Family life is full of major and minor crises — the ups and downs
of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce — and
all kinds of characters. It is tied to places and events and histories.
With all of these felt details, life etches itself into memory and
personality. It’s difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the
soul. — Thomas Moore
As the composition of marriage and families continue to change in the
twenty-first century, we are reminded of the call from the second
Vatican Council:
"The Council further recognized the dignity of marriage by declaring that families
were genuinely “Church.” The Council restored the ancient concept of “domestic church” as
it declared: “In what might be regarded as the domestic church, the parents are to be the
first preachers of the faith for their children by word and example” (Dogmatic Constitution
on the Church, Lumen Gentium, #11).
The early Church began in house churches, where families were the heart
of
the communities and from which ministers were first called
to use their personal gifts
to serve the needs of the larger community. The family is
the most intimate experience
of Church, the place where love, forgiveness and trust
should first be encountered. This
is the family Church, whose members are called to embody
Christ in everyday life.
(http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/VAT/aq1004.asp)"
What has been your experience of the 'domestic church'? Based on what
you've experienced in your own life or seen on television/films, what are some pros/cons of
the changing structure and composition of marriage and family? Finally,
some good news- a study of marriage and college degree done by the Pew
Trust in 2010 suggested that those with a college degree are less likely
to experience divorce and multiple marriages than those without a
college degree. Read more here .
What does that mean for you? Do you feel compelled to someday establish the domestic church in your home?
