How much the world and the Church needs this feast, when so many no longer know what a real family is. Pope Benedict XVI:
"The family is fundamental because it is the place where there germinates in the human soul the first perception of the meaning of life," Benedict XVI affirmed.
"This perception grows in the relationship with the mother and with the father, who are not the owners of the life of the children but the first collaborators with God in the transmission of life and the faith," he added.
The Bishop of Rome went on to explain to the youth of Palermo that "the family is the 'little Church' because it transmits God, it transmits the love of Christ, by the power of the sacrament of matrimony."
"The divine love that united man and woman, and that made them parents, is able to make the seed of faith -- which is the light of life's profound meaning -- grow in the hearts of their children," the Pope said.
He added that "the family, to be a 'little Church,' must be well integrated into the 'big Church,' that is, into the family of God that Christ came to form."
"The greatest gift that we have received is to be Church," the Pontiff affirmed, "to be in Christ the sign and instrument of unity, of peace, and true freedom."
He continued: "No one can take this joy from us! No one can take this strength from us! Courage, dear young people and families of Sicily! Be saints!"
The Holy Father urged the tens of thousands of youth in the audience: "Do not be afraid to oppose evil! Together you will be like a forest that grows, perhaps silently, but capable of bearing fruit, of bringing life and of renewing your land in a profound way!" - Benedict XVI at Palermo, 10/5/10
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