Pope Francis: Vigil with families at World Meeting of Families

In February 2014, speaking to a meeting with engaged couples, Pope Francis, very much in the spirit of a pastor, suggested three words that might characterise the relationships in a marriage. He repeated them during a General Audience address, one of his series on the family in preparation for the forthcoming Synod. The words were please, thank you, and sorry, and if you read the text of the two addresses linked above you will see how he unpacks the meaning of those words for married and family life. Very practical, and surprisingly comprehensive. I try to live them in my own friendship, but perhaps not very well. I think they do make a difference.

Pope Francis didn't use these words in his spontaneous address with families in Philadelphia, but at the end of his talk he did repeat something else that he said during the same General Audience address referred to above, though with a certain vigour in his wording:

 I advise one thing: Never end the day without making peace in the family. In a family, a day cannot end at war.

The evening vigil at the World Meeting of Families, with its testimonies and sense of celebration of family life, is always one of the most moving parts of the World Meeting.

Pope Francis talk yesterday lived up to everything that one might expect of this occasion.

A transcription and translation is at ZENIT: Pope’s Off-the-Cuff Address to Families.

Take and read, for both its intense practicality and for its theological substance.

Isn't Pope Francis to love!