November 24, 2017 The Christian Family:

Original Cell of Social Life

Volume 4, Issue 2

Vocation of the
Christian
Family: Domestic Church
Domestic
Church In our modern world (often hostile to religion), religious families are extremely important center
of living faith. They are domestic churches in which the parents are the first heralds of faith.
(Second Vatican Council)
Sanctuary of life
and faith
The home is the first school of the Christian life where we all learn to love, to forgive and to pray.
Privileged It is in the context of the family that we first learn who God is and to prayerfully seek His will for
Community of us. (Second Vatican Council)
life and love
In what might be regarded as the domestic church, the parents are to be the first preachers of
School of Prayer the faith for their children by word and example. (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen
and Virtues Gentium, #11)

True Center of The family is a place in which the gospel is transmitted and from which it extends. (n. 255;
Evangelization citation from Evangelii nuntiandi, n.71)

These words from the General Directory indicate that the family, if it is to be a true domestic
church, must embody and reflect the essence of the life of the Church overall. And three words
capture that essence: word, sacrament, and mission. (n. 255; citation from Evangelii nuntiandi,
n.71)
Individual
Highlights: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen gentium) declares that parentsare the first
Domestic heralds of the faith with regard to their children. (LG,11)
Church 1
Single persons (often not married by force of circumstances) are close to Jesus heart. Some
Bible Verses 2 are without a human family. Christian families and the Church must open their doors to them.
The Church is a home and family for everyone. (Second Vatican Council)
The Art of a The family is defined as a domestic church, that is, in every Christian family the different
Good Marriage 2 aspects and functions of the life of the entire Church may be reflected: mission, catechesis,
witness, prayer, etc.
Sanctuary of
Life and Faith 3-4 In our ordinary experience, however, we live out our lives in the Church through word,
sacrament, and mission.
Bible Verses 2
The family is the most intimate experience of Church, the place where love, forgiveness, and
trust should be first encountered. This is the family Church whose member are called to embody
Christ in everyday life.

Ideally, a family would regularly read the Bible together, for example, a short selection before
the evening meal. Most often, however, the word is proclaimed much less formally by telling the
story of Jesus and Mary and the saints, as it is embedded and celebrated across the liturgical
year, for example, at Christmas time and in Holy Week.

Despite the informality of family life, parents can appropriately foster their familys contact with
Gods word through the deliberate and regular reminders about the word of God that they offer
to family members. This is the form of their proclamation of the word.

True Love is a sacred
flame that burns
eternally and none can
dim its special glow or
change its destiny.
The Christian Family
Bible Verses
Exodus 20:12 Honor your
father and mother so that you
may live long in the land the
Lord your God is giving you.
Ephesians 5:22-25, 28
Wives, submit to your own
husbands, as to the Lord. For
the husband is the head of the
wife even as Christ is the
head of the church, his body,
and is himself its Savior. Now
as the church submits to
Christ, so also wives should
submit in everything to their
husbandsHusbands, love
your wives, as Christ loved
the church and gave himself
up for herIn the same way
husbands should love their
wives as their own bodies. He
who loves his wife loves
himself.
1 Timothy 5:8 Anyone who
does not provide for their
relatives, and especially for
their own household, has
denied the faith and is worse
than an unbeliever.
Mark 10:6-9 But at the
beginning of creation God
made them male and female.
For this reason, a man will
leave his father and mother
and be united to his wife, and
the two will become one flesh.
So, they are no longer two,
but one flesh. Therefore, what
God has joined together, let
no one separate.
Psalm 103:17-18 But from
everlasting to everlasting, the
Lords love is with those who
fear him, and his
righteousness with their
childrens children with
those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his
precepts.
Proverbs 1:8-9 Listen, my
son, to your fathers
instruction and do not forsake
your mothers teaching. They
are a garland to grace your
head and a chain to adorn
your neck.
Page 2 of 6
Ephesians 6:1-4 Children,
obey your parents in the Lord,
for this is right. Honor your
father and motherwhich is
the first commandment with a
promise so that it may go
well with you and that you
may enjoy long life on the
earth. Fathers, do not
exasperate your children;
instead, bring them up in the
training and instruction of the
Lord.
Joshua 24:15 But if serving
the Lord seems undesirable
to you, then choose for
yourselves this day whom you
will serve, whether the gods
your ancestors served
beyond the Euphrates, or the
gods of the Amorites, in
whose land you are living. But
as for me and my household,
we will serve the Lord.

