In a heartfelt exchange published this month in Piazza San Pietro Magazine, Pope Leo XIV offered words of encouragement to a mother seeking guidance on how to live her faith more fully amid the challenges of daily family life.
The letters were featured in the magazine’s column of personal papal correspondence, an initiative begun under Pope Francis, where the pope replies directly to letters from readers.
The woman, Laura, wrote candidly about her efforts to raise her three daughters alongside her husband.
“I have a husband who loves me deeply, whose love I try to reciprocate every day… and I am the mother of three wonderful daughters whom I try to nourish with prayer and the word of the Gospel every day,” she wrote.
She expressed gratitude for Pope Leo’s “sweet words” during the Jubilee of Families, and she described the family as “the hearth where faith is born, grows, and matures.”
At the same time, she acknowledged the difficulty of remaining attentive to grace in a busy life.
“My chaotic life, my hectic pace, do not help me admire the Grace that surrounds me,” she wrote to the Holy Father. “I pray every day that the Lord will enlighten me, that I may be a guide for my girls, and I ask myself how the Virgin Mary raised the Lord.”
Laura asked how to remain patient in moments of struggle, referencing the Gospel account of Mary and Joseph losing the child Jesus in the temple. She said that she is experiencing a period in which her faith is stronger than ever.
“But perhaps, precisely for this reason, I feel temptations taking over,” she wrote. “Does this mean that my faith isn’t really that strong? Is it uncertain? Not solid enough to avoid intrusions?”
In his responding letter, Pope Leo affirmed the sincerity of her faith and the value of her honest reflection.
“Your enthusiasm of faith and the truth of your heart, which you describe without concealing the difficulties and risks, are a blessing for you and your family,” he wrote. “Take care of this spiritual treasure of yours, which will always be protected by God’s love.”
Reflecting on her experience, the Pope acknowledged how temptations can appear most strongly when one is striving to live with faith and gratitude.
“What should we do when faced with the temptations that sometimes arise precisely when we live with greater gratitude and coherence, the strength of the grace of the Father who gives life, of the Son who receives it, and of the Holy Spirit who shares it?” he wrote.
He then pointed back to his words at the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly, celebrated June 1, when he encouraged believers to enter “full of wonder and trust, into the prayer of Jesus” and recall Christ’s desire “that we all be ‘one’” (John 17:21).
Pope Leo also pointed to two connected truths in his message.
“On the one hand, let us not forget that the future of peoples is generated by families,” he wrote. “On the other hand, as I always emphasized on that occasion, I say to you spouses: ‘Marriage is not an ideal but the standard of true love between man and woman: total, faithful, fruitful love.’”
He encouraged Laura to remain rooted in prayer and to look to the Blessed Mother Mary as a guide.
“If your point of reference, dear Laura, is Mary, you will be able to face every uncertainty,” he wrote. “When you turn to her, Our Lady leads you to Christ. Mary’s strength is always new and surprising, because she entrusts herself completely to the Son, the Word incarnate out of Love. And in Him, with Mary, we are all one.”
The Pope also encouraged Laura to share her faith journey with other families, noting the value of doing so in parishes, dioceses, or movements.
“Sharing projects of Christian love is essential for spiritual progress and to collaborate with God’s grace and will,” he wrote.
“I bless you and your family,” the Holy Father concluded his letter. “Thank you for your kind words.”
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Author: Rachel Quackenbush
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