that is what holiness is all about. i like to speak of the saints next door. all of those ordinary people who reflect god's presence in the life and history of our world. the vocation to love and to holiness is not something reserved for a few privileged. no. even now, if we have eyes to see, we can see it being lived out all around us. it is suddenly present in the heart of all of those families that offer love, forgiveness and mercy when they see the need. and do so quietly, without great fanfare. the gospel of the family is truly

i°y the gospel of the family is truly joy for the world. because of this letter and our families that jesus can letter and our families that jesus ca n always letter and our families that jesus can always be found, dwelling in simplicity and poverty as he did in the home of the holy family of nazareth. christian marriage and family life are only seen in all their beauty and attractiveness if they are anchored in the love of god. who created a zen his own image so god. who created a zen his own image so that we might get him glory as i of his love and holiness in the world. fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, children and grandchildren, all of

us are children and grandchildren, all of us are called defined in the family the fulfilment in love. applause. god's grace helps us daily to live as one in mind and heart, including daughters—in—law and mothers—in—law. no one ever said that this would be easy. you know it better than me. it is like making a cup of tea, it is easy to bring the water to boil but a good cup of tea takes time and patience. you need to let it brew.

so it is that each dayjesus warns us so it is that each dayjesus warns us with his love and leaves that they are two penetrators. he offers as the grace we need to heal our wea knesses as the grace we need to heal our weaknesses and the open our minds and hearts to hear, understand and forgive one another. we just heard the testimonies of felicity and isaac, who come from gina fussell. —— burkina faso. they told us a moving story of forgiveness in the family. the poet says, to err is

human, to forgive divine. forgiveness is a special gift from god that heals wounds and draws us closer to one another and to him. small and simple acts of forgiveness and renewed each day are the foundation upon which eight solid christian family life is built. they force us to christian family life is built. they force us to overcome oui’ christian family life is built. they force us to overcome our pride, indifference and embarrassment and to make peace. but many times we are angry with each other, we want to make peace but we don't know how. sometimes it is embarrassing to make peace but we

wa nt to is embarrassing to make peace but we want to do it, but in reality it is not that difficult. it is easy. all it takes is a car this and then peaceis it takes is a car this and then peace is made. —— caress. it is true, it is true. i like to see the wood see that in our families we need to use three words. you said them. three words. sorry, please and thank you. applause. three words. what are the three words? lets see

them together. sorry, please and thank you. sorry, please and thank you. i cannot hear you! thank you very much! applause. when you quarrel at home, be sure that before you go to bed, you apologise and you say you're sorry. before the date is over, that's when you have to make peace. and do you know why? do you know why

it is necessary to make peace before the day is over? because if you do not make peace, then the day after it is like a cold war and it is very dangerous. be careful. the wheel of cold war within the family. —— beware of. applause. many times you might be angry and you are tempted to go and sleep in another room alone and apart, and if you feel like that, simply knock on the door and say, please, may i come

in? all it takes is a look, a kiss, a soft word and everything is back to the way it was. i say this because when families do this, they survive. there is no such thing as a perfect family without the practice of forgiveness. families can grow sick and gradually collapse. to forgive means to give something of yourself. jesus always forgives us, through the power of his forgiveness we can forgive others if we really want to.

isn't that what we pray for? children learn to forgive when they see their parents are giving one another. if we understand this then we can appreciate the grand your of jesus teaching about fidelity in marriage. farfrom a cold legal obligation, it is above all a powerful promise of god's own fidelity to his word and his unfailing grace. christ died for us so that we might in time forgive and be reconciled with one another. in

this way as individuals and as families, we can now the truth of saint paul's words, that tell us when all else passes away, love never ends. applause. thank you, nisha and ted, for your testimony from india where you are teaching your children how to be a true family. you have also helped us to understand that social media is not necessarily a problem for families. in fact, they can serve to build a network of friendships, solidarity and mutual support.

families can connect through the internet and draw nourishment from it. social media can be beneficial if used with moderation and caution. for example, all of you gathered here today for this meeting of families have formed a spiritual network and a web of friendship. social media can help you to maintain this connection and expand it to even more families throughout the world. it is important, however, that this never becomes a threat to the real—life elation ships by imprisoning us in a virtual reality and isolating us from the very real relationships that challenge us to

grow. and to give the best of ourselves in communion with others. applause. perhaps nisha and ted's story will help all families to question whether they need to cut down on the time they spend with technology and to spend more quality time with one another and with god. but when you use social media to much you go into a sort of an audit the wood orbit,

when at the dinner table instead of talking to each other in the family, each of you each of you users has fallen to connect with the outside world, and then you go into a orbit. this is dangerous because it takes away the complete reality of the family and leads you to a fuzzy life without any substance. be very careful. and remember the tale of ted and nisha who teach us to use social media in a good way. applause.

