In An Integral vision Of The Human Person And Of His Or Her Vision

In an Integral Vision of the Human Person and of His or Her Vocation

 In the context of a culture which seriously distorts or entirely misinterprets the true meaning of human sexuality, because it separates it from its essential reference to the person, the Church more urgently feels how irreplaceable is her mission of presenting sexuality as a value and task of the whole person, created male and female in the image of God.

In this perspective the Second Vatican Council clearly affirmed that "when there is a question of harmonizing conjugal love with the responsible transmission of life, the moral aspect of any procedure does not depend solely on sincere intentions or on an evaluation of motives. It must be determined by objective standards. These, based on the nature of the human person and his or her acts, preserve the full sense of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love. Such a goal cannot be achieved unless the virtue of conjugal chastity is sincerely practiced."

It is precisely by moving from "an integral vision of man and of his vocation, not only his natural and earthly, but also his supernatural and eternal vocation,"that Paul VI affirmed that the teaching of the Church "is founded upon the inseparable connection, willed by God and unable to be broken by man on his own initiative, between the two meanings of the conjugal act: the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning."And he concluded by re-emphasizing that there must be excluded as intrinsically immoral "every action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible."

When couples, by means of recourse to contraception, separate these two meanings that God the Creator has inscribed in the being of man and woman and in the dynamism of their sexual communion, they act as "arbiters" of the divine plan and they "manipulate" and degrade human sexuality-and with it themselves and their married partner-by altering its value of "total" self-giving. Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality.

When, instead, by means of recourse to periods of infertility, the couple respect the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative meanings of human sexuality, they are acting as "ministers" of God's plan and they "benefit from" their sexuality according to the original dynamism of "total" selfgiving, without manipulation or alteration.

In the light of the experience of many couples and of the data provided by the different human sciences, theological reflection is able to perceive and is called to study further the difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle: it is a difference which is much wider and deeper than is usually thought, one which involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality. The choice of the natural rhythms involves accepting the cycle of the person, that is the woman, and thereby accepting dialogue, reciprocal respect, shared responsibility and self- control. To accept the cycle and to enter into dialogue means to recognize both the spiritual and corporal character of conjugal communion and to live personal love with its requirement of fidelity. In this context the couple comes to experience how conjugal communion is enriched with those values of tenderness and affection which constitute the inner soul of human sexuality, in its physical dimension also. In this way sexuality is respected and promoted in its truly and fully human dimension, and is never "used" as an "object" that, by breaking the personal unity of soul and body, strikes at God's creation itself at the level of the deepest interaction of nature and person.

That God's design may be ever more completely fulfilled

The Church is certainly aware of the many complex problems which couples in many countries face today in their task of transmitting life in a responsible way. She also recognizes the serious problem of population growth in the form it has taken in many parts of the world and its moral implications.

However, she holds that consideration in depth of all the aspects of these problems offers a new and stronger confirmation of the importance of the authentic teaching on birth regulation reproposed in the Second Vatican Council and in the Encyclical Humanae vitae.

For this reason, together with the Synod Fathers I feel it is my duty to extend a pressing invitation to theologians, asking them to unite their efforts in order to collaborate with the hierarchical Magisterium and to commit themselves to the task of illustrating ever more clearly the biblical foundations, the ethical grounds and the personalistic reasons behind this doctrine. Thus it will be possible, in the context of an organic exposition, to render the teaching of the Church on this fundamental question truly accessible to all people of good will, fostering a daily more enlightened and profound understanding of it: in this way God's plan will be ever more completely fulfilled for the salvation of humanity and for the glory of the Creator.

A united effort by theologians in this regard, inspired by a convinced adherence to the Magisterium, which is the one authentic guide for the People of God, is particularly urgent for reasons that include the close link between Catholic teaching on this matter and the view of the human person that the Church proposes: doubt or error in the field of marriage or the family involves obscuring to a serious extent the integral truth about the human person, in a cultural situation that is already so often confused and contradictory. In fulfillment of their specific role, theologians are called upon to provide enlightenment and a deeper understanding, and their contribution is of incomparable value and represents a unique and highly meritorious service to the family and humanity.

First Sunday of Advent

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love all the smells and bells that go with this glorious season. Candle light, evergreen branches covered in twinkling lights, roaring fires, mince pies, carol singing, midnight mass, the whole nine yards.

The word Advent means " coming or arrival,"we see the God who created the Heavens and the earth humbly coming down to earth as a little babe to live amongst us. This is something to really celebrate, to rejoice in. God Almighty deigns to descend from his Heavenly home to live amongst  his children as one of us, to redeem all of mankind from their sins. This is the start of the journey that will ultimately lead to the cross and Christ's execution and our redemption.

Like Lent, Advent is a time of preparation. In the Gospel of the day we are warned by Jesus, not as a gentle appeal but as a firm exhortation to "be watchful, alert." For we do not know when he will return. It is a reminder to us all that we should not be spiritually complacent but always listening and preparing for the return of the master. So as we begin to look towards this great feast we need to pray for our hearts to be renewed, we must allow His light to pierce our darkness, to fill us, heal us, and restore us so that we can go and take the light out into the world.

Advent is a season that speaks joyfully to a child's heart. There are many ways to help children enter into the spirit of the season;

Advent Candles can be found in many shops. It is nice if you can get one with Christmas symbols on. It is lit each day from the 1st until the 24th.

Advent calendar: The best ones are those that depict the Christmas story. Open one window each day to see the picture and maybe read a bit of Scripture.

The Advent wreath: the Advent wreath originated in Germany and is an ancient symbol of victory. In Christian symbolism it represents "the fulfillment of time" in the coming of Christ and the glory of his birth.

