By Cindy Wooden | Catholic News Service
DUBLIN – In a stadium of Catholic families from around the world, Pope Francis told the laypeople they are the vast majority of Church members and that, without them, the Church would be cold, a collection of statues.
“God wants every family to be a beacon of joy of his love to our world,” the Pope said Aug. 25, celebrating the Festival of Families in Dublin’s Croke Park Stadium.
Photo Gallery: Pope Francis in Ireland
The Irish dance troupe Riverdance thrilled the crowd and brought a big smile to Pope Francis’ face. “The Priests,” a classical Irish trio of priests, performed, as did Nathan Carter, an Irish country singer, and tenor Andrea Bocelli.
Families from India, Canada, Iraq, Ireland and Burkina Faso stood on stage near the Pope while pre-recorded video versions of their testimonies played.
The Canadian couple, Marissa and Aldo d’Andrea of Toronto, spoke about their 54 years of marriage, their four children and 13 grandchildren – and one on the way.
The Iraqi couple, Enass and Sarmaad Mekhael, are refugees living in Australia. Enass’ brother was Father Ragheed Aziz Ganni, a 35-year-old Chaldean Catholic priest murdered in 2007 at a parish in Mosul, Iraq.
The families, who have faced joys and heartache and have held on to each other and to their faith, are models of how each Catholic family is called to give a witness in the world to the love of God, the Pope said.
“That is what holiness is all about,” he said. “I like to speak of the saints next door, all those ordinary people who reflect God’s presence in the life and history of the world.”
Pope Francis insisted, “The vocation to love and to holiness is not something reserved for a privileged few,” but is a call that comes with baptism.
One key aspect of God’s love is God’s willingness to forgive, and that is an essential part of family life, too, the Pope said.
Every family experiences tensions and arguments, the Pope said, but “sometimes you are angry and tempted to sleep in another room – alone and apart – but just knock on the door and say: ‘Please, can I come in?’ All it takes is a look, a kiss, a sweet word and everything returns to normal.”
Pope Francis said the stories shared by the couples clearly show the strength and power that come from faith and from the grace of sacramental marriage.
“The love of Christ that renews all things is what makes possible marriage and a conjugal love marked by fidelity, indissolubility, unity and openness to life,” he said. “God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – created mankind in his image to share in his love, to be a family of families and to enjoy the peace that he alone can give.”