“The joy of love experienced by families is also the joy of the Church” (Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, 19 March 2016, 1).  With these words, ten years ago, Pope Francis began his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

Today, as we celebrate the Eucharist, we offer to the Lord the fruits of the work we have carried out on this document, and we seek to take its riches to heart and put its pastoral guidance into practice.

In this regard, today’s liturgy offers us several points for reflection.  In the first reading, we heard Saint Paul’s “hymn to love” (cf. 1 Cor 12:31–13:13). In Chapter 4 of the Apostolic Exhortation, this same text provides the basis of a rich meditation on the virtues of Christian marriage, a union that is “affective… spiritual and sacrificial” (no. 120), and an icon of God’s love (cf. no. 121).  Through living out these values, and with the help of grace, spouses grow together day by day in the image of the Trinity.  Both spouses mature in their own distinctive ways, and at the same time grow to resemble one another through the “stable commitment to share and shape together the whole of life” (no. 123).  Thus, the true joy of love is a gradual deepening of union, in which each person’s uniqueness blossoms through the gift of self and the presence of the other.

Moreover, the Apostle was addressing a community rich in gifts and charisms (cf. 1 Cor 12:4-11), yet one that needed to mature in love.  He reminded the Corinthians that persons without love, despite all the talents they may have received, are like “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (13:1), like a voice without love, unable to speak to the heart, cut off from others, distant, cold and impenetrable.

We were not made to live that way.  The responsorial Psalm also calls this to mind by calling us the “people” and “flock” of a God whose “steadfast love endures for ever” and whose faithfulness extends “to all generations” (Ps 100:5). He is a Lord who loves without holding back, who never ceases to seek us, place his trust in us and renew his friendship with us.

This is the love that Amoris Laetitia invites us to make the foundation of our families.  This is the true love that, in a particular way, we are urged to teach to young people preparing for marriage, instructing them about “the importance of the virtues,” among which a special place is given to chastity, which is “invaluable for the genuine growth of love between persons” (no. 206). Marriage preparation programs conscientiously developed for this purpose in parishes and pastoral areas are commendable.  Yet such courses alone are insufficient, for they must be preceded and supported by an education in love that accompanies a person’s growth from childhood.  In this regard, Pope Francis observed that “learning to love someone does not happen automatically, nor can it be taught in a workshop just prior to the celebration of marriage” (no. 208).  He explained: “For every couple, marriage preparation begins at birth,” (ibid.) and everything a young person experiences within the family should help to make that person capable of “a full and definitive commitment” (ibid.).

In this way, love lived within the family — with its moments of struggle, mistakes and failures, yet also with the marvel of its unpredictable, everyday life — becomes the first school of human affection, the first precious and irreplaceable apprenticeship in the “joy of love.”  For this reason, we should recognize and support the efforts of so many families who live out their vocation and mission day by day, without fanfare, yet at times with heroic fidelity.  They offer a generous and compelling witness to the words of Jesus we heard in the Gospel: “you did not choose me but I chose you.  And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16). Through the witness of parents, children, grandparents, young people and the elderly, the Gospel’s message of truth and the fullness of life reaches the world.

The Evangelist John handed down to us the simple and clear instruction that Jesus spoke at the end of his earthly life: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12).  Let us put it into practice, so that we may grow as a Church that is a “family of families” (Amoris Laetitia, no. 87), in an atmosphere of reciprocal care that will benefit us all. Thus, young couples will feel encouraged as they begin their married life; parents will find support as they face the demanding challenges of raising their children and managing family life; and older people will be recognized and valued in their role as witnesses to wisdom and virtue, even as their physical strength wanes.  Those who are more vulnerable, or who are experiencing difficult circumstances and moments of crisis, will also find support and encouragement, surrounded by affection and shielded from judgment and prejudice.  Let us remember that “as wounded as the family may be, it can always grow beginning with love” (XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Relatio Finalis, 10).

The values of openness to life and respect for life, from conception to natural death, are also rooted in this charity, which is fundamental to our existence and to our life together as human beings.  The family is the foremost guardian of these values, a beacon for the good of humanity.  In this regard, Pope Francis stressed that “no union that is temporary or closed to the transmission of life can ensure the future of society” (Amoris Laetitia, 52).  The world has no future without strong families open to the gift of children and attentive to their education and growth.

I would like to recall another important invitation from Jesus, in the readings we have heard, that we ask the Father “in my name” (Jn 15:16).  These words remind us that the family is a privileged place of prayer.  Sadly, in many parts of the world today, the practice of praying together at home — before meals, at the beginning and end of the day, or on special occasions — has fallen away. Amoris Laetitia reminds us that “emphasis should also be given to the importance of family spirituality, prayer and participation in the Sunday Eucharist” (no.223).  It likewise recommends that families gather “regularly to promote growth in their spiritual life and solidarity in the concrete demands of life” (ibid.).  Common prayer and the Sacraments play a vital role in family life because they open hearts to the action of God, enabling families to reach together places that they could never reach on their own.  Indeed, they are a solid nourishment and a healing medicine.  I therefore strongly urge everyone to rediscover and encourage these practices.

Dear brothers and sisters, I myself have the honor of presiding over this celebration by special mandate of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, in order to manifest publicly the ecclesiastical communion he has granted to His Beatitude Paul III Nona, Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, who is participating in this Eucharist.

A Patriarch’s communion with the Successor of Peter recalls an ancient practice that affirmed the unity in faith and charity between a patriarchal Church and the See of Rome — and, at that time, among the Churches themselves. This is, therefore not a mere formality, but a living reality that draws its very reason from Eucharistic communion, the source and summit of the Church’s unity in Christ.

Your Beatitude, your presence helps us better understand our identity as the Church, which is a communion in Christ the Lord of the Churches of various rites and traditions, in a unity that is expressed tangibly with the Successor of Peter.  We assure you of the affection and prayers of the entire Catholic Church for the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care, who have long been tested but remain steadfast and often heroic in bearing witness to their faith in Jesus amid many adversities.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us entrust all families and the whole Church to the Holy Family of Nazareth, taking up once more the prayer with which Pope Francis concluded Amoris Laetitia(no. 325):

Holy Family of Nazareth,

grant that our families too

may be places of communion and prayer,

authentic schools of the Gospel

and small domestic churches…

May families never again experience

violence, rejection and division;

may all who have been hurt or scandalized

find ready comfort and healing…

make us once more mindful

of the sacredness and inviolability of the family,

and its beauty in God’s plan.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Graciously hear our prayer.  Amen.