Amoris Laetitia

By: Pope Francis

Submitted By: John Kenlee L Caranto

Grade 10 - St. John Paul II

Submitted To: Ms. Pressy Jimenez

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OVERVIEW

​Amoris Laetitia​ is Latin for "The Joy of Love". The opening sentence reads, "The Joy of Love

experienced by families is also the joy of the Church". The exhortation is meant to echo the

conviction of the Synod Fathers that the Christian family is good news indeed and to help the

Church to draw close to families in all situations.

Amoris Laetitia covers a wide range of topics related to marriage and family life, with a

particular emphasis on the family's vocation and mission of love. It speaks about the family's

strengths and gifts, and also the contemporary challenges faced by families throughout the world.

The exhortation encourages married couples, families, and pastoral ministers to accompany and

care for families and others in need of the Lord's mercy and healing. It includes an extended

reflection on love and what it means in the day-to-day reality of marriage and family life.
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OUTLINE

THESIS: Family is essential to every human being living here on earth. It is a gift from God that

we should forever cherish. But what is the present day situation of the families? Is is still

towards the Kingdom of God?

I. Chapter 1: In the Light of the Word

II. Chapter 2: The Experiences and Challenges of Families

III. Chapter 3: Looking to Jesus: The Vocation of the Family

IV. Chapter 4: Love in Marriage

V. Chapter 5: Love Made Fruitful

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Chapter 1: In the Light of the Word

In this chapter, In the Light of the Word, Pope Francis talks and reflects about the Holy

Scriptures regarding the families. According to him, the Holy Bible is full of families, births,

love stories, and family crises. He wants us to meditate and think of the significance of having a

family. He tells us that family is important to us. He wants us to realize that family is not an

abstract ideal but rather like a practical “trade”. Hence, the Word of God “is not a series of

abstract ideas but rather a source of comfort and companionship for every family that

experiences difficulties or suffering. For it shows them the goal of their journey...” (AL 22).

Of all the scripture that Pope Francis have stated in his encyclical, this scripture from Psalms

struck me most and has a special meaning to me. “Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who

walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands; you shall be happy, and it

shall go well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children

will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.

The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!

May you see your children’s children! Peace be upon Israel!” (Psalms 128:1-6).

This scripture may be simple but it has a very big meaning to me. It is just a short scripture

but it reminds us of our obligation as individuals and as members of a family. It tells us how we,

and our family should live. It reminds me that we have to live the life that Jesus wanted us to

live. It reminds me that we should live in accordance of God’s will and the scriptures. We should

live a morally upright life. As said in the scripture: “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who

walks in his ways”, We have to follow the path which Jesus Christ, son of God, has taken. We
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have to walk in his ways. We have to imitate what Jesus Christ did during his time here on Earth.

We have to be like Christ in our own simple ways. We must lead each member of the family to

the Kingdom of God in Heaven.

Another important meaning that this scripture wanted to tell us is about the value of labor.

When Adam and Eve committed a sin, back then, work became its consequences. Before, they

lived in a garden full of graces from God. Everything that they need in order to survive are

already in the garden. But when they dreamed of being like God, even though they are made in

the image and likeness of God, they fell into sin and they have to face all the consequences. And

one of the consequences is work. From then on, humans have to work and earn for their living.

We have to work in order to survive. And in the lives of families, work has a very important role.

It sustains the family. Work provides all the things we need to survive.

It also tells us the importance of our families. The "vine" is an symbol mainly of fruitfulness,

but may be also of dependence. As needing support; the "olive", is a symbol of vigorous,

healthy, joyous life. In the family, the father is the foundation and the mother supports the

foundation. A family will not be fruitful without a mother, because we all know that it is their

responsibility to shape and mold each and everyone in the family. And a family will not be

joyous, or happy, if there will be no children. It is because the children are essential to the

family. They are the reason why the parents work hard. A family will not be healthy and joyous

without children because, in them, you will see how your family have gone through. In them you

will see, if your family lives a life in accordance with God. A family will never be complete

without one missing.

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I’m so lucky and blessed for having my family. I will forever be grateful to God for giving me

a great family like them. I don’t have to ask for more because everything that I’ve been looking

for a family they already have it. They may not be perfect, but for me, they are the best. We’ve

been together for so long. We have been together through ups and downs and I’m proud to say

that here we are standing up! It simply means that, in my sixteen years of existence, we have

successfully surpassed all our trials in our family life. And it will not successful without God.

