WORDS TO THE WHYS

The truth will make you odd. Flannery O’Connor

The Holy Family

-
Joseph Mallord William Turner | Holy Family (1803)

The Church on The Holy Family

The Holy Family, consisting of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, is revered as an icon and model for every human family. The Church encourages families to look to the Holy Family as an example of faith, piety, and obedience to God's will. The Holy Family is seen as a domestic Church, a place where families can grow in faith, prayer, and virtue. It is in the family that children can learn to perceive the meaning of God and experience His presence. The Holy Family is also seen as a guide for the Church's mission, highlighting the involvement of the family in the mission of the incarnate and redemptive Word.

Exodus 20:12
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

The Church calls for families to be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel, and small domestic churches. Families are encouraged to imitate the Holy Family's trust in the Father, their imitation of Christ, and their guidance by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Family's experience of anxiety, persecution, emigration, and hard daily labor serves as a reminder that families may face challenges, but they can find strength and support in their faith.
1 Timothy 3:5
For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?
The Church also recognizes the sacredness and inviolability of the family and its beauty in God's plan. Families are called to be places of formation in faith and prayer, seedbeds of vocations, and the primary living cells of society. The Church invites families to constantly be reborn through the power of God's word and the sacraments. By doing so, families can become more fully a domestic Church, fulfilling their particular mission in society and the Church.
1 John 4:19
We love, because he first loved us.
Summary
  • the Holy Family serves as an example and model for every human family. Families are called to imitate their faith, piety, and obedience to God's will.
  • The Holy Family is seen as a domestic Church, where families can grow in faith, prayer, and virtue. Families are encouraged to trust in the Father, imitate Christ, and be guided by the Holy Spirit.
  • The Holy Family's experiences remind families that they may face challenges, but they can find strength and support in their faith.
  • Families are called to be places of formation in faith and prayer, seedbeds of vocations, and the primary living cells of society.
  • By constantly being reborn through the power of God's word and the sacraments, families can fulfill their mission in society and the Church .
Sources
  1. Gratissimam Sane: Letter to Families 23
  2. Gratissimam Sane: Letter to Families 23
  3. Ecclesia in Medio Oriente 59
  4. General Audience of 28 December 2011
  5. To the participants in the meeting of the John Paul II Institute on Marriage and Family (August 27, 1999) 8
  6. Amoris Laetitia 325

Comments

Post a Comment

Your comments will be appreciated and posted if 1) they are on topic and 2) preserve decorum.

Stand by your word.

Popular Posts

Syro-Malabar Church: The Ad Orientem and Versus Populum Debate

-
Image
The Syro-Malabar Church (SMC), an  Eastern Catholic Major Archiepiscopal Church based in Kerala, India, is visiting the issue of the orientation of the altar. That is, the orientation of the priest at the altar. The question they are visiting: should the priest face in the direction of the liturgical east (ad orientem), or versus populum (toward the people)? The SMC is an autonomous ( sui iuris ) particular church in full communion with the Pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. [Wikipedia] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/syro-malabar-synod-may-take-up-liturgy-alteration-laity-meet-today/articleshow/73062622.cms Times of India reports that the issue pertains to the difference in conducting masses in dioceses under the Syro-Malabar Church (SMC). In Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese (and most other dioceses to the north of Ernakulam), the celebrant faces the laity during the mass. H...
Read more

Divine Worship | Form One of The Offertory

-
Image
Divine Worship: the Missal, the Missal of the Personal Ordinariates, retains the older set of offertory prayers (in the vernacular) and also includes in a separate section the shorter offertory prayers (Form II) found in the Novus Ordo Missal of Pope Saint Paul VI. The longer offertory prayers capture the sacrificial nature of the Mass. Our sacrifice - offerings of bread and wine that represent us - our hopes, our needs, our lives - is joined to the prayer of Jesus to the Father in the Holy Spirit. The bread and wine are accepted by Jesus and become by the power of the Holy Ghost the very Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. See article :  https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/transubstantiation-for-beginners The one sacrifice of Christ on Calvary is made present in every valid Mass. Time and eternity meet. The congregation becomes present to the banquet of Jesus and the Apostles when Jesus established the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Holy Or...
Read more

You know you're a REAL altar server when... .

-
Image
In a movie theatre, you genuflect before entering the aisle to take a seat. Riding a bus, sitting in class or at the doctor's office, and/or when watching TV, you rest your hands palms down on your thighs, finger tips at your knees. You can identify each and every variety of incense used in the Mass simply by its scent. You habitually wear black socks and black dress shoes... even when wearing shorts for gym class or at the beach. You turn a perfect right angle when entering a building. You have nightmares about serving Mass at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress. You hear a bicycle bell ring and you drop to your knees. You can't resist the urge to lift a curtain from the bottom. You have a copy of Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described by Adrian Fortescue on your smartphone for recreational reading. You have a copy of Ritual Notes (11th Edition) on your smartphone for recreational reading. As a torchbearer, you can carry a processional candle without spilling one dr...
Read more

Apostles' Creed Ordinariate Style

-
Image
Members of the Personal Ordinariate are familiar with the following version of the Apostles' Creed. The Creed is here ordered into twelve articles, which is a common thing to do. I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth: and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead ; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead . I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints; the Forgiveness of sins; the Resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. CCC194 The Apostles' Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol o...
Read more

Sharing The Beauty Of Evensong In The Catholic Church

-
Image
DURANDUS | NLM Evensong is a liturgy of the Daily Office where psalms and other biblical passages are sung or said, usually close to sunset. The Latin word vesperas was rendered as aefensang  by Old English speakers, and this became "evensong" in modern English. https://singtheoffice.com/  | Music companion for chanting the Office. Variable audio support available. A very useful site! Structure The office of Vespers normally includes psalms, the Magnificat , a hymn, and other prayers. By the Early Middle Ages, it became common for secular clergy to combine Vespers and Compline . By the sixteenth century, worshippers in western Europe conceived 'evensong' as Vespers and Compline performed without break. Modern Byzantine services advertised as 'vespers' often similarly conclude with Compline . Background The Anglican archbishop Thomas Cranmer created choral evensong as a component of the Book of Common Prayer (1549) during the Edwardian Reformation, drawing on t...
Read more

The Beauty of Holiness: Ordinariate Divine Worship

-
Image
Procession of the Blessed Sacrament | Corpus Christi The Lesson | Requiem for Monsignor Peter Wilkinson, PH | D. Duchesne Boat Bearer, Entrance Procession | Andrea Collins Photography Solemn High Mass | Andrea Collins Photography First Communion | D. Duchesne Holy Matrimony | Andrea Collins Photography Solemn High Mass | D. Duchesne Lift high the Cross! Elevation of the Precious Body | Andrea Collins Photography Elevation of the Precious Blood | Andrea Collins Photography Holy Baptism | D. Duchesne Lectors at the Easter Vigil 2026 | D. Duchesne Midnight Mass | D. Duchesne The Churching of Women | Procession to the Altar
Read more

POPE LEO XIV Magnifica Humanitas

Even in the darkest nights, the Lord raises up men and women who refuse to give up, who persevere in doing good, who protect the vulnerable and open pathways to reconciliation. The memory of the saints, righteous people and the oft-forgotten peacemakers, show us that grace does not magically eliminate conflict, but instead it inspires active resistance to evil and an astonishing creativity in doing good” (paragraph 211).

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

I doubt not then but innocence shall make false accusation blush, and tyranny tremble at patience.