The Art of a Good Marriage by Wilferd Arlan Peterson

"The little things are the big things. "It is speaking words of appreciation
It is never being too old to hold hands. and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day. It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo
It is never going to sleep angry. or the wife to have wings of an angel.

"It is never taking the other for granted; "It is not looking for perfection in each other.
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, It is cultivating flexibility, patience,
it should continue through all the years. understanding and a sense of humor.

"It is having a mutual sense of values and common
objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole
family.
"It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can
grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

"It is doing things for each other,
not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,
but in the spirit of joy.
"It is establishing a relationship in which the
independence is equal,
dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner,
it is being the right partner."
 Page 3 of 6 Original Cell of Social Life
Sanctuary of Life and Faith
The family is truly the sanctuary of life: the place St. Thomas Aquinas considered the ministry of
in which life the gift of God can be properly parents to their children to be equal to the
welcomed and protected against the many ministry of priests. Within the families, the
attacks to which is exposed, and can develop in parents have a priestly and sacred role, and the
accordance with what constitutes authentic family in turn is both sanctified by and sanctifies
human growth. Consequently, the role of the the Church (cf. Pope John Paul II, The Christian
family in building a culture of life is decisive and Family in the Modern World, nos. 38, 55) Just as
irreplaceable. the priests guard the sanctuary of the Church, so
parent guard the sanctuary of the home.
In The Gospel of Life, Pope John Paull II wrote,
the familyby its nature is called to be the The institution of marriage, one must not forget,
sanctuary of life (no. 11). This means that is not one designed by the will of the parties. The
adults, especially parents, have a mission in the parties enter into the institution by an act of self-
world. donation which certainly requires free will; but
they do not define the institution. The institution
Ephesians 3:14-15 gives is the first key to of marriage, like all of what is entirely dependent
understanding this mission. I bow my knee on God the Creator, the God who is the author
before the Father, from whom every family in of marriage and who endowed it with various
heaven and on earth is named. Scripture says benefits and purposes. (Compendium, No. 230)
that God is the original Family of Persons whose
life is love. He saves is by transforming us into a Every child born to a family is a benefit not only
family, His family. We imitate God, and God to his or her mother, father, brothers or sisters,
intends for us to participate in saving others in the but also to the entire community into which he or
same way He saves us. she is born. The family is the temple where the
flame of life is transmitted. It is a temple
Pope John Paul II continuously stresses the dedicated to the Lord of Life. The family is
importance of the family, even saying, the future naturally ordered to serve what John Paul II has
of the world and the Church passes through the called the Gospel of Life, the Evangelium Vitae.
family (The Christian Family in the Modern
World, no. 75). Fatherhood and motherhood represent a
responsibility which is not simply physical but
The Eucharist is the heart of all the sacraments, spiritual in nature. Through motherhood and
but Marriage is the form. Every sacrament gains fatherhood there passes the genealogy of the
its proper meaning only through a correct person, which has its beginning in God and which
understanding of marriage. Because the graces must lead back to him. (Compendium, No. 237)
of every sacrament come to us through Jesus
Bride, our Mother, the Catholic Church, the Motherhood and fatherhood must be exercised
Church is the source of all Christian faith and the responsibly, with full consideration of a proper
source of life. The Catholic family is essential to hierarchy of values. This means that married
the culture of life. Through the Church and the couples must be open to life. Granted,
sacraments, God enmeshes us in a web of family motherhood and fatherhood are not exercised in
support. He saves us through family precisely a vacuum. In making their decisions, couples are
because He is Family. If we are to live eternally entitled to consider the physical, economic,
with Him, we must understand this familial psychological, and social conditions which they
relationship and restore health and stability to the confront. These present the setting in which
family. responsible parenthood is practiced.
The practice of responsible procreation,
however, must be in conformity with moral law.
Some methods of responsible parenthood are to
be rejected outright, in all times, in all places.
 The Christian Family
Sanctuary of Life and Faith (cont.)
The practice of responsible
procreation, however, must be in
conformity with moral law. Some
methods of responsible
parenthood are to be rejected
outright, in all times, in all places.
Violating them involves violating
exceptionalness moral norms.
Sterilization, abortion, and any
form of artificial contraception are
to be rejected as means of
responsible parenthood. They are
True Love speaks in
intrinsically wrong.
tender tones and hears
with gentle ear.
Pamphlet ends with a description
of marriage as a grand calling, a
dramatic part of existence;
Marriage is not just one choice
among many in a persons life/ it
is not a mere contract with
another person, more or less
lasting, for an exchange of love
and good times.... Catholics hold
that marriage is a vocation, a
call. It is a way of life that offers
continual opportunities to be in
loving service to the other.
Page 4 of 6
Anyone sensitive to a correct and
integral understanding of the
person and of human sexuality
will recognize at once why and
how seriously artificial
contraception offends against the
conjugal act and the natural moral
law.
Responsible parenthood
demands the exercise not of all
options, but only of moral options.
The moral decisions do not only
involve the decision to artificially
avoid conception but also involve
the decision to promote
conception. There is no absolute
right to children, and no desire to
be a mother or a father justifies
immoral means to conceive them.

