In his prayer intention for March, Pope Francis invites everyone to pray for “families in crisis”, as he acknowledges that no family is perfect, but that in forgiving family members, peace can be rediscovered. Source: Vatican News.
The Pope invited the Church to pray for “families in crisis” in The Pope Video. The images and audio in the video were prepared before his admission into Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on February 14, where he continues his treatment for bilateral pneumonia.
In the latest video, Francis acknowledged the great difficulties facing families.
“We all dream about a beautiful, perfect family. But there’s no such thing as a perfect family,” for each family “has its own problems,” “as well as its tremendous joys”, Pope Francis said.
While every family member is important because each is unique, the Pope lamented how often their differences cause conflict and painful wounds, as he suggests a solution.
“The best medicine to heal the pain of a wounded family,” he stressed, “is forgiveness,” adding that forgiveness requires giving our family members “another chance”.
“God does this with us all the time,” the Pope said.
Even when there’s no possibility of the “happy ending” we’d like, he noted, God’s grace gives us the strength to forgive.
Doing so, he explained, “brings peace” because “it frees us from sadness, and, above all, from resentment”.
“Let us pray that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other’s gifts, even in their differences,” the Pope concluded.
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Pope’s March prayer intention: ‘for families in crisis’ (By Deborah Castellano Lubov, Vatican News)
