In his apostolic letter Misericordia et misera, on the occasion of the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (21-XI-2016), Pope Francis writes that in the midst of a status like ours, of family crisis, "it is important that a word of great consolation reach our families" (n. 14).

He refers to marriage first and foremost as a gift, as "a great vocation to which, with the grace of Christ, we must correspond with generous, faithful and patient love".

From this is born the immutable beauty of the family, which remains despite numerous shadows and alternative proposals, making the joy of love that is lived in families also the joy of the Church (cf. Amoris laetitia, n. 1).

At the same time - he continues - that path and project of love between a man and a woman is sometimes interrupted by suffering, betrayal and loneliness.

On the other hand, "the joy of parents for the gift of children is not immune to concerns regarding their growth and training, and for them to have a future worthy of being lived with intensity".

What can we do, then, to comfort and help families, whatever their status? What would be, as they say now, our roadmap from now on to achieve this?

Above all, God comes before us to help and strengthen them with the grace of the Sacrament of Matrimony. And so the family can be "a privileged place where mercy is lived". That is, each of the members of the family and the family as a whole are called to receive and experience God's mercy, and to exercise mercy among themselves, with other families and especially with those most in need.

But in addition, Francis assures us, this same grace of God commits all Christians to highlight the value of the proposal and the project of the Christian family.

In saying this, the Pope is not simply trying to exhort us to a theoretical or voluntarist affirmation of the family project . As a fruit of the Year of Mercy, he invites us first to "recognize the complexity of today's family reality". Secondly, "mercy makes us capable of looking at all human difficulties with the attitude of God's love, which never tires of welcoming and accompanying" (cf. Amoris laetitia nn. 291-300).

Note well: it is not we who are easily able neither to recognize this complexity nor to look at it with the attitude of God's love. It is God's initiative, God's mercy upon us, and God's grace that enables us to experience this mercy in ourselves. It is God who can open our eyes to help others. It is God himself who teaches and strengthens us to be able to welcome and accompany families.

In this time of mercy that continues and opens as a fruit of the Year of Mercy, the family must occupy a preferential attention of each and every Christian.