Four years back, my family has been through a great test. Our family was tested how strong

we are. My father before had an affair with another woman. There were no days that they were

not fighting. We’ve been like this for almost two consecutive years. And after this, my father

decided to go abroad with the help of my uncle. I thought my family has already forgotten God

by that time. But before he left my mother gave him a rosary, novena pamphlet, and a keychain

with the image of God. I was very hopeful because I know that our family was still holding on to

God. I thought that my family already gave up, but I was wrong. Although it is for our good, we

felt so sad when he left. Our uncle told us that, it good for both of us, because maybe it is the

only way for him to change. It might be the way that for my father to to realize the importance of

our family. It is really a challenge for him because he will be working and living in an Islamic

country, Saudi Arabia. Almost two years have passed and our only communication is only

through phone calls. We don’t know his situation in his work. We don’t even know if he’s living

in a decent place, if he’s safe in his environment. For all those years that he wasn't with us, all

I’ve been praying to God is our family’s safety and I always pray to him to change my father. Let

him realize our importance. Two years have passed and he came back from Saudi Arabia. We

were all so excited to see him. We are all so excited to see him change. And that moment we saw

him I can saw that he changed. I know and I can feel that he’s better now. After few months, we

have seen a lot of improvements. He wasn’t violent anymore. He spent all his time for us and he
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gave value to every seconds that we were all together. He don’t drink and smoke. Our family is

better now, we live happily and more peacefully. He has really changed and I thank God for it.

Without God, it will not be possible for my family to be complete and be one again.

Chapter 2: Experiences and Challenges of Families

In the second chapter the Pope talked about the current situation of families. Families, as

we all know, face and experience a lot of challenges and circumstances. According to him,

families face many challenges, from migration to the ideological denial of differences between

the sexes, from the culture of the provisional to the anti-birth mentality and the impact of

biotechnology in the field of procreation; from the lack of housing and work to pornography and

abuse of minors; from inattention to persons with disabilities, to lack of respect for the elderly;

from the legal dismantling of the family, to violence against women. In ​Familiaris Consortio,​ he

states that we do well to focus on concrete realities, since the call and the demands of the Spirit

resound in the events of history, and through these the Church can also be guided to a more

profound understanding of the inexhaustible mystery of marriage and the family. But if we fail to

listen and see the reality, we will not be able to understand the need of the present of the spirit.

He also talked about individualism which makes it difficult for us today to give ourselves to

others. We only think of our own good and and we don’t care about the people around us. We

need to see and face the reality and we must no be fooled in the present day ideologies.

According to Pope Francis’ (Amoris Laetitia):

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We also need to be humble and realistic, acknowledging that at times the way we present

our Christian beliefs and treat other people has helped contribute to today’s problematic

situation. We need a healthy dose of self-criticism. Then too, we often present marriage

in such a way that its unitive meaning, its call to grow in love and its ideal of mutual

assistance are overshadowed by an almost exclusive insistence on the duty of procreation.

Nor have we always provided solid guidance to young married couples, understanding

their timetables, their way of thinking and their concrete concerns. At times we have also

proposed a far too abstract and almost artificial theological ideal of marriage, far removed

from the concrete situations and practical possibilities of real families. This excessive

idealization, especially when we have failed to inspire trust in God’s grace, has not

helped to make marriage more desirable and attractive, but quite the opposite.

We can encourage our families and friends to have an openness to grace in many ways that

we can. One of the best way that we can is by talking to them and conversing with them. We can

use the relationship and connection that we have with them in order for them to realize. We have

to know their sides first before we give advice to them. We need to know what the root cause of

the situation because if not, we might give the wrong advice. After knowing the root of the

situation, then we think and we can give a good advice but we need to give advice with the

guidance of the Holy Spirit

People nowadays present Wrong beliefs and teachings can lead to a big disaster and this is

what Pope Francis also wants to address in this chapter. The humility of realism helps us to avoid
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presenting “a far too abstract and almost artificial theological ideal of marriage, far removed

from the concrete situations and practical possibilities of real families”. Idealism does not allow

marriage to be understood for what it is, that is, a “dynamic path to personal development and

fulfilment”. It is unrealistic to think that families can sustain themselves “simply by stressing

doctrinal, ethical and moral issues, without encouraging openness to grace”. Calling for a certain

“self-criticism” of approaches that are inadequate for the experience of marriage and the family,

the Pope stresses the need to make room for the formation of the conscience of the faithful: “We

have been called to form consciences, not to replace them”. Jesus proposed a demanding ideal

but “never failed to show compassion and closeness to the frailty of individuals like the

Samaritan woman or the woman caught in adultery”.

