TOPIC 10 Week 20
THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY: The Church at Home
Sub-Topic: Week 21( May 12-19) : The Biblical Family at ang Pamilyang Pinoy
The Church in the Philippines takes pride in the fact that the country is the only nation in the world, together with the Vatican that does not allow divorce. While there is a pending bill in Congress filed by the Gabriela Women’s Party named House Bilee #1799, Aan act introducing Divorce in the Philippines”, that seeks to legalize divorce, it has not been passed. It is predicted that this bill will take a long arduous, if not impossible journey for it to even reach final discussion and agreement among lawmakers. The strong opposition against legalizing divorce in the country is rooted in the Filipinos’ long standing respect for the sanctity of marriage and family life. The family and the values connected to it like love and respect for parents and siblings, unity, close ties and sharing in the joys and pains of each member are anchors that keep the family strongly embedded in the bedrock of solidarity.
The reality that divorce has a long way to go before it becomes a law, if it will become a law, is not reason for Filipino families to turn a blind eye to stark realities that threaten its solidarity. in an article written by Jeoffrey G. Abalos published in July 10, 2017 in the IUSSP New Magazine, (http://www.niussp.org/article/the-rise-of-divorce-separation-and-cohabitation-in-the-philippines/) he presents the following statistics:
- The proportion of spouses who separate, both legally and informally, is increasing as attested by the increase in the number of annulment and nullity cases filed at the Office of the Solicitor-General (OSG). Such cases have increased from 4,520 in 2001 to 11,135 in 2014
- There is also an increase in the proportion of Filipinos who live together with their partner without marrying. In the past two decades, the proportion of cohabiting Filipino women of reproductive age almost trebled, from 5.2% in 1993 to 14.5% in 2013
- • Over the last decade the proportion of Filipinos who agreed that “Married couples who have already separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to divorce so that they can legally marry again” increased from 43% in 2005 to 60% in 2014.
The statistics presented above cannot and must not be ignored because they militate against the sanctity of marriage and threated the very foundation of the family. The Church in the Philippines, in fidelity to the teachings on marriage and the family contained in the Scriptures, vehemently objects to practices that threaten the very core of family life. She strongly rejects practices that impede the family from faithfully carrying out its mission as the domestic Church. Proof of this is the pastoral letter released by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines that express its strong opposition to divorce. The said pastoral letter is reprinted below (source: http://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/pastoral-statement-against-divorce/)
Pastoral Statement against Divorce
“I promise to be faithful to you, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love and to honor you all the days of my life”. This Matrimonial Covenant is promised by married people before God and before each and every one of us. This marriage our Constitution recognizes “as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State”. In fact, our Constitution was once touted as the first pro-family constitution in the world.
Couples who overcome trials in marriage together grow in virtue and happiness. That is why decent peoples of the world accompany couples and families toward reconciliation and healing. And our holy Mother, the Church, will always and everywhere be there to help.
Children deserve a Home where love, faithfulness, and forgiveness reign. In particular, they don’t want to see their parents quit because there are difficulties in their relationship. The sight of their parents persevering together will always remain with them especially when they will have their own families.
Science and human experience tell us that marriage is an immutable and undeniable good. Even in difficult marriages, children have benefited psychologically, physically and spiritually. Its demands and benefits lead to a better, compassionate, stable and more dynamic society. Our Constitution’s goal of the common good demands all these.
The dignity of women and men require all these. Because of all of these, Christ the Lord raised Marriage to the dignity of a Sacrament. Let not Congress lay waste these victories with a divorce bill.
“Because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses wrote you this commandment [on divorce]. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate” (Mk 10:5-9).
While rejection of practices that militated against marriage and the family is a must if we are to preserve these two institutions, Pope Francis, in his visit to the Philippines present tips for family holiness. here are some of them (https://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2015/01/pope-visit-reflections.html):
1. “Today, with so many means of communication we are overloaded with information. So we run the risk of becoming museums of young people who have everything, but not knowing what to do with it. We don’t need young museums, but we do need holy young people. What is the most important subject you have to learn at university? What is most important subject you have to learn in life? To learn how to love. Not just to accumulate information without knowing what to do with it. But through that love let that information bear fruit.“
2. “Beware of the new ideological colonization that tries to destroy the family. It’s not born of the dream that we have from God and prayer – it comes from outside and that’s why I call it a colonization. Let us not lose the freedom to take forward the mission God has given us, the mission of the family. And just as our peoples were able to say in the past “No” to the period of colonization, as families we have to be very wise and strong to say “No” to any attempted ideological colonization that could destroy the family. And to ask the intercession of St. Joseph to know when to say “Yes” and when to say “No”.
