Family Church
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The Church and the contemporary world is wondering, now more than ever, about God's plan for family. While on the one hand emerge some great values \u200b\u200bthat show the presence of God, as the growth of freedom and responsibility in parenthood and education, the legitimate aspiration of women to equality of rights and duties with men 's opening the dialogue to the whole human family, the estimate of authentic personal relations ... on the other we note increasing difficulty, as the degradation of sexuality, the materialistic and hedonistic vision of life, the permissive attitude of parents, the weakening of family ties and communication between generations.
God's plan
The characteristics of the family described in the passages of the Old Testament were: peace, abundance of material goods, harmony and numerous descendants: signs of the Lord's blessing, the Basic Law obedience was tempered love, this obedience was not only a sign and guarantee of blessing and prosperity for their children, but also a way to honor God in their parents (First Reading). In this type of household, Christianity has led a steady passing itself in view of the Kingdom: St. Paul's claim to the spouses and children to live their Christian family life as if they were already in the family of our heavenly Father in obedience of faith like Abraham and s. John reminds us that a child of God the Father has given us (second reading).
The Gospel, presenting the experience of Christ entering into the fabric of a human family concrete, paints a realistic picture of the vicissitudes to which life is a matter of a family. In family is not all romance, peace, serenity, it passes through the suffering and difficulties of exile and persecution through the crisis for the job, separation, emigration, separation of parents. In the Holy Family, as in any family, there are joys and sorrows, from birth to childhood, adulthood, mature in its happy and sad events for each of its members. The time at which the road divides children from their parents is one of the most important and decisive in the history of the family. After the finding in the temple, Mary and Joseph are silent, do not raise objections to the choice of Jesus sense that it is a choice that seems to exclude them from the life of their only child, a choice full of tears, but accept it, because that is a will God
The mission of the Church The Church
participate in the joys and consolations, as well as the suffering and difficulties of family life today: comforts and encourages families who consciously strive to live according to the Gospel, bearing witness to the fruits of the Spirit, respect and welcomes elements of each culture, to ensure their harmony with God's plan for marriage and family is committed to raising the conditions of those families living in poverty, while an abundance of riches in the world around; proclaims forcefully against the violence of society has the rights to religious freedom, to responsible procreation and education, working actively to solve the serious social, economic and demographic factors that weigh on the family, to proclaim the fundamental vocation of man to participate in the life and love of God the Father. The family is the basic unit of society and the Church. God has created in his image (Gen 1:26) and gave man the responsibility to grow and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28). This design comes true when a man and woman are intimately united in love for the service of life, thus sharing the creative power of God and the redemptive love of Christ. For a family open
This plan of God calls every day the couple has to live the "newness" of love, through conversion has of heart and holiness of life, marked by the suffering of the cross and the resurrection hope. The response to God's plan commits the family to carry out its tasks which are in today's world: education for freedom, a strong sense of morality, faith and the authentic human and Christian values. It is primarily entrusted with the task of evangelization and catechesis, and in the wider social community, it bears witness to the Gospel values, promote social justice, helping the poor and oppressed.
The Christian family can implement this if it is persevering in prayer and liturgy that are sources of grace.
The example of Nazareth
From "sermon by Paul VI, Pope (Speech at Nazareth, 5 January 1964)
House of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus, that is the school of the Gospel. Here you will learn to observe, to listen, to ponder and to penetrate so deep and mysterious meaning of this manifestation of the Son of God as simple, humble and beautiful. Perhaps we learn, almost without realizing it, to imitate.
Here we learn the method that will allow us to know who is the Christ. Here we find the need to observe the framework of his stay among us: that is, the places, times, customs, language, religious rites, in short, everything that that Jesus uses to occur in the world.
Everything here has a voice, everything has a meaning. Here, in this school, of course we understand why we need to keep a spiritual discipline, if we follow the doctrine of the gospel and become disciples of Christ. Oh! as we would gladly go back and put children in this humble and sublime school of Nazareth! How earnestly desire to start, next to Mary, to learn the true science of life and superior wisdom of divine things! But we are not passing and that we must lay the desire to continue to hear in this house, never completed the training to the intelligence of the Gospel. However we will not leave this place without collected, almost furtively, a few brief warnings from the house of Nazareth.
First, it teaches us silence. Oh! reborn in us if the estimate of silence, wonderful atmosphere and spirit is essential: while we are stunned by so many noises, noises and voices in noisy frantic and tumultuous life of our time. Oh! silence of Nazareth teach us to be still in good thoughts, intentions in the interior life, ready to understand clearly the secret inspiration of God and the exhortations of the true masters. Teach us what is important and necessary work of preparation, study, meditation, the inner life, prayer, that God alone sees in secret.
Here we understand the way of family life. Nazareth reminds us of what family, what the communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, its sacred and inviolable character, let us see how sweet and irreplaceable education in the family, we teach her natural function in the social order. Finally we learn the lesson of the work. Oh! home of Nazareth, Son of the carpenter's house! Here especially we wish to understand and celebrate the law, but some redeeming severe fatigue human here ennoble the dignity of work so that it is felt by all, remember that the work under this roof is not an end in itself, but receives his freedom and excellence, not only by what is called economic value, but also what it is about to noble purpose, then we are here to greet the workers around the world and show them the great model, their divine brother, the prophet of all the just causes that concern them, that Christ our Lord.
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