HOLINESS is always tied to LITTLE GESTURES. ... These little gestures are those we LEARN AT HOME, in the family; they get lost amid all the other things we do, yet they do make each day different.
They are the QUIET THINGS done by MOTHERS and GRANDMOTHERS, by FATHERS and GRANDFATHERS, by CHILDREN. They are LITTLE SIGNS of tenderness, affection and compassion. Like the warm supper we look forward to at night, the early lunch awaiting someone who gets up early to go to work. HOMELY GESTURES. Like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day’s work. Love is shown by LITTLE THINGS, by attention to SMALL DAILY SIGNS which make us feel at home.
Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love. That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to become faith.
-- POPE FRANCIS in Philadelphia, 27 Sept 2015
Holiness in homely gestures
Lessons from Nazareth
An address given at Nazareth by Pope Paul VI
The example of Nazareth
(Used for Office of Readings for the Feast of the Holy Family)
Nazareth is a kind of school where we may begin to discover what Christ’s life was like and even to understand his Gospel. Here we can observe and ponder the simple appeal of the way God’s Son came to be known, profound yet full of hidden meaning. And gradually we may even learn to imitate him.
Here we can learn to realise who Christ really is. And here we can sense and take account of the conditions and circumstances that surrounded and affected his life on earth: the places, the tenor of the times, the culture, the language, religious customs, in brief, everything which Jesus used to make himself known to the world. Here everything speaks to us, everything has meaning. Here we can learn the importance of spiritual discipline for all who wish to follow Christ and to live by the teachings of his Gospel.
How I would like to return to my childhood and attend the simple yet profound school that is Nazareth! How wonderful to be close to Mary, learning again the lesson of the true meaning of life, learning again God’s truths. But here we are only on pilgrimage. Time presses and I must set aside my desire to stay and carry on my education in the Gospel, for that education is never finished. But I cannot leave without recalling, briefly and in passing; some thoughts I take with me from Nazareth.
First, we learn from its silence. If only we could once again appreciate its great value. We need this wonderful state of mind, beset as we are by the cacophony of strident protests and conflicting claims so characteristic of these turbulent times. The silence of Nazareth should teach us how to meditate in peace and quiet, to reflect on the deeply spiritual, and to be open to the voice of God’s inner wisdom and the counsel of his true teachers. Nazareth can teach us the value of study and preparation, of meditation, of a well-ordered personal spiritual life, and of silent prayer that is known only to God.
Second, we learn about family life. May Nazareth serve as a model of what the family should be. May it show us the family’s holy and enduring character and exemplify its basic function in society: a community of love and sharing, beautiful for the problems it poses and the rewards it brings, in sum, the perfect setting for rearing children – and for this there is no substitute.
Finally, in Nazareth, the home of a craftsman’s son, we learn about work and the discipline it entails. I would especially like to recognise its value – demanding yet redeeming – and to give it proper respect. I would remind everyone that work has its own dignity. On the other hand, it is not an end in itself. Its value and free character, however, derive not only from its place in the economic system, as they say, but rather from the purpose it serves.
In closing, may I express my deep regard for people everywhere who work for a living. To them I would point out their great model, Christ their brother, our Lord and God, who is their prophet in every cause that promotes their well being.
