MEXICO CITY, JAN. 11, 2009 (Zenit.org).- If values and God’s love were served at every family’s dinner table, the life of humanity would be different, says the composer of the World Meeting of Families theme song.
Words and music from José Cantoral will characterize the environment of next week’s family meeting, to be held in Mexico City, Wednesday through Sunday.
The musician affirmed that the most important inspiration he had for writing the song was the rich experience he has had in his own family.
«My parents and my siblings have been a fundamental element of my formation as a man and [my] growth as a human being,» Cantoral explained. «I am convinced that the strongest bond of humanity lies in what is most intimate and simple in life: the family.
«It is here where good men and women are forged with principles of love, respect and labor, instilled in us from the time we are children.»
The theme song, «Canto a la Familia» (Song to the Family), reflects on the roles played by various members of the family.
«Here I felt the warmth of my first love, [of the woman] who gave everything, and full of hopes, formed my body within her being,» it says of the role of mothers.
And regarding fathers: «Here I heard the voice of a hero […] who taught me to fight and to know God, treating all others with equality, without ever feeling inferior or superior; the one who always preached with his example.»
«These values,» said Cantoral, «are the ones that sustain the social equilibrium of this world, which becomes more difficult with each day. If bread, values and the love for God were never missing from the dinner table, mankind would have a different type of life — far from violence, injustice and so many social problems.»