Pope Leo: Take to heart the riches of ‘Amoris laetitia’
By Christopher Wells
“Today, as we celebrate the Eucharist, we offer to the Lord the fruits of the work we have carried out” on Amoris laetitia, “and we seek to take its riches to heart and put its pastoral guidance into practice”, Pope Leo said on Wednesday, 14 October, in his homily for the concluding Mass of the ecclesial Encounter marking the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation on love in the family.
The Holy Father’s homily was read by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the new Dean of the College of Cardinals and Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evanglization.
The Filipino Cardinal presided at the liturgy in place of the Pope, who is recovering in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital following surgery on Tuesday to remove a “small, localized nodule” from his lung.
The family: an ‘icon of God’s love’
In his homily, Pope Leo reflected on the family as “an affective… spiritual and sacrificial union” and “an icon of God’s love." Christian families and communities, he said, need to “mature in love,” which must become “the foundation of our families.”
This love, he continued, involves instruction in “the importance of the virtues,” especially chastity, which is “invaluable for the genuine growth of love between persons.”
Pope Leo went on to emphasize the importance of the witness borne by parents and children, the young and the old, through which the truth of the Gospel is spread throughouth the world.
Growing as ‘a family of families’
He encouraged Catholics to put into practice Jesus’ command to love one another, “so that we may grow as a Church that is a ‘family of families’,” taking up an image used by Pope Francis.
In particular, he said those who are most vulnerable, or experiencing difficulties, should be “surrounded by affection and shielded from judgment.”
Respect for life
The Holy Father also highlighted, once again, “the values of openness to life and respect for life from conception to natural death,” saying that “without strong families open to the gift of children and attentive to their education and growth,” the world has no future.
Finally, Pope Leo encouraged families to renew the practice of prayer within the home, and emphasized the importance of attending Sunday Mass together, saying, “I therefore strongly encourage everyone to rediscover and encourage these practices.”
Communion with the Successor of St Peter
Before concluding the homily, Cardinal Tagle, recalling that he was presiding at the Liturgy through a special mandate of Pope Leo XIV, publicly proclaimed the “ecclesiastical communion” already granted by the Pope to the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, Paul III Nona, who was elected in April of this year.
“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,” Cardinal Tagle said.
The presence of the Patriarch at the Mass, he continued, “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.”
Entrusting families to the Holy Family
Cardinal Tagle closed his homily with an invitation to entrust “all families and the whole Church to the Holy Family of Nazareth,” with Pope Francis’ prayer from the end of Amoris laetitia:
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.
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