Be true to the Gospel, Pope urges spouses

BY LUKE COPPEN
POPE JouN Paul II has urged the world's Catholic parents to be "good news for the third millennium" by remaining faithful to their marital vocation.
In a powerful appeal delivered via satellite to the Fourth World Meeting of Families in the Philippines, the Pope challenged Catholic couples to spread the Gospel by bearing convincing and consistent witness to the truth about the family".
He said: "Dear Christian families, proclaim joyfully to the whole world the wonderful treasure which you, as domestic churches, possess! Christian couples, in your communion of life and love, in your mutual self-giving and in your generous openness to children, become, in Christ, the light of the world. The Lord asks you daily to be like a lamp which does not remain hidden, but is put 'on a stand, and ... gives light to all in the house'.
"Above all, be 'good news' for the third millennium by remaining faithful to your vocation. Whether you were married recently or many years ago, the Sacrament of Matrimony continues to be your own special way of being disciples of Jesus, contributing to the spread of the Kingdom of God and growing in the holiness to which all Christians are called. As the Second Vatican Council noted, Christian couples, in the fulfilment of their marital and family responsibilities, 'increasingly advance their own perfection and their mutual sanctification'."
Speaking from the Vatican to the 350,000 delegates at the Meeting of Families, John Paul H asked married couples to accept their God-given vocation "fully and without reserve".
"The grace which you received in marriage remains with you through the years. Its source is in the pierced heart of the Redeemer, who sacrificed himself on the altar of the Cross for the sake of the Church, his Spouse, accepting death for the salvation of the world," the Pope said.
"This grace remains ever close to that source: it is the grace of a self-sacrificing love, a love which both gives and forgives. It is the grace of a selfless love which forgets the hurt it has suffered, a love faithful unto death, a love bursting with new life. It is the grace of a generous love, which believes all things, bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things, a love which has no end, a love which is greater than all else."
The audience in Manila's Quirino Grand Stand listened attentively, as the Pontiff continued: "Such a love is not always easy. Daily life is full of pitfalls, tensions, suffering, and even fatigue. But on this journey you are not alone. Jesus is always present at your side, just as he was for the newlyweds at Cana in Galilee during a moment of difficulty.
"Christian couples, be 'good news for the third millennium' by bearing convincing and consistent witness to the truth about the family.
"The family founded on marriage is a patrimony of humanity, a great good of priceless value, necessary for the life, development and the future of peoples. According to the plan of creation established in the beginning the family is the setting in which the human person, made in the image and likeness of God, is conceived and born, grows and matures. The family, as the primary school in which the human person is formed, is indispensable for a true 'human ecology'.
"I urge you, dear Christian families, to show by your daily lives that despite numerous difficulties and obstacles marriage is able to be fully lived out as a meaningful experience and as "good news" for the men and women of today. Be leaders in the Church and in the world: this is a responsibility flowing from your celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony, from your being a domestic church, and from the marital mission which is yours as the primary cells of society."
The Pope concluded his address by encouraging families to recite the rosary together and announcing that the next World Meeting of Families will be held in Valencia, Spain, in 2006.
The following day, one million people attended the meeting's closing Mass. Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, told worshippers that the Church was still committed to defending Christian family life.
Six cardinals, 245 archbishops and bishops, and 360 priests participated in the Mass celebrated in the Quirino Grand Stand, site of the 1995 World Youth Day.
The Fourth World Meeting of Families, which lasted for five days, brought together families from 76 countries.
Speaking at the Vatican, hours after the end of the meeting, John Paul II described the gathering as an "important ecclesial event".
He said: "The theme of the meeting was very significant: 'The Christian Family: Good News for the Third Millennium'. Yes! The faithful and fruitful union of man and woman, blessed by the grace of Christ, constitutes an authentic Gospel of life and hope for humanity. This happy message was proclaimed, together with so many Philippine families, by the thousands of families of every race and nation, gathered in Manila.
—The future of society passes by way of the family,— I wrote in the apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio. This is an affirmation that is more important than ever. But, which family is it referring to? Certainly not that inauthentic one based on individual egotism. Experience shows that such a 'caricature' of the family has no future and cannot give a future to any society.
"The family, however, is 'good news' in the measure in which it accepts and makes its own the perennial vocation that God gave it at the beginning of humanity. This original plan of life is shared, thanks be to God, by so many nonChristian spouses. Thus the family appears in our days as the privileged way of dialogue among different religions and cultures and, therefore, of reconciliation and peace."