"Families are the domestic Church, where Jesus grows; he grows in the love of spouses, he grows in the lives of children. That is why the enemy so often attacks the family. The devil does not want the family; he tries to destroy it, to make sure that there is no love there. Families are this domestic Church." These were Pope Francis’ words on June 1st, at the Olympic Stadium, before more than 52,000 people gathered for the XXXVII National Congress of the Renewal in the Holy Spirit. The Pope then continued: "married couples are sinners," nevertheless, they want to "go forward in faith, in fruitfulness, in their children and their children’s faith. May the Lord bless families and strengthen them in this time of crisis when the devil is seeking to destroy them."
Grandparents were, however, called on by the Pope spontaneously: "Grandparents! The elderly are not here, yet they are the 'insurance' of our faith, the 'old folks'. Young people must carry out the Law, the elderly—like good wine—have the freedom of the Holy Spirit. They are—he continued—the wisdom of the Church. Grandmothers and grandfathers are our strength and our wisdom. May the Lord always give us wise elders! Elderly men and women who can pass on to us the memory of our people, the memory of the Church. May they also give us what the Letter to the Hebrews says about them: a sense of joy. It says that our forebears, our elders, greeted God's promises from afar. May this be what they teach us."