The Pope insists on concreteness, which is a key concept in the Exhortation. And it is

concreteness, realism and daily life that make up the substantial difference between acceptable

“theories” of interpretation of reality and arbitrary “ideologies.”

Pope Francis also pointed to the various symptoms of a “culture of the ephemeral” (AL 39)

like love can connect and disconnect, obsession with free time, loneliness, everything is

disposable, and narcissism. And today, I can see this symptoms in some people today. Like for

example love. Love is so complicated nowadays. And it can really affect the connection of

people. It can disconnect, because love can be the root of some conflict nowadays. Very far from

the reality that love connects people. Another symptom, is obsession with free time. And this is

what I can see in our class today. We are so obsessed with free time. We want more free time
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and we just spend it with nonsense things. We give more value to non sense things rather than

studying. Another symptom is loneliness, and almost a lot of people experience this symptom of

ephemeral culture and this can be seen anywhere. Another symptom that is visible today is that

everything is disposable. We don’t give value to the things we have today. We always want to

change things from time to time which is very sad. These symptoms can really affect the parish

community today. Because of all these things, we isolate ourselves from the community.

Because of these symptoms the parish communities which is supposed to be one and united, are

now separate.

Chapter 3: Looking to Jesus: The Vocation of the Family

The mystery of the Christian family can be fully understood only in the light of our Father’s

infinite love revealed in Christ. The son who gave and offered his own life for the salvation of

all. And He, who continues to dwell in our midst everyday in our lives. This chapter, The

Vocation to Family, summarizes the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage and family. Pope

Francis mentioned in this chapter what the Synod Fathers said about about the light offered by

our faith in God. It also stresses the themes of indissolubility, the sacramental nature of marriage,

the transmission of life, and also the education of children. It also provides a broad view on the

imperfect things. He also talked about the wounded

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A lot of people today rejected marriage as evil and contrary to those who rejected it, the New

Testament teaches that everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected (1 Tim

4:4). Marriage is created by God therefore it is good for everyone and we must not reject it. It is

a gift from the Lord (1 Cor 7:7) and so, we have to give value and importance to it.

According to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, the sacrament of marriage is not a social

convention. It is not an empty ritual or merely a sign of commitment. The sacrament is a gift

given for the sanctification and salvation of the spouses. Spouses are mutual belongings which is

a real representation, through sacramental sign, of the same relationship between Christ and us,

the church. Married couples reminds everyone of what took place in the cross. They are

witnesses of salvation in which they share through the sacrament. The sacrament of Matrimony

is a vocation because it is a response to God’s call for us to experience conjugal love as an

imperfect sign of the love Christ and the church.

Most of the families today live out their life differently from their vocation. It is not just

called to procreate but spread love, and continue the life that Christ wanted us to to have. It is

their vocation to spread their love and love of God through teaching and preaching the others

most especially to their children. They have to share the message of salvation to everyone since

they are witnesses of Christ’s Paschal Mystery. Couples are supposed to continue their lives in

Christ after the Sacrament of Matrimony. But today, it is not practiced anymore. They only

respond to the call for procreation. After marriage, they become more busy with some other

things and sometimes they already forget God. They don’t share their love and the love of God to
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the others. There are also some who don’t share their love to the fruit of their love, their children.

They don’t continue the life that Jesus Christ wanted them to live. They don’t give value to the

real meaning of the Sacrament of Matrimony. They only view it as a process in order for them to

be called legal. They don’t realize that it is a sacrament and a sacrament is Holy. As I have said,

it is a gift of God that we should never ever reject. It seems like today, most of the people don’t

know the real meaning of the Sacrament of Matrimony and they don’t know the essence of this

sacrament.

As a community we can seek God’s grace in many ways that we can. One simple way is

doing good. It is not hard to do good to others in just simple ways we can already be good to

other. Helping the poor and needy, as simple as giving food to them, in itself is already an act of

kindness. And God is fair and just to his people, if you will do good to others he will return it

back to you. He will give you what you deserve.

