PODCAzT 144: Pope Francis’ ‘Amoris laetitia’, Ch. 4: “Love in marriage”

UPDATE: I fixed the glitch at 24:02-24-22. Sorry about that. It was a lot of reading – with interruptions – and editing together.  If you had an “overlap” in that time range, you can download again or listen again and it should now be okay.

There has been a lot of controversy about the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia, the Joy of Love, as it is being called in English. Most of the controversy surrounds the 8th Chapter. And yet many have pointed out that the Exhortation has some great strengths, among them Chapter 4, entitled “Love in marriage”.

So that you do not know only the controversies, and so that you have really heard what the Holy Father says in Chapter 4 … here it is.

The text I read, as carefully as I can, is as it appears on the Vatican’s website. They may alter or amend it in the future, but here is the text as it stands now.

For the purpose of a smooth reading, a first experience of the chapter, I don’t read footnotes. That would be too ponderous. Also, I won’t quote the inline chapter and verse references to Scripture. You can see both of those when you read the text, which, at the time of this writing, you can download as a PDF from the Vatican’s website HERE.

I hope this will be helpful to you, in whole or in part. I can tell you that it was extremely useful to me. I had read it when it came out – before it came out, but silently, Reading it aloud, and trying to give sense to the black on the white, turned out to be, among other things, an examination of conscience for me.

Therefore, I urge you, not only to listen to this, but to go back and read the document – especially so you can get the notes and references which I left out – but also to use it as a mirror in which you see yourself.

Remember: Amoris laetitia is an exhortation – an urging -an encouraging – from Peter.

We must allow ourselves to grasp what he is saying and then work with it with honesty.

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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4 Comments

  1. ckamas says:

    Hi Fathet

    About 24:02 to 24:22 in the podcast your voice is overlapped with itself.

    Btw, thank you so much for recording this! I have been meaning to text to speech the entire exhortation but it requires a lot of editing before giving it to the computer.

    [THANKS! I fixed that glitch.]

  2. SanSan says:

    Thank you for reading this Father. I loved listening to the beautiful words of Our Holy Mother Church.

    It sounds like it was taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church…..:) it’s all there, as you already know.

  3. jameeka says:

    Thank you Father Z—I enjoyed all the explanations of the Greek words in St Paul’s reading. I agree this would be a good start for engaged couples—I counted the word “commitment” 36 times, which is key. Who wants to commit themselves nowadays? Reminds me of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI when they were inaugurated, saying “Do not be afraid!”

  4. Absit invidia says:

    It sounds like we should approach this document as a sort of meditation?

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