Inside Story Headline

Examples of possible While your main goal of part of the newsletter and
headlines include Product distributing a newsletter should be considered
Wins Industry Award, New might be to sell your carefully.
Product Can Save You product or service, the key
In a few words, it should
Time, Membership Drive to a successful newsletter
accurately represent the
Exceeds Goals, and New is making it useful to your
contents of the story and
Office Opens Near You. readers.
draw readers into the
One benefit of using your A great way to add useful story. Develop the
True Love gives with newsletter as a content to your newsletter headline before you write
promotional tool is that is to develop and write the story. This way, the
open heart and True
you can reuse content your own articles, or headline will help you
Love conquers fear.
from other marketing include a calendar of keep the story focused.
materials, such as press upcoming events or a
releases, market studies, special offer. Your
and reports. headline is an important
 Page 5 of 6
Inside Story Headline
The purpose of a
newsletter is to provide
specialized information to
a targeted audience.
Newsletters can be a
great way to market your
product or service, and
also can create credibility
and build your
organizations identity
among peers, members,
employees, or vendors.
First, determine the
audience of the
newsletter. This could be
anyone who might benefit
from the information it
contains, for example,
employees or people
interested in purchasing a
product or in requesting
your service.
Inside Story Headline
In a few words, it should
accurately represent the
contents of the story and
draw readers into the
story. Develop the
headline before you write
the story. This way, the
headline will help you keep
the story focused.
Examples of possible
headlines include Product
Wins Industry Award, New
Product Can Save You
Time, Membership Drive
Exceeds Goals, and New
Office Opens Near You.
One benefit of using your
newsletter as a
promotional tool is that you
Original Cell of Social Life
You can compile a mailing source of information.
list from business reply Your customers or
cards, customer employees will look
information sheets, forward to its arrival.
business cards collected
Your headline is an
at trade shows, or
important part of the
membership lists. You
newsletter and should be
might consider purchasing
considered carefully.
a mailing list from a
company.
Next, establish how much
time and money you can
spend on your newsletter.
These factors will help
determine how frequently
you publish your
newsletter and its length.
Its recommended that you
publish your newsletter at
least quarterly so that its
considered a consistent
can reuse content from special offer that promotes
other marketing materials, a new product.
such as press releases,
You can also research
market studies, and
articles or find filler
reports. True Love makes no
articles by accessing the
While your main goal of World Wide Web. You can harsh demands. It
distributing a newsletter write about a variety of neither rules nor binds.
might be to sell your topics, but try to keep your True Love holds with
product or service, the key articles short.
gentle hands the hearts
to a successful newsletter
is making it useful to your that it entwines.
readers.
A great way to add useful
content to this newsletter
is to develop and write
your own articles, or to
include a calendar of
upcoming events or a
 Back Page Story Headline
In a few words, it should
accurately represent the
RESPONSIBLE TEAM #3 contents of the story and
4 MA 2 draw readers into the
story. Develop the
headline before you write
ADRIANO
the story. This way, the
headline will help you
AROJADO
keep the story focused.
BAYAUA Examples of possible
headlines include Product
CASTRO
CHAN Continued Story Headline
While your main goal of
GARCIA distributing a newsletter
might be to sell your
GABIA product or service, the key
to a successful newsletter
LUCAS is making it useful to your
readers.
PITAJEN
Were on the Web!
See us at:
www.adatum.microsoft.com
Wins Industry Award, New
Product Can Save You
Time, Membership Drive
Exceeds Goals, and New
Office Opens Near You.
One benefit of using your
newsletter as a
promotional tool is that
you can reuse content
from other marketing
materials, such as press
A great way to add useful
content to your newsletter
is to develop and write
your own articles, or to
include a calendar of
upcoming events or a
special offer that promotes
a new product.
releases and market
studies.
While your main goal of
distributing a newsletter
might be to sell your
product or service, the key
to a successful newsletter
is making it useful to your
readers.
You can also research
articles or find filler
articles by accessing the
World Wide Web. You can
write about a variety of
topics, but try to keep your
articles short.