Family Life

There has been a worldwide revolution in the perception of moral values in recent years, involving profound changes in the way people think and act. The communications media have played and continue to play a major role in this process of individual and social change as they introduce and reflect new attitudes and life-styles. Divorce is seen as the best possible way of living in families. Self-disciplined and good Catholics and Christians are termed as ‘neurotic’ or ‘psychotic’ people and problem-children are acclaimed as normal in our societies. Platonic relationships, affairs outside marriages, pre-marital sex, pornography and violence of all kinds are seen as normal human behaviors of today’s Christians.

It is about time we thought of ourselves as children of the light as St. Paul proclaims in the second reading today. If we are the children of the light, our family life is of prime responsibility for all of us. The future of our society depends on the present condition of our families. Future Church is based on the foundation of the present families. Families are the hopes and custodians of the present and the future Kingdom of God.

Today’s Gospel could be seen as one of the lessons on how the family could work spiritually and morally. The family that we live in is a free gift given by God. Husband and wife bring in a lot of God-given gifts into the family that they want to build according to their abilities. We cannot afford to bury the Christian values of our marriage in the ground. Whatever is buried in the ground dies and decomposes. We bury the dead bodies in the ground. The Christian values buried symbolize the death of families. Parents should be able to tell their children “learn from me” and not just pointing to significant models to be followed in life.

“Parents must re-double their efforts to provide for the sound moral formation of children and youth. A well-ordered family life in which the parents are obviously faithful and committed to each other and to their children provides the best school for the formation of sound moral values. Parental passivity or self-indulgence in regard to media teaches false and damaging lessons to the young. It must not be forgotten that, in matters of human formation, "more is obtained by reasoned explanation than by prohibition". (Communio et progressio, 67)

The Church is not asking the people to go back to the old ways of living, rather find new and creative ways to make your families a home for God in this modern world based on the virtues of our fathers and mothers. Let us take family life seriously and responsibly. Amen.