I'd also like to note that I am feeling particularly lucky myself because in the last week I have seen ALL my Godchildren and this makes me happy! Helen and Mo are gorgeous (though, really, I'm not sure how I feel about this, and not just because I have hair envy....) and G-man is a trip! Every time I see him he has MORE energy! In no time AJ will keeping right up with him!
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| Me after seeing all the fairy Godkids! |
So anyway. For those of you old enough to read, if you've been on social media this week (especially if you've trolled your fairy Godmother at all) you've noticed that Pope Francis wrote and released this big ol' document called Amoris Laetitia (Uh-mor-ees Lay-teet-see-uh). Which translates to "The Joy of Love." This particular document is called a "Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation" and it is particularly focused on "Love in the Family." So what does all THAT mean and more importantly, why the heck should you care?
A Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation is basically a letter written to the faithful after a Synod that summarizes and explains the main points that the Holy Spirit wanted the Church to understand as a result of the Synod. A Synod is a weird word for what is pretty much a meeting/focus group/debate/gathering/discussion that is officially held by the Church in order to really dig into a particular topic. In this case the Synod was all about the family and it involved meetings and events that took place over the last 2 years. Pope Francis called for the Synod because he was prompted by the Holy Spirit to try to tackle all the complicated difficulties facing family life today and provide Hope. I mean, let's face it, family life isn't easy - no matter what role you have in the family! So in Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis takes all the discussions, opinions, Truths, and findings of the Synod, weeds out the falsehoods, bad ideas, wrong opinions, and unTruths, and then presents to us all a lovely explanation of Family Life, God's plan for the family, God's Mercy, and how the Church helps us live it all - in the midst of the messes we often create in the process!
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| Mess. Sometimes we mess things up. |
So. Why should you care?
Well, its my opinion that you should care for two reasons. The first being that you are part of a family. The second is that I think the document is really about much more than family life. Its about Mercy. No one is really talking much about that aspect of it, but I think the bigger message that The Church, through Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia is trying to communicate is "Hey! Guess what! You're human! You're not perfect! Sometimes you screw up! Sometimes you REALLY screw up. Sometimes you REALLY REALLY screw up. Its OK. That is why God left us a Church! Let the Church help you right where you're at. Let God show you how much He wants to love you despite your mistakes. Don't try to navigate life all by yourself! There is a way to have a life a joy!" I think this is FANTASTIC news!
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| Joy! God wants you to have JOY! |
We would be very foolish to try to say that family life is perfect. We'd be even more foolish to try to say that ANY life is perfect. Generally, the more perfect someone's life appears, the more they are faking it. (Harsh? maybe. But true.) What I love about Pope Francis' response to the Synod on the family is that it is real. He isn't afraid to dive into the nitty gritty, messy, confusing and raw reality of family life in this day and age. In fact, he doesn't just dive in, he charges headlong into the muck of it all and unabashedly proclaims the Truth and beauty of God's design for the family AND God's patience and Mercy towards us when we find ourselves very far from that design. See, he isn't afraid to explain to us that it isn't the Church's job to punish us when we find ourselves falling short of God's intentions. Usually when we fall way short of how God intended something to be, we end up punishing ourselves with the unavoidable consequences. Pope Francis, like a good and loving Father, is explaining to us that it is the Church who wants to guide us, walk with us, show us how to navigate our lives and circumstances so we can eventually begin living our lives the way God had intended all along. That is why Amoris Laetitia spends a bit of time talking about divorce, remarriage, homosexual acts and unions, contraception, the abortion mentality, being open to life, difficult family situations..... all these really tough and really personal, really REAL situations that people face today. Yet, all these things end up leading us away from God and away from His plan for us to experience JOY. So the Holy Spirit, through His Church, is loudly proclaiming, through Pope Francis' latest document, "Don't worry! There is a way to find that Joy! Don't be afraid, Christ left you His Church for JUST THESE REASONS! Let her guide you! Let her help you! We are all in this together! No one is beyond the Mercy of God and no one is beyond the reach and assistance of His Church!"
And this, my dear Godchildren, is GREAT news for us, and exactly why you should care!
Until next time (which will be sooner than this last one - sorry!)...
Be Saints!
Love,
Your fairy Godmother
PS: If you want to read Amoris Laetitia for yourself, here is a link to the whole thing!
