Pope Leo XIV has urged families to look to the Holy Family as “the perfect model God offers as a response to the desperate cry for help from families” and to rediscover the faith of their parents and grandparents. Speaking at a Jubilee Meeting organized by the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM), the Pope reflected on how the Jubilee of Hope can renew Catholic family life, according to Vatican News.
Returning to the Roots of Faith
The Pope emphasized that the Jubilee should be understood as a “return”—a call to come back to God and to center life on Christ. According to Vatican News, he reminded the faithful that the Jubilee of Hope “invites us to leave these peripheries and return to our roots: to the faith we received from our parents, to the persevering prayer of our grandmothers counting the beads of the rosary, to their simple, humble, and honest lives which, like leaven, sustained so many families and communities.”
This call to remember the faith of past generations is especially relevant in a time when many families face challenges that can weaken their unity. The Pope pointed out that in those quiet acts of devotion and perseverance of grandparents, “we learned that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Vatican News).
Joy Found in Christ
In his remarks, Pope Leo XIV stressed that true joy is not found in worldly securities but in Jesus Himself. “In Him,” he said, “we find our true joy: the jubilation of knowing we are at home, in the place where we are meant to be” (Vatican News).
He cautioned against building life on temporary hopes or material expectations, noting that the Jubilee of Hope is a journey towards God, who is Truth itself.
The Family: A Gift and a Task
Acknowledging the modern difficulties of poverty, migration, and violence, Pope Leo XIV underlined the duty of both the Church and public institutions to defend and support families. He described the family as both a “gift and a task,” explaining, “In every child, in every husband or wife, God entrusts us with His Son, with His Mother, just as He did with Saint Joseph” (Vatican News).
The Holy Father recalled Pope Saint Paul VI’s words in Nazareth, calling the faithful to imitate the Holy Family in “silence, work, and prayer, so that God may fulfill in each person the plan of love He has prepared for them.”
A Living Witness of God’s Light
Pope Leo XIV concluded by entrusting the participants’ intentions to the intercession of the Holy Family, emphasizing that by imitating them, “our homes will become living torches of God’s light” (Vatican News).
For Catholic families today, the Pope’s appeal offers both encouragement and challenge: to stand firm in faith, to draw strength from past generations, and to let Christ be the source of joy and light in the home.
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