Another way that we can seek God’s grace is through our loving care to our neighbors.

Neighbors includes all the people around you. It is basically just us! We are your neighbors and

you are my neighbors. We need to take good care of the others too not just only of ourselves. We

should care for them the way God cares for them. We need to make them feel the presence of

God in us. We need to make them feel the love and care of our God. Like what the greatest

commandment of God is telling us, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself”. It is our duty as

brothers and sisters in Christ to protect and take loving care of each other. And when we do this,

we will receive graces from our loving and caring God.

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Another way for us Christians to seek for God’s grace is through community service.

Communities include the school, organizations, and most especially the society. We can serve

the community in so many simple way. Like for example in Church, we can serve the church by

helping in the mass like what the altar servers do. And when you do serve your community, then

you're investing your life in heaven.

through community prayers. Prayer is a powerful way we can connect to God and I think it is

the best way we can seek God’s grace. God is everywhere we are and he is a merciful God. He

never failed to hear our prayers. He will hear our prayers and will give time for it. He will never

answer no, unless it is not his plan for us. He will give us what we deserve and he will give us

what is good for us.

I consider my family a domestic church because my family practices and experiences

communion with other families. Like for example, I am a scholar of the Church and every month

we have to attend meeting where we are also shaped spiritually. We have some talks and we are

asked to reflect on some scriptures. We commune with other people together we reflect on the

mysteries of the Holy Spirit. And as a domestic church, we care for the others. We talk, guide,

and help each other towards the good.

Chapter 4: Love in Marriage

The fourth chapter treats love in marriage. Everything that is stated and written in the first

three chapters is insufficient to express the real and true meaning of marriage and the family. We

cannot encourage a path of loyalty and self giving without encouraging growth, strengthening
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and deepening of our conjugal and family love. “Even if I have faith so as to remove mountains,

but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but

have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:2-3). The word love is commonly used but often

misused today.

This chapter is introduced by a Bible verse explaining the deep and real meaning of love. This

Bible verse is from the the book of Corinthian, and is written by St Paul;

“Love is patient, love is kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude.

Love does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at

wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,

endures all things” (1 Cor 13:4-7).

This Bible verse is a collection of brief passages carefully and tenderly describing the humane

love in absolute concrete terms. It explains the whole though of what human love really is. Love

is experienced and nurtured in the daily life of couples and their children. It is helpful to think

more deeply about the meaning of this Pauline text and its relevance for the concrete situation of

every family.

The first word used is patient. It refers, to the quality of one who does not act on impulse and

avoids giving offense. Being patient does not mean letting ourselves be constantly mistreated,

tolerating physical aggression or allowing other people to use us. We encounter problems

whenever we think that relationships or people ought to be perfect, or when we put ourselves at

the centre and expect things to turn out our way. Then everything makes us impatient, everything
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makes us react aggressively. Unless we cultivate patience, we will always find excuses for

responding angrily. We will end up incapable of living together, antisocial, unable to control our

impulses, and our families will become battlegrounds. Couples need to be patient in order to

avoid conflicts in the family.

The next word that Paul used to explain what is love, is kind. It should be understood along

the lines of the Hebrew verb “to love”; it is “to do good”. As Saint Ignatius of Loyola said,

“Love is shown more by deeds than by words”. So meaning to say, couples must do good. Like

what I’ve said above. After the sacrament of Matrimony, we still need to live the life that Christ

wanted us.

The next statement into which couples can reflect on and apply to their lives is that love is

not boastful. It is important for us Christians to show our love by the way we treat family

members who are less knowledgeable about the faith, weak or less sure in their convictions. At

times the opposite occurs: the supposedly mature believers within the family become unbearably

arrogant. Love, on the other hand, is marked by humility. If we are to understand, forgive and

serve others from the heart, our pride has to be healed and our humility must increase.

We are all just mere humans and we can never be perfect as God is. It is normal for couples

to experience struggles and hardships after marriage because both of them have their own flaws

and they have to accept it. They have to accept the fact that it is really part of the family life so

all they can do is face it and never fear it. God is always with us no matter what happens so we

just have to allow him to control our lives.

