By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Pope Francis’ monthly prayer intention this March is for “families in crisis.”
The Pope invited the Church to pray for this intention in this month’s The Pope Video, which is entrusted to the entire Catholic Church through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
The images and audio in the video were prepared prior to the Holy Father’s arrival at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on 14 February, where he continues his treatment for bilateral pneumonia.
In The Pope Video for March, the Holy Father acknowledged the great difficulties facing familiies.
‘No such thing as a perfect family’
“We all dream about a beautiful, perfect family. But,” Pope Francis recognized, “there’s no such thing as a perfect family,” for each family “has its own problems,” “as well as its tremendous joys.”
While every member of the family is important because each is unique, the Pope lamented how often their differences cause conflict and painful wounds, as he suggests a solution.
“The best medicine to heal the pain of a wounded family,” he stressed, “is forgiveness,” adding that forgiveness requires giving our family members “another chance.”
“God,” Pope Francis pointed out, “does this with us all the time.” Reminding that God’s patience is infinite, the Holy Father reminded how He “forgives us, lifts us up, and gives us a new start.”
Renewing the family through forgiveness
In the same way, the Pope suggested, pardoning one another “always renews the family” and makes “it look forward with hope.”
Even when there’s no possibility of the “happy ending” we’d like, he noted, God’s grace gives us the strength to forgive.
Doing so, he explained, “brings peace,” because “it frees us from sadness, and, above all, from resentment.”
Pope Francis concluded by saying, “Let us pray that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other’s gifts, even in their differences.” – Vatican News
