Cayaban, Anne Marie L.

3AR3

We live a life full of choices which we must decide on keeping our basic principles in mind and
in heart. Based on the passage from Luke 10:1-24, we are all called to live a life of service for
our church and in our world by worshipping God, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, and
serving one another and the Church. As a Catholic, we all have the choice which vocation to live
with. There’s consecrated celibacy wherein people choose to serve God and the Church fully
through the life of priesthood. Then, there’s also single blessedness wherein people choose to
live life independently yet still serving God and the Church without commitment to the
monastery or seminary. Lastly, there’s also the married life where a couple chooses to start a
family and live life according to the good news.

Marriage is sacred because it is a mission imparted by God to bear the true meaning of
marriage and the fruitfulness of family life. The man and the woman are given the responsibility
to take care of their children, because the future of the Church and the society depends on
them.

It is a known fact that ​the family is the first and vital cell of society. ​The family is considered
as a social institution because it binds people together and affects so much the quality of our
society. The future of the society lies on each and every family which is why having a family is
one of the most important gifts one could ever receive.

As taken from the encyclical ​Amoris Laetitia,​ “The Joy of Love experienced by families is also
the joy of the Church. As the Synod Fathers noted, for all the many signs of crisis in the
institution of marriage, “the desire to marry and form a family remains vibrant, especially among
young people, and this is an inspiration to the Church”.” Since a family plays a vital role in the
society, they have to have their own principles and/or virtues. These virtues must be in line with
the Church’s teachings to ensure that they will contribute to society in a good way.

The family is considered as the domestic church because everything starts from a family. All the
basic knowledge about life is imparted within the family. The Bible also presents the family as
the best ground for discipleship, sanctification, and holiness and; the place where children are
brought up in the faith. According to​ Amoris Laetitia​, “the Bible is full of families, births, love
stories and family crises. This is true from its very first page, with the appearance of Adam and
Eve’s family with all its burden of violence but also its enduring strength (cf. Gen 4) to its very
last page, where we behold the wedding feast of the Bride and the Lamb (Rev 21:2, 9).” A
family is the smallest body of the Church and society and through a family one would
understand the meaning of life and hear the message God wishes to communicate through the
life of our families.