October 05, 2003
The Importance of the Family
Spurred on by Jay's most recent article, I wanted to comment on the role and importance of the family in our modern society.
As a cradle Catholic, I believe that the family is the foundation. Don't get me wrong, ultimately Christ is the foundation of all our lives, but we have to experience Christ and learn of Christ somewhere and, by natural design, God has chosen that somewhere to be within the family. Now some of us do not experience Jesus within our homes and that is certainly a misfortune. But if that experience of Christ came from the outside, meaning through a friend, a book, a professor, a priest, or a relative I guarantee you will find a strong Catholic family behind them.
Think of Jesus' own life, He spent 30 years within the family and then only 3 years in public ministry. Why? Wouldn't it have been better for the world if Jesus had spent most of His time busily saving souls? Wouldn't it have been better if He had traveled the world preaching? Obviously, Jesus wasn't just wasting time. I believe He was teaching us a valuable lesson, that the ordinary is the extraordinary, that grace is found in our everyday lives, that love is learned in the home, and that character and virtue are strengthened within the family.
Every aspect of Jesus' life was in perfect accord with the Will of His Heavenly Father and was a part of the great sacrifice of Christ's life for us. It is in the little things that we can change the world, it is in uniting our little joys and sufferings of each day with Christ's joys and sufferings that our lives take on a salvific nature. Yet this is not easy. St. Therese of Lisieux, the great advocate of the "Little Way" wrote:
I am a very little soul who can offer only very little things to the good God; yet, it often happens that these little sacrifices which give such peace to the heart, escape me; but that does not discourage me, I bear with having a little less peace and I try to be more watchful another time.
This was the case for most of the saints...the daily struggle for perfection. Yet they understood where perfection was to be found, they understood where the opportunity would arise. It is in the everyday events that we find that opportunity. So it is important for us to look for those opportunities each day, especially within our families.
St. Paul in Ephesians 5:21 - 6:4, explains the inter-relationship within the family. It is worth reading over and over again. It helps all of us to understand our obligation of love within the family. The parallels between Christ and the Church and the husband and wife are not merely by chance. This is the great mystery...Trinitarian Love. Yet, maybe I should save that for another article.
Let me close with this, the times we live in are dark and dangerous, mainly because is it is easy to forget that the times are dark and dangerous. We must be on our guard, but more importantly we must attack the darkness. We most successfully do this by being beacons of Light and Truth, by imitating Christ. St. Paul lays out for us, married couples, how we achieve that. Spend some time today reading over this passage of Sacred Scripture. Ask Jesus to give you the wisdom, the grace, and the love to live your life worthy of His call. Amen.
Joe
Posted by Joe at October 5, 2003 09:22 AM | TrackBack |
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Well said brother. Are you sure you shouldn't be writing a book or teaching a class? I think the answer to all our societal problems lies in a return to the traditional Christian home so lacking in today's world. I also believe as Catholic families trying to be the beacon of light to the world, we need to befriend other families with similar beliefs. We need to support one another and encourage one another, taking hope and comfort in the fact that we are not alone. We may be the minority, but we are strong!
