Cardinal Wuerl promulgated a Pastoral Plan to implement Pope Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (AL), on Sunday March 4, 2018. The fourth section of the Pastoral Plan stresses the importance of parish life.
Today I want to present some thoughts for accompanying young families that are presented in this section of the pastoral plan.
Families are schools of love in which family life shapes the formation of children and young people and teaches how to care for the aging and elderly. Our Holy Father reminds us that the family “is where we first learn to relate to others, to listen, to share, to be patient and show respect, to help one another and live as one” (AL, 276).
Families are a school of human formation and so to the extent that there is a vibrant practice of the faith in the home, our children and young people will be formed as followers of Jesus. A parent’s witness of the Christian life is the first experience a child will have, and parents remain the children’s first and most important teachers, especially in the faith. By parents’ example, children will learn enduring lessons about reflecting Christ’s love in marriage and family life. As Pope Francis notes, “Marriage preparation begins at birth. What they received from their family should prepare them to know themselves and to make a full and definitive commitment” (AL, 208).
Parents also tell us that among the ways for them to teach their children about the beauty of Christian marriage and family life include:
· Letting your youngsters see you praying—at Mass, before meals, before bed, etc. Pray with your children daily. Talk to your children about what your faith means to you. Tell them stories of important “faith moments” in their life;
· Planning for Mass in your weekly schedule and make Sunday Mass the center of your family’s prayer life;
· Bringing the Church into your home. Invite your parish priest or religious women and men to dinner for conversation, a house blessing, etc;
· Teaching your children gratitude—offer a sincere “thank you” to God in your children’s presence each day:
· Modeling God’s forgiveness in all family relationships by asking and offering forgiveness to one another—parents to each other, parents to children, children to parents and among siblings;
· Going together to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation;
· Reading and exploring as a family Bible stories and age-appropriate stories of the lives of the saints as models of virtue and perseverance in faith;
· Volunteering to serve the poor together as a family year-round (e.g., mission trips, food pantry, soup kitchen); and
· Continuing to schedule date nights and invest in your marriage, even as schedules get busier and more attention is focused on caring for children.
Finally let me say a few words about the Ascension of the Lord, which we celebrate today. I am taking these thoughts from the Dictionary of the Liturgy by Fr. Jovian Lang. The theme of the Ascension is that Christ has passed beyond our sight, not to abandon us but to be our hope. He is the beginning, the head of the Church, where He has gone we hope to follow. Our hope is strong because Christ, although gone physically, has not left us spiritually. He is present in His signs—in His ministers, in His assembly, in His Word, and especially in His Eucharist (by His Real Presence). In this way, Christ will be with us until the end of the world. Hence, we must continue to carry out the task given by each of us to labor to build His Kingdom until He comes again.