Secret of Pope Francis to healing wounds in marriage

"The family is a great gymnasium for training in the gift and reciprocal forgiveness, without which no love can be lasting... If we learn to ask each other immediately for forgiveness and to give each other forgiveness, wounds will heal and marriage will be strengthened," said Pope Francis during his weekly general audience in St. Peter´s Square on Wednesday morning.

In his catechesis, he continued his reflection on the importance of the family as a place where we learn the values of forgiveness and reconciliation. Here is his message

Marriage: Gyms of Forgiveness.

Life doesn´t stop, particularly the life of families, it doesn´t stop! You, dear families, are always on the way. And you continually write on the pages of concrete life the beauty of the Gospel of the family.

In a world that at times becomes arid with life and love, you speak every day of the great gift that is marriage and the family.

Today I would like to emphasize this aspect: that the family is a great gymnasium for training in gift and reciprocal forgiveness, the family is a great gymnasium for training in gift and reciprocal forgiveness, without which no love can last. Without giving, without forgiving, love does not remain, does not last.

In the prayer that He himself taught us - that is, the Our Father - Jesus makes us ask the Father: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And at the end he comments:

"If you forgive others their trespasses, the Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will the Father forgive you" (Mt 6:12,14-15).

There is no life without forgiveness.

You cannot live without forgiveness, or at least you cannot live well, especially with your family. Every day we disrespect each other.

We must take into consideration these mistakes, due to our fragility and our selfishness.

What we are asked to do is to immediately heal the wounds that we make to ourselves, to immediately reweave the threads that we break in the family. If we wait too long, everything becomes more difficult.

Pope Francis: Secret to Heal Wounds in Marriage.

There is a simple secret to healing wounds and dissolving accusations. And it is this: Do not let the day end without asking forgiveness, without making peace between husband and wife, between parents and children, between brothers and sisters, between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law!

If we learn to immediately ask each other´s forgiveness and to give each other forgiveness, wounds will heal, marriage will be strengthened, and the family will become a more solid house, which resists the shocks of our small and great evils.

And for this it is not necessary to make a big speech, but a caress is enough, a caress and it is all over and it starts again, but not to end the day in war, do you understand?

With God´s forgiveness we are able to forgive.

If we learn to live like this as a family, we do so outside as well, wherever we find ourselves. It´s easy to be skeptical about this. Many - also among Christians - think it is an exaggeration.

It is said: yes, they are beautiful words, but it is impossible to put them into practice. But thank God this is not the case. In fact it is precisely by receiving God´s forgiveness that we are able to forgive others.

This is why Jesus makes us repeat these words every time we pray the Our Father prayer, that is every day.

It is indispensable that, in a sometimes merciless society, there are places, like the family, where we learn to forgive each other.

The Synod revived our hope in this too: it is part of the vocation and mission of the family to be able to forgive and to forgive each other.

Practicing forgiveness against a cruel society.

The practice of forgiveness not only saves families from division, but makes them capable of helping society to be less evil and less cruel. Yes, every gesture of forgiveness repairs the house from its cracks and strengthens its walls.

The Church, dear families, is always at your side to help you build your house on the rock of which Jesus spoke. And let us not forget these words that immediately precede the parable of the house:

"It is not those who say to me, ´Lord, Lord´, who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father". And he adds: "Many will say to me on that day, ´Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name? Do we not cast out demons in your name? Then I will say to them, "I never knew them," he will answer. (cf. Mt 7:21-23).

It is a strong word, there is no doubt, that aims at shaking us and calling us to conversion.

I assure you, dear families, that if you will be able to walk ever more resolutely along the path of the Beatitudes, learning and teaching each other how to forgive, the capacity to bear witness to the renewing power of God´s forgiveness will grow throughout the great family of the Church.

We will also preach beautifully, and perhaps expel any demons, but in the end the Lord will not recognize us as his disciples! Because we have not had the capacity to forgive and to have others forgive us.

Truly, Christian families can do a lot for today´s society, and also for the Church. That is why I hope that in the Jubilee of Mercy families will rediscover the treasure of mutual forgiveness.

Let us pray that families will always be more capable of living and of building concrete paths of reconciliation, where no one feels abandoned to the weight of his offenses.

And with this intention, we say together:

"Our Father, forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Let us say it together: "Our Father, forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us". Thank you