3. Resting in prayer is especially important for families. It is in the family that we first learn how to pray. And don’t forget when the family prays together, it remains together. This is important. There we come to know God, to grow into men and women of faith, to see ourselves as members of God’s greater family, the Church. In the family, we learn how to love, to forgive, to be generous and open, not closed and selfish. We learn to move beyond our own needs, to encounter others and share our lives with them. That is why it is so important to pray as a family! That is why families are so important in God’s plan for the Church!
4. “It is important to dream in the family. All mothers and fathers dream of their sons and daughters in the womb for 9 months. They dream of how they will be. It isn’t possible to have a family without such dreams. When you lose this capacity to dream you lose the capacity to love, the capacity to love is lost.
Word of God
First Reading: I MACCABEES 2:19-22
Mattathias answered in a loud voice: “Although all the Gentiles in the king’s realm obey him, so that they forsake the religion of their ancestors and consent to the king’s orders, yet I and my sons and my kindred will keep to the covenant of our ancestors. Heaven forbid that we should forsake the law and the commandments.22We will not obey the words of the king by departing from our religion in the slightest degree.”
Res. Ps.: PS 128:1-4
Happy is everyone who fears the Lord
who walks in his ways.
You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands;
you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
Thus shall the man be blessed who fears
the Lord.
Second Reading: EPH. 6:1-4
Children, obey your parents [in the Lord, for this is right.
Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise, “that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth.”
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.
Gospel: MT. 10:1-6
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
When Jesus* finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of
Judea across the Jordan. Great crowds followed him, and he cured them there.
Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him,* saying, “Is it lawful for a man
to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” He said in reply, “Have you not read
that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For
this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”
Values/Attitude
Respect Piety Honor
Obedience Solidarity Faithfulness
Doctrine
The word of God tells us that the family is entrusted to a man, a woman and their children, so that they may become a communion of persons in the image of the union of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Begetting and raising children, for its part, mirrors God’s creative work. The family is called to join in daily prayer, to read the word of God and to share in Eucharistic communion, and thus to grow in love and become ever more fully a temple in which the Spirit dwells (AL, 29).
Moral
The family is the first and fundamental school of social living: as a community of love, it finds in self-giving the law that guides it and makes it grow. The self- giving that inspires the love of husband and wife for each other is the model and norm for the self-giving that must be practiced in the relationships between brothers and sisters and the different generations living together in the family. And the communion and sharing that are part of everyday life in the home at times of joy and at times of difficulty are the most concrete and effective pedagogy for the active, responsible and fruitful inclusion of the children in the wider horizon of society. (FC 37).
Worship
Family prayer is a special way of expressing and strengthening this paschal faith.376 A few minutes can be found each day to come together before the living God, to tell him our worries, to ask for the needs of our family, to pray for someone experiencing difficulty, to ask for help in showing love, to give thanks for life and for its blessings, and to ask Our Lady to protect us beneath her maternal mantle. With a few simple words, this moment of prayer can do immense good for our families. The various expressions of popular piety are a treasure of spirituality for many families. The family’s communal journey of prayer culminates by sharing together in the Eucharist, especially in the context of the Sunday rest. (AL, 318).
Faith Realities in Local Context
Reflecting on the example of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, share how you will actively participate in the four tasks of the Christian family, namely:
1) forming a community of persons;
2) serving life;
3) participating in the development of society;
4) sharing in the life and mission of the Church.
Faith Response
Affirmation/Conviction
The family is meant by God to be the first school of discipleship where tha parents are the first catechists of their children, and where all the members mutually evangelize each other. It is also the first school of evangelization where the members learn to share with others the grace and light of Christ (PCP II, 576).
Action/Commitment: Having learned that the family is the “Church in the home” and the “first school discipleship”, do you:
* in your own capacity as a young person assume an important responsibility you received when you were baptized, that is, to spread the good news of salvation?
* strive to contribute to transforming your family in the likeness of the Holy Family in Nazareth, where love, respect and fidelity to God’s law prevail?
*actively participate in family prayer and in the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist?
Celebration/Prayer
Prayer to the Holy Family
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
in you we contemplate the splendour of true love;
to you we turn with trust. Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that our families too may be places of communion and prayer,
authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic churches.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
may families never again experience violence,
rejection and division;
may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family,
and its beauty in God’s plan.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Graciously hear our prayer.
Amen.
