# Prayer for the Family by Pope John Paul II
*2015-03-05*

> Bill Young shares Pope John Paul II’s beautiful “Prayer for the Family,” asking God to bless families with love, grace, and the intercession of the Holy Family.

## Opening

Good afternoon, I’m Bill Young. Today I’m sharing a prayer composed by Pope John Paul II for families. Before we begin, I want to thank the more than 2,100 followers of the Prayer and Lunch Twitter account. A recent trending challenge asks us to give encouragement in three words, so I’ll tweet, “God loves me.”

## The Prayer for the Family

God, from whom all eternity in heaven and earth proceeds, Father, you who are love and life, grant that every human family on earth may become, through your Son Jesus Christ, born of a woman and through the Holy Spirit, a source of divine mercy, a true sanctity of life and love, for generations that continually renew themselves. May your grace guide the thoughts and works of married couples toward the good of their families and of all families of the world. May the new generations find in the family a strong support for their humanity and for growth in truth and love. May love, strengthened by the grace of the sacrament of matrimony, be stronger than every weakness and every crisis that families may experience. Finally, we ask you to grant the intercession of the Holy Family of Nazareth, that the Church, in the midst of all the nations of the earth, may faithfully fulfill her mission in the family by means of the family. Through Christ our Lord, the way, the truth.

## Reflection

Pope John Paul II reminds us that families are the domestic Church{—}the first place where we encounter God’s love. By invoking the Holy Family, we ask for their example of humility, obedience, and mutual love to shape our own homes. The prayer calls us to rely on the grace of the sacrament of matrimony, recognizing that even in times of crisis, divine assistance can sustain us.

## Closing Thought

May the Holy Family’s intercession strengthen families worldwide, allowing them to be true signs of God’s love in every generation.

*May the Holy Family’s intercession strengthen families worldwide.*