Family Matters

Last Friday, the Church celebrated the Feast of the Holy Family.  Reflecting and meditating on the Holy Family, we must look to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as an example.  The Holy Family provides us with inspiration and encouragement, and serves as a model of holiness.  However, looking around at the world around us, it’s easy to see that the family is under attack in our society.  It’s no surprise that something so beautiful that comes from God is hated by our culture.  As Catholics and Christians, we must never stop standing up for the gift of the family and sharing its importance.

Satan hates the family and we can see this all around us.  Bodies of government, politicians, and others are trying to redefine marriage by believing that a union between two people of the same gender is marriage.  The importance of a mother and father in a child’s life and the unique and irreplaceable elements that a mom and a dad provide are being ignored, as we see frequent adoption by same-sex couples.  We see couples living together before entering into sacramental marriage, living as though they are already married.  Then there is contraception.  Used far and wide, it promotes promiscuity, objectification, self-gratification, abuse, and is a way for people to reject God’s plan and the gift of life.  This intrinsic evil is where abortion comes in.  The acceptance of contraception is what has led to the widespread acceptance of ending the life of a baby in the womb.  All of these attacks on the family are just a few examples of how Satan is working to break down the family and create dysfunction and confusion.

Our family is what forms us for much of our lives.  It is in our families that we learn how to speak and listen and how to forgive.  We learn about what is true and good.  In the family, we learn what love is, because it is where we first receive love.  Our characters are developed and we discover our values.  Families are not without challenges and difficulties, but through each of our family members and the different gifts and qualities they bring, we are able to grow and deepen our faith and we are led closer to Jesus.  The gift of family is truly one of the greatest blessings we are given by God to help us on the journey.
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The many attempts to destroy the family cannot be condoned.  As people of faith, we cannot just go with the flow and pretend that the breakdown of family is harmless or trivial.  Each one of us, part of a family, needs to work to grow in faithfulness and love, just as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph modeled.  May we all, in our families, grow in holiness each day and show the world the beauty and goodness of family.