teachers and wise men in the Temple of Jerusalem. When Mary asked for an explanation, Jesus said that he had to be in his Father’s house, i.e. God’s house. The Pope pointed out that Jesus’ decision to remain in the temple was the fruit of the education he received from Mary and Joseph, who taught him the prayers, the Commandments, respect for the Sabbath and the joy of practicing the precepts of the Lord. Speaking about the Christian family and education the Pope said that children are God’s gift and plan. Parents cannot see them as their possession, but in serving the Father’s plan of love through them, they are called to educate them in the greater freedom, which is to say ‘Yes’ to God, to enhance His will.
During Sunday’s ‘Angelus’, Pope Benedict XVI also addressed a mass rally of faithful and bishops of Spain, gathered in the capital Madrid for a Mass to promote the Christian family. Nearly a million people attended the event on the theme “The Future of Europe is based on the family”, in support of the traditional family against the Spanish government’s radical choices that recognize same sex marriage and the possibility for gays to adopt children. Speaking in Spanish, the Pontiff encouraged Christians to serenely but firmly bear witness to the family based on the marriage of a man and a woman, so as to safeguard it and promote it, because, he said, it is of utmost importance for the present and the future of humanity. “The family is the best school in which we can learn the values that give dignity to the person and make a people great,” the Pope added.
During Sunday's 'Angelus' Pope Benedict greeted various groups in their languages, including in English.
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