Marian Helper Winter 2015-2016

In Philadelphia, he tied practical, homespun pas- toral advice to eternal truths. He beseeched the people gathered —who came frommore than 100 countries — to especially take care of grandparents and children and to avoid going to bed angry. “Never let the day end with- out making peace,” Francis said. “In a family, you can’t finish the day off not being at peace.” He met with the U.S. Bishops and denounced the “vicious cycle” of a “Christianity which ‘does’ little in practice, while incessantly ‘explaining’ its teachings.” To break this cycle and encourage people to follow the faith, the Pope instructed the bishops to, first, recognize the family as a confirmation of God’s blessing instead of a cause for complaint. He told the bishops to join families in both celebration and sorrow, to “seek out, to accompany, to lift up, to bind up the wounds of our time.” He instructed the bishops to extend sincere invitations to young people to opt for marriage. He told the bishops to share the Good News with everyone — to break out of their comfort zones and “go forth and preach the Gospel to all: to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluc- tance or fear.” As the World Meeting of Families drew to a close, Pope Francis beseeched all gathered, both Christians and non-Christians alike, to return home and focus on one unifying verb and noun — love. On behalf of Christians, the Lord’s disciples, he asked all families of the world for help in promoting goodness. He said, “Anyone who wants to bring into this world a family which teaches children to be excited by every gesture aimed at overcom- ing evil — a family which shows that the Spirit is alive and at work —will encounter our gratitude and our appreciation, whatever the family, people, region, or religion to which they belong! ... To raise doubts about the working of the Spirit, to give the impression that it cannot take place in those who are not ‘part of our group,’ who are not ‘like us,’ is a dangerous temptation. Not only does it block conversion to the faith; it is a perversion of faith!” He highlighted the “homely gestures” family members per- form out of love for one anoth- er. These little gestures out- lined the daily ritual of fam- ily life, the quiet things that, since they’re routine, often go unnoticed or unappreciated. He said, “Like the warm sup- per we look forward to at night, the early lunch awaiting someone who gets up early to go to work. Like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day’s work. Love is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home.” He said that, like happiness, holiness is always tied to such little gestures. These “little miracles” add up, and they serve as an active presence of Christ’s love in the world today. According to the Holy Father, faith needs love to develop; it grows when it is lived and shaped by love. This is why a loving home is a “domestic church” — because behind its doors and between its family members, faith becomes life, and life becomes faith. In the following pages, we hear fromMarian Helpers — a father, a son, a mother, a daughter, a husband, and a wife —who give witness to the “factory of hope” that is family. As Pope Francis would put it, the cross is present in these stories. So is the hope of life and of resurrection. SYNOD OF BISHOPS Following the World Meeting of Families, the Holy Father convened a Synod of Bishops from Oct. 4-25 in Rome. It was the second synod Pope Francis convened in the past two years to discuss matters related to family life. Like its 2014 precursor, the synod’s theme was “The voca- tion and mission of the family in the Church and the modern world.” The bishops’ debate was divided into three sections: “listening to the challenges of the family,” “discernment of the family vocation,” and “the mission of the family today.” The Holy Father is expected to issue a post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the role of the family in the life of the Church. M arian H elper • W inter 2015-16 •  marian.org 11