we have heard how a family's love and faith can be a source of strength and peace even amid the violence and destruction caused by warand violence and destruction caused by war and persecution. the story reminds us of the tragic situations in daily by so many families forced to flee their homes in search of security and peace. but they have also showed us how starting from the family, and thanks to the solidarity shown by so many other families,

life can be rebuilt and hope can be born again. we saw the support in the video of rami and his brother, in which rami expressed his deep gratitude for the encouragement and help his family received from so many other christian families worldwide. who made it possible for them to return to the village. in every society, families generate peace, because they teach love, welcome, forgiveness. they are the best antidote to the hatred, prejudice and vengeance that can poison the life of individuals and communities. applause. asa

as a good irish priest taught us, the family that preys together stays together, and radiates peace. —— prays. such a family can be a support for other families that don't live in peace. following the death of the father, the family chose forgiveness and reconciliation over hatred and resentment. they saw in the light of the cross that evil can only be fought by good and hatred overcome only by forgiveness. almost incredibly, they were able to

find peace in the love of christ. they love that makes all things new. tonight they share that peace with us. they prayed and praying together. and while i was listening together. and while i was listening to the choir, i sought a mother who was teaching hard child to make the sign of the cross, and i am asking you, do you teach your children to make the sign of the cross? yes or

no? or make the sign of the cross? yes or no? 0rdo you make the sign of the cross? yes or no? or do you teach them to make something like so, that people don't understand what it means? it is very important that children learn when they are little to make the sign of they are little to make the sign of the cross properly. this is the first sign that they learn in the name of the father. the sun and the holy spirit, so when you go to bed tonight, think about it. do i teach my child to make the sign of the cross properly, and i leave that with your conscience. applause. the love of christ that the news all

things is what makes possible both manage and conjugal love that is permanent, marked by fidelity, unity and openness to life. this is what i wa nted and openness to life. this is what i wanted to show in the fourth chapter. we see this love in mary and damian and family ten children. applause. i ask you, do they make you angry all these children? that's life. but it is great to have ten children. thank you. for your words and for

your testimony. of love and faith. you experienced the power of god's love, to change your lives com pletely love, to change your lives completely and to bless you with the i°y completely and to bless you with the joy of a beautiful family. you told us joy of a beautiful family. you told us that the key to your family life is truthfulness. from your story, we see how important it is to keep going back to that source of the truth and love that can change our lives, jesus. who began his public ministry at a wedding feast. he

turned water into a new and tasty wine that kept the joyful celebration going strong. have you ever thought what would have happened if jesus hadn't ever thought what would have happened ifjesus hadn't done this? have you thought how bad it would be to end a wedding feast only with water? it is very bad. the holy mother understood this and she told her son did not have wine

and cheese is understood ——jesus understood that it would end badly only with water, so it is with the same conjugal love that the new wine begins to fragment during the time of engagement. but the time of engagement is fleeting and love but yours throughout marriage in a mutual self keeping that enables exposes to become one and to open their hearts to all those in need of love, especially to the lonely and those who are abandoned and weak and vulnerable and often discarded by oui’ vulnerable and often discarded by our throwaway culture. this now,

culture, a culture based on waste. a culture, a culture based on waste. a culture get thread of —— a culture that gets read of anything not needed. perhaps gets rid of children because they make noise, or the elderly, and it is only love that can save us elderly, and it is only love that can save us from this throwaway culture, a culture of waste. applause. families everywhere are challenged to keep going, to keep moving forwards even amidst difficulties just as the past generation that. all of us are part ofa generation that. all of us are part of a great chain of families

stretching back to the beginning of time. ourfamilies stretching back to the beginning of time. our families at a treasury of living memory, with children who become parents and grandparents. from them we received our identity, values and faith. we see this in the couple married for over 50 years. their marriage is a monument to love and fidelity. their grandchildren keep them young, the house is filled with laughter and happiness, with dancing. it was really nice to see their grandmother teaching her grandchildren to dance. they are a mutual love is a gift from god and it isa mutual love is a gift from god and it is a gift that they are joyfully passing on to their children and grandchildren. listen very

carefully, a society that does not value grandparents is a society that has no future. applause. a church that is not mindful of the cove na nt a church that is not mindful of the covenant between generations, we end up covenant between generations, we end up lacking the thing that really matters, love. our grandparents teach us the meaning of conjugal and peered into love. they themselves grew up in a family and experienced the love of sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, so for this reason they are a treasury of experience, and wisdom for the new generations. it is a big mistake not

to ask the elderly about the experience, or to think that talking to them is a waste of time. here, i would like to thank missy for her words of witness. she told us that amongst travellers, family has a lwa ys amongst travellers, family has always been a source of strength and solidarity. her witness reminds us that in god's house, there is a place at the table for everyone. nobody should be excluded. are love and care must extend to all. applause. it is late. you are tired. me too.

applause. but let me say, one last thing. you families are the hope of the church and of the world, god, father, son and holy spirit created mankind in his image to share his love, to be a family of families and to enjoy the peace that he alone can give. by your witness to the gospel, you can help god to make his dream come true. you can help brought all god's children closer together so that they can grow in the unity and

learn what it means for the entire world to live in peace as one great family. for this reason, world to live in peace as one great family. forthis reason, i world to live in peace as one great family. for this reason, iwanted world to live in peace as one great family. for this reason, i wanted to give each of you a copy of the book which ip peered during the synods on family and written as a sort of road map for family and written as a sort of road mapfora family and written as a sort of road map for a living joyfully the gospel of the family. applause. me maybe our mother, queen of the family and queen of peace, sustain all of you in yourjourney of queen of peace, sustain all of you in your journey of life, queen of peace, sustain all of you in yourjourney of life, love and happiness, and now at the conclusion of early evening together we will recite a prayer for this world

meeting of the families. altogether. let's re—site the official prayer for this world meeting of families. god, our father, we are brothers and sisters injesus your son, one family, in the spirit of your love. bless us with the joy of love. make us patient and kind, gentle and generous, welcoming to those in need. help us to live your forgiveness and peace. protect all families with your loving care, especially those for whom we now pray. the remember the family members and

others. increase our faith, strengthen our hope, keep us safe in your love, make us always grateful for the gift of life that we share. this we ask, through christ our lord, amen. mary, motherand guide, pray for us. saintjoseph, father and protector, pray for us. saints joachim and anne, pray for us. saints louis and z lie martin, pray for us.