Angelus: A prayer for all the families of the world
(Vatican Radio) This Sunday, as tens of thousands thronged St Peter’s Square, Pope
Benedict XVI marked the Feast of the Holy Family with a special prayer for “all the
families of the world”: That parents “seriously concern” themselves with their children’s
education, that they realise that every child is “an incomparable gift from God”,
and that they are neither “friends nor masters” of their children’s lives but “guardians”
of this gift. Emer McCarthy reports:
Below
a Vatican Radio translation of the Holy Father’s Angelus address this feast of the
Holy Family.
"Dear brothers and sisters!
Today is the feast
of the Holy Family of Nazareth. In the liturgy the passage from Luke’s Gospel presents
the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph who, faithful to tradition, go to Jerusalem for the
Passover with the twelve-year-old Jesus. The first time Jesus had entered the Temple
of the Lord was forty days after his birth, when his parents had offered "a pair of
turtledoves or two young pigeons" (Luke 2:24) on his behalf, which is the sacrifice
of poor. "Luke, whose Gospel is filled with a whole theology of the poor and poverty,
makes it clear ... that Jesus' family was counted among the poor of Israel; he helps
us to understand that it was there among them where the fulfillment of God’s promise
matured" ( The Infancy Narratives, 96). Today Jesus is in the Temple again, but this
time he has a different role, which involves him in the first person. He undertakes
the pilgrimage to Jerusalem as prescribed by the Law (Ex 23.17, 34.23 ff) together
with Mary and Joseph, although he was not yet in his thirteenth year: a sign of the
deep religiosity of the Holy Family. But when his parents return to Nazareth, something
unexpected happens: he, without saying anything, remains in the City. For three days,
Mary and Joseph search for him and find him in the Temple, speaking with the teachers
of the Law (Lk 2: 46 ,47), and when they ask him for an explanation, Jesus tells them
they have no cause to wonder, because that is his place, that is his home, with the
Father, who is God (The Infancy Narratives 143). "He – Origen writes - professes to
be in the temple of his Father, the Father who has revealed Himself to us and of which
he says he is the Son" (Homilies on the Gospel of Luke, 18, 5).
Mary and Joseph’s
concern for Jesus is the same as every parent who educates a child, introduces them
to life and to understanding reality. Today, therefore, we should say a special prayer
to the Lord for all the families of the world. Imitating the Holy Family of Nazareth,
may parents seriously concern themselves about the growth and education of their children,
so that they may mature as responsible and honest citizens, without ever forgetting
that faith is a precious gift to be nourished in their children through personal example.
At the same time we pray that every child is welcomed as a gift from God, is sustained
by the love of the father and mother in order to advance as the Lord Jesus "in wisdom
and age and favour before God and man " (Lk 2: 52). The love, loyalty and dedication
of Mary and Joseph are an example for all Christian couples who are neither the friends
nor masters of their children’s lives, but the guardians of this incomparable gift
from God.
The silence of Joseph, the just man (cf. Mt 1:19), and the example
of Mary who kept all things in her heart (cf. Lk 2:51), causes us to enter into the
mystery full of faith and humanity of the Holy family. I wish for all Christian families
to live in the presence of God with the same love and the same joy as the family of
Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
I welcome all the English-speaking visitors present
for this Angelus prayer. Today the Church throughout the world celebrates the Feast
of the Holy Family. May Jesus, Mary and Joseph bring greater love, unity and harmony
to all Christian families, that they in their turn may be a firm example to the communities
in which they live. May God bless you and your dear families!