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The love of friendship unifies all aspects of marital life and helps family members to grow

constantly. This love must be freely and generously expressed in words and acts. In the family,

The love of friendship unifies all aspects of marital life and helps family members to grow

constantly. This love must be freely and generously expressed in words and acts. In the family,

“three words need to be used. I want to repeat this! Three words: ‘Please’, ‘Thank you’, ‘Sorry’.

Three essential words!”. These words are really important to the family. This is important for the

families because it is what keeps peace and order in the family.

In our family, we make use of these three words. Whenever we ask a favor we say please.

Whenever we receive something or we receive help from the other member we give thanks to

that member. And whenever we hurt one of the members, we say sorry. We use this most of the

time but sometimes, we use our own special way to say these three words. We show and we

make him/her feel that we’re sorry, thankful and please.

Many people who are unmarried and they are not devoted to their own family. They often

render great service in their friends, in the Church community and in their professional lives.

Sometimes their presence and contributions are overlooked, causing in them a sense of isolation.

Many put their talents at the service of the Christian community through charity and volunteer

work. Others remain unmarried because they consecrate their lives to the love of Christ and

neighbour. Their dedication greatly enriches the family, the Church and society. The Church

only need to respect them and they must not be judged. We should just let them live their lives

the way they wanted it to be. And it is more than simply being unmarried because they are not

dedicated to love someone but rather they are dedicated to help everyone.
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Chapter 5: Love Made Fruitful

The fifth chapter is focused on love’s fruitfulness and procreation. It is all about welcoming

new life in Christ, about the waiting period of pregnancy, and also about the love of mothers and

fathers. This chapter also talks about the fruitfulness of adoption, welcoming the contribution of

families to promote a “culture of encounter, and of family life in a broad sense which includes

aunts and uncles, cousins, relatives of relatives, friends. It deals with the roles of sons and

daughters and reaching out to the wider family such as brothers and sisters, grandparents and

other elderly family members, in-laws and other relatives, as well as out into the broader

community of friends and neighbors. ​Amoris Laetitia​ does not focus on the so-called “nuclear”

family” because it is very aware of the family as a wider network of many relationships. The

spirituality of the sacrament of marriage has a deeply social character. And within this social

dimension the Pope particularly emphasises the specific role of the relationship between youth

and the elderly, as well as the relationship between brothers and sisters as a training ground for

relating with others.

Our family has so many ways nurturing the fruitfulness of love within us. Like for example

we spend time with each other. For me, spending time with my family nurture our love with each

others. It binds us more tighter and stronger. Through it we develop a good connection and

relation with each other in order to avoid conflicts between each members. When we spend time

together, we are able to determine all our limitations so we can adjusts and we can avoid

struggles. Whenever we are together, we get to know more each other. Yes we’ve been through
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many years but years will pass by and anyone might change so we have to spend time with each

other and know and observe what changes are happening and we have to adapt to these changes.

Another way my family nurtures the fruitfulness of love is through having strong faith in

God. God is the defender of my family and we really and truly believe in him and his existence.

We may not be showy when it comes to our faith, but deep inside our hearts is the heart of a real

Christian. Some people don’t even notice it but we know deep inside our heart is God dwelling

with us every second, every hour and everyday. He is the reason why our family is so fruitful

today. And because of all these my family lives peacefully and happily.

. The nuclear family needs to interact with the wider family made up of parents, aunts and

uncles, cousins and even neighbours. This greater family may have members who require

assistance, or at least companionship and affection, or consolation amid suffering. My family has

a bigger role in the wider family. We help whenever someone needs us most especially to the

elderlies in our family. My nuclear family might be small, but it has a big importance. We don’t

need to be part of the bigger group because we can reach out to the community in simple ways

that we can.

In our family, we have elderlies. There are four elderlies in our family, two grandmothers and

two grandfathers. But they never feared that they will be forgotten someday. They know that we

love them so much and that we will never ever forget them. And we show them that we love

them so much through giving time to them, respecting them, and being patient to them. We

always spend time with our “lolos and lolas“. I may not have thanked them for all the good they

brought to my life but I let them feel it. I am a shy type person but I express my words through
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my actions. We have to give time and value the elderly in the family. In our parish they have

programs that involves the elderly like for example in the church they can be lectors and

commentators. Through it they develop their own skills and they can be part of the bigger

community

Works Cited:

Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis, 10 March 2016, Living Faith, Vatican

Holy Bible