A vigil for the family

The National Office for the Pastoral Care of Families of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) titled, “Letter to those who believe in the family” calls for participation in the prayer vigil for the Synod organized by the Italian Church next October 3rd, ahead of the final phase, with the purpose of bringing together the “Catholic faithful” – and not only them – to respond to the invitation of the Pope in his letter to the families published in the first phase of the Synod: “I urge you to pray intensely the Holy Spirit, that He may enlighten the Synod fathers and guide them in their difficult task.” To take part in the initiative – one year after the same gathering promoted by CEI – it’s sufficient to gather in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, from 18:00 hrs to 19:30, or light a small light on windowsills at home. In the meantime, prayer meetings are being planned at local level “in the style of Emmaus” between different charismas and styles. “The families enlighten the Synod” is the slogan to participate with prayers, on October 3rd, to the outcomes of a gathering hailed as historic for the Church. The skies are called to touch the earth. “We are experiencing a special moment of grace: for the Italian Church and for the world as a whole”, claimed Fr. Paolo Gentili, director of the CEI Office for the Pastoral Care of Families. “After the twofold popular consultation, that has considerably enriched the Synod reflection, and after the first phase of the Synod, we have reached a decisive moment for the Assembly. At this moment, the request for prayer of the Pope has grown even stronger”, crucial “to accompany the special light of the Holy Spirit: it’s as if the heart expanded until the extreme borders of the world, to bring renewed grace to the life of the family. The skies are clearly called to touch the earth, returning to the very principle of the Creation – a couple of spouses – to help us confront the Church and society as a whole.” Torches and lit windows. Lit torches in the streets; windows lit in households; ecclesial groups praying together, many of them with night Adoration, as last year: “This mirrors the beauty of the family in Italy”, Gentili said. “These torches in the course of the year have continued being lit and will be lit again, on October 3rd.” What powers this special light? “The awareness that the perfect family doesn’t exist, as we are constantly reminded by the Pope. There exists the constant fatigue of many families to live the Gospel despite unemployment, economic and financial insecurity, with jobs that leave no free time and occasionally also overshadow family relations, coupled by difficulties in welcoming a third or fourth child in a society lacking birth policies whereby the family is not viewed as a precious gift; the fatigue experienced by married couples who want to stay together or return to live together despite broken affective relations that are increasingly impacting the family unit as a whole; the fatigue of families that daily incarnate the Gospel, that experience many falls as well as the ability to recover thanks the force of grace: this means discovering that marriage is truly a sacrament, an event of grace, and show the healing force that is brings.” For the Director of the CEI Office one thing is sure: “marriage is not for few or for the best ones: it’s for all those who demand love forever, imploring it as a gift from the skies. How to accompany this ‘love forever’ is the real challenge, for the Synod.”Associations and movements praying together. The Synod and its preparation is also a moment of “concrete ecclesial experience.” That of past June 25 when CEI General Secretary Monsignor Nunzio Galantino, met the national responsible of movements, associations and new movements – over 130 – for Gentili was a “historic meeting”. In fact, they launched the proposal to promote prayer meetings nationwide in September between the various associations and movements, who engage in a common prayer for the decisions of the Synod. A ‘family supper’, a kind of appetizer to the tasty meal of the final celebration of the Synodal meeting.” Indeed, “prayer isn’t just a dialogue with God, but a way to relate to Him, a way of feeling in communion with the other person’s pace, for mutual support and to recreate the spirit of the community of the origins, sharing hardships and joys regardless of affiliation.” On October 3rd, the “concrete ecclesial community” will be marked by choral support. “We have a great need to show the beauty of the family that is in Italy, in unity”, Galantino said June 25: “Our real force is to be anchored to reality with the awareness that reality is greater than the idea. And reality is the family.”