教宗保祿六世訓詞（一九六四年一月五日 於納匝肋講） 納匝肋聖家模範
納匝肋的聖家是一所學校，在那裏我們開始了解基督的 生活，這是我們學習福音的學校。在這學校裏，我們先 學習觀察、探聽、默想、深深地透視：在這天主子極純樸、極謙卑、極美妙的顯示下所隱藏的深奧而神秘的意 義。然後我們可亦步亦趨地向基督學習。
在這裏，我們可學到一種方法，使我們容易認識基督是 誰。在這裏，我們深深感到對祂在人間居住時的環境有宗教敬禮，以時代、風俗、語言、體認的必要：地方、及耶穌用來顯示自己於世人的一切。在這裏，一切都向 我們講話，一切都有意義。
在這裏，就是在這學校裏，我們學習到：誰若願意追隨福音的教訓，作基督的門徒，應該持守一種精神的紀 律。我們多麼切望能返老還童，以便進入納匝肋這所樸 實而高尚的學校。我們多麼希望跟瑪利亞學習人生的真 實學問，求得那了解天主真理的智慧。可是，我們在這 裏，不過是旅客而已。我們不得不放棄我們留居此地、 繼續我們從不能完成的教育、和研究福音的意願。但我 們在這裏，如果不簡短地、順便提起我們從納匝肋所獲 取的幾點教訓，決不能悄然離去。
第一點教訓是靜默。但願我們恢復對靜默的重視，在此 繁忙，騷動的現代生活中，我們經常為喊聲、喧嚷、閙所包圍，正需要心靈上這種不可缺少的寧靜狀態。納 匝肋的寧靜啊！請教訓我們收心注意聖善的思想，趨向 精神的事物，隨時準備聽從天生的默感，和真正導師的 命令。請教訓我們知道，準備、研究、默想、個人內心 的生活規律，以及唯有天主在暗中看到的祈禱，為我們 每一個人是多麼需要，多麼有價值。
此外，在這裏，我們也學到一點有關家庭生活的教訓。 願納匝肋作為我們家庭生活的模範，並教導我們家庭中 應有的愛的交流，指示我們家庭簡樸而平實的美，以及 其神聖而不可侵犯的特點。願納匝肋也證實，家庭教育 是多麼甜蜜，是不可取代的。願納匝肋也使我們了解， 家庭在社會中的角色是多麼重要。最後是工作的教訓。 納匝肋木匠之子的家，在你這裏，我們希望了解並聲明 勞工的價值──它雖然艱苦，却具有贖罪的效能。在這 裏，我們願意所有的人都意識到勞動的崇高。我們在這 裏，同時要記起，勞動本身並不是勞動的目的，但是工 作的自由與價值，不僅由於其在經濟上的重要（一般人 常這樣說），而是由於其能供人達到其他更高尚的目 的。我們願意在這裏向全世界的工人致敬，並向他們提 供一位偉大的模範，就是他們那位身為天主子的長兄。 關懷勞工福利的先知，就是我們的主耶穌基督。
PARENTS' PRAYER
Oh, heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say, and to answer all their questions kindly. Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me. Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes, or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me. May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power.... Guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness. Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me. And when I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue. May I ever be mindful that my children are children and that I should not expect of them the judgments of adults. Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves and to make decisions. Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests, and the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm. Make me fair and just and kind. And fit me, O Lord, to be loved and respected and imitated by my children. Amen.” (Abigail Van Buren)
Youth and families
"I have always been convinced that without prayer, we can never succeed in bringing children up well. As a bishop I encouraged families and parish communities to develop in young children a desire to encounter God in private prayer. In this spirit I recently wrote: 'To pray the rosary for children, and even more, with children, ... is a spiritual aid which should not be underestimated.' (Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 42)
"The pastoral care of children must obviously be continued as they enter adolescence. Frequent confession and spiritual direction help young people to discern their vocation in live and protect them from losing their way as they enter adulthood."
(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, pp 103-104)
The first priority will consist in restoring a sense of the acceptance of life as a gift from God. According to both Sacred Scripture and the wisest traditions of your continent, the arrival of a child is always a gift, a blessing from God. Today it is high time to place greater emphasis on this: every human being, every tiny human person, however weak, is created "in the image and likeness of God" (Gen 1:27). Every person must live! Death must not prevail over life! Death will never have the last word!
(Benedict XVI, Homily, 19 March 2009)
Dear fathers and mothers here today, do you have trust in God who has called you to be the fathers and mothers of his adopted children? Do you accept that he is counting on you to pass on to your children the human and spiritual values that you yourselves have received and which will prepare them to live with love and respect for his holy name? At a time when so many people have no qualms about trying to impose the tyranny of materialism, with scant concern for the most deprived, you must be very careful.
Africa in general, and Cameroon in particular, place themselves at risk if they do not recognize the True Author of Life! Brothers and sisters in Cameroon and throughout Africa, you who have received from God so many human virtues, take care of your souls! Do not let yourselves be captivated by selfish illusions and false ideals! Believe – yes! – continue to believe in God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – he alone truly loves you in the way you yearn to be loved, he alone can satisfy you, can bring stability to your lives. Only Christ is the way of Life.
God alone could grant Joseph the strength to trust the Angel. God alone will give you, dear married couples, the strength to raise your family as he wants. Ask it of him! God loves to be asked for what he wishes to give. Ask him for the grace of a true and ever more faithful love patterned after his own. As the Psalm magnificently puts it: his "love is established for ever, his loyalty will stand as long as the heavens" (Ps 88:3).
(Benedict XVI, Homily, 19 March 2009)