“When a family is welcoming and reaches out to others, especially the poor and the neglected, it is ‘a symbol, witness and participant in the Church’s motherhood’. Social love, as a reflection of the Trinity, is what truly unifies the spiritual meaning of the family and its mission to others, for it makes present the kerygma in all its communal imperatives. The family lives its spirituality precisely by being at one and the same time a domestic church and a vital cell for transforming the world. [1, 324]” (Pope Francis, The Joy of Love)
CCSJ welcomes Pope Francis’ second Apostolic Exhortation: Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), published on April 8. It is the result, inter alia, of two synods on marriage and the family (2014 and 2015).
Key social justice principles are embedded throughout this important 325 paragraph document. The Church is aware that although “The life of every family is marked by all kinds of crises…these are also part of its dramatic beauty” (232). The Church continues to “promote marriage and the family and to defend them against those who attack them.”
This is an Evangelising document that challenges us to conversion. Last Sunday’s Catholic News focused on some of the issues. There are many topics addressed in the Exhortation e.g. love, marriage, parenting, the family; separated/divorced/ remarried Catholics; same-sex union; social media; the many social issues that beset families such as abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty; and the importance of families as transformers of their communities and the world.
Let’s take Pope Francis’ advice: “I do not recommend a rushed reading of the text. The greatest benefit, for families themselves and for those engaged in the family apostolate, will come if each part is read patiently and carefully, or if attention is paid to the parts dealing with their specific needs” (7).
There is much in the following nine chapters on which we should reflect, including some sound advice and pastoral recommendations by the Holy Father:
Chapter 1 – In The Light The Word
Chapter 2 – The Experiences And Challenges Of Families
Chapter 3 – Looking To Jesus: The Vocation Of The Family
Chapter 4 – Love In Marriage
Chapter 5 – Love Made Fruitful
Chapter 6 – Some Pastoral Perspectives
Chapter 7 – Towards A Better Education Of Children
Chapter 8 – Accompanying, Discerning And Integrating Weakness
Chapter 9 – The Spirituality Of Marriage And The Family.
Jesus’ “new commandment” (see today’s Gospel, Jn 13:31-35), applies to everyone. We are to love one another, just as he loves us. People will know that we are His disciples by the way in which we love those within our families as well as those on the margins, the sick, the elderly and so on.
Pope Francis asks us to develop “new pastoral methods” (199) as we reach out to everyone in a compassionate, empathetic, non-judgmental manner. We are to love and encourage each other to live good Christian lives.
Fr James Martin SJ notes: “Francis affirms church teaching on family life and marriage, but strongly emphasises the role of personal conscience and pastoral discernment. He urges the church to appreciate the context of people’s lives when helping them make good decisions.”
It is important to note, though, that, as Mark Brumley, President of Ignatius Press states, Pope Francis emphasis on ‘conscience’ “doesn’t mean this is a free pass to do whatever you want,” for example:
- the Church makes it clear that marriage is between one man and one woman and is indissoluble. However, it reaffirms its position that: “every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided particularly any form of aggression and violence. Such families should be given respectful pastoral guidance, so that those who manifest a homosexual orientation can receive the assistance they need to understand and fully carry out God’s will in their lives (250);
- Abortion is seen as “horrendous…Here I feel it urgent to state that, if the family is the sanctuary of life, the place where life is conceived and cared for, it is a horrendous contradiction when it becomes a place where life is rejected and destroyed… The family protects human life in all its stages, including its last” (83).
- Pope Francis opposes euthanasia and “firmly rejects the death penalty” (83).
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On Tuesday, April 26, be watching CCSJ’s TV programme, Ask Why, on TCN from 8-9 p.m. when Fr Robert Christo, Deacon Derek Walcott and Dianne Wells will join Nadine Bushell and me to discuss ‘The Joy of Love’. Do call in to share your views on the issues.
