Pope Francis at the meeting with the families in Santiago de Cuba: "Without family life grows empty"
There is no "perfect family," but we must not forget that families "are not a problem; they are first and foremost an opportunity." In the last meeting of his trip to Cuba, Pope Francis met with the families in the cathedral of Santiago de Cuba. Starting with the Gospel of the Wedding at Cana, Francis showed that "Jesus began his life within a family, within a home. And he continues to enter into, and become a part of, our homes." Moreover, in the family, "we should not be afraid of arguments. I have greater fear for married couples who tell me that they never argue," he added, because "Jesus chooses these moments to show us God‘s love."
When we live well in the family, Francis continued, "selfishness grow smaller:" in fact, "it is in the home that we learn fraternity, solidarity, and not to be overbearing. It is in the home that we learn to receive, to appreciate life as a blessing and to realize that we need one another to move forward. It is in the home that we experience forgiveness, that we are continually asked to forgive and to grow. In the home there is no room for ‘putting on masks‘." The Pope then highlighted how "Without family, without the warmth of home, life grows empty, there is a weakening of the networks which sustain us in adversity, nurture us in daily living and motivate us to build a better future. The family saves us from two present-day phenomena: fragmentation and agglomeration. In both cases, people turn into isolated individuals, easy to manipulate and to rule. Societies which are divided, broken, separated or rigidly uniform are a result of the breakup of family bonds, the loss of those relationships which make us who we are, which teach us to be persons." Despite the "many difficulties that afflict our families," the Pope, who has asked the faithful to pray especially for the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia and for the next Synod, hopes that we will not forget that "families are not a problem, they are first and foremost an opportunity. An opportunity which we must care for, protect and support."