VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Through the sacrament of matrimony, married couples are called to be living icons of God’s love in the world, Pope Francis said; and when they fight – and all couples do – they don’t have “to call the United Nations” but find simple words and gestures to say they are sorry.

Concluding a series of talks about the sacraments, Pope Francis used his general audience to focus on marriage, and he asked the estimated 45,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray for the world’s families, especially for couples experiencing difficulty.

The sacrament of marriage, he said, “leads us to the heart of God’s plan, which is a plan of covenant with His people and with all of us.”

“We were created for love as a reflection of God and his love,” the pope said. “In the conjugal union, a man and a woman fulfill this vocation under the sign of reciprocity and a full and definitive communion of life.”

Marriage is a response to a specific vocation and “must be considered a consecration,” he said.