 The Advent wreath can be made as a table decoration or hung from a ceiling. It should be circular as a symbol to everlasting life and made from evergreen branches, to signify Gods "everlasting ness" and our immortality. There are four candles, three purple, one pink. The purple signify penance, prayer and longing or preparation. The pink one represents the coming joy, " Rejoice in The Lord always;again I say rejoice." A white candle can be placed in the middle of the wreath which is lit after sundown on Christmas Eve, or after midnight mass to announce the arrival of the Redeemer.

One by one each candle should be lit on Sunday Evening during Advent. The candles can then be lit each evening during the family mealtime, (though you may need to replace the candles over the period.) Lighting the candles on the wreath can be a simple way of starting a tradition of family prayer in the home. It is nice if this first candle is the only source of light, we can explain to the
children that we are all in spiritual darkness, but we are moving towards the light. Each week as we light the candles the children will see how much brighter the light is becoming. Before lighting the candles a simple blessing can be prayed by the Father or the head of the household:

"O God, by whose words all things are sanctified, pour forth thy blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may we receive from thee abundant graces. Through Christ our Lord Amen."
Then if you have some Holy Water sprinkle the wreath with it.

 Then when lighting the first candle pray these words
"Lord our God,
we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ:
he is Emmanuel, the hope of the peoples,
he is the wisdom that teaches and guides us,
he is the Savior of every nation.

Lord God,
let your blessing come upon us as we light the candles of this wreath.
May the wreath and its light be a sign of Christ's promise to bring us salvation.
May he come quickly and not delay.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen."

The Church Stands For Life.

The Church Stands for Life

 The teaching of the Church in our day is placed in a social and cultural context which renders it more difficult to understand and yet more urgent and irreplaceable for promoting the true good of men and womenScientific and technical progress, which contemporary man is continually expanding in his dominion over nature, not only offers the hope of creating a new and better humanity, but also causes ever greater anxiety regarding the future. Some ask themselves if it is a good thing to be alive or if it would be better never to have been born; they doubt therefore if it is right to bring others into life when perhaps they will curse their existence in a cruel world with unforeseeable terrors. Others consider themselves to be the only ones for whom the advantages of technology are intended and they exclude others by imposing on them contraceptives or even worse means. Still others, imprisoned in a consumer mentality and whose sole concern is to bring about a continual growth of material goods, finish by ceasing to understand, and thus by refusing, the spiritual riches of a new human life. The ultimate reason for these mentalities is the absence in people's hearts of God, whose love alone is stronger than all the world's fears and can conquer them.

Thus an anti-life mentality is born, as can be seen in many current issues: one thinks, for example, of a certain panic deriving from the studies of ecologists and futurologists on population growth, which sometimes exaggerate the danger of demographic increase to the quality of life.

But the Church firmly believes that human life, even if weak and suffering, is always a splendid gift of God's goodness. Against the pessimism and selfishness which cast a shadow over the world, the Church stands for life: in each human life she sees the splendor of that "Yes," that "Amen," who is Christ Himself.(84) To the "No" which assails and afflicts the world, she replies with this living "Yes," thus defending the human person and the world from all who plot against and harm life.

The Church is called upon to manifest anew to everyone, with clear and stronger conviction, her will to promote human life by every means and to defend it against all attacks, in whatever condition or state of development it is found.

Thus the Church condemns as a grave offense against human dignity and justice all those activities of governments or other public authorities which attempt to limit in any way the freedom of couples in deciding about children. Consequently, any violence applied by such authorities in favor of contraception or, still worse, of sterilization and procured abortion, must be altogether condemned and forcefully rejected. Likewise to be denounced as gravely unjust are cases where, in international relations, economic help given for the advancement of peoples is made conditional on programs of contraception, sterilization and procured abortion.

The Church's Teaching and Norm, Always Old Yet Always New

 Precisely because the love of husband and wife is a unique participation in the mystery of life and of the love of God Himself, the Church knows that she has received the special mission of guarding and protecting the lofty dignity of marriage and the most serious responsibility of the transmission of human life.

Thus, in continuity with the living tradition of the ecclesial community throughout history, the recent Second Vatican Council and the magisterium of my predecessor Paul VI, expressed above all in the Encyclical Humanae vitae, have handed on to our times a truly prophetic proclamation, which reaffirms and reproposes with clarity the Church's teaching and norm, always old yet always new, regarding marriage and regarding the transmission of human life.

For this reason the Synod Fathers made the following declaration at their last assembly: "This Sacred Synod, gathered together with the Successor of Peter in the unity of faith, firmly holds what has been set forth in the Second Vatican Council (cf. Gaudium et spes, 50) and afterwards in the Encyclical Humanae vitae, particularly that love between husband and wife must be fully human, exclusive and open to new life (Humanae vitae, 11; cf. 9, 12)."

Cooperators in the Love of God the Creator.

With the creation of man and woman in His own image and likeness, God crowns and brings to perfection the work of His hands: He calls them to a special sharing in His love and in His power as Creator and Father, through their free and responsible cooperation in transmitting the gift of human life: "God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'"

Thus the fundamental task of the family is to serve life, to actualize in history the original blessing of the Creator-that of transmitting by procreation the divine image from person to person.

Fecundity is the fruit and the sign of conjugal love, the living testimony of the full reciprocal selfgiving of the spouses: "While not making the other purposes of matrimony of less account, the true practice of conjugal love, and the whole meaning of the family life which results from it, have this aim: that the couple be ready with stout hearts to cooperate with the love of the Creator and the Savior, who through them will enlarge and enrich His own family day by day."

However, the fruitfulness of conjugal love is not restricted solely to the procreation of children, even understood in its specifically human dimension: it is enlarged and enriched by all those fruits of moral, spiritual and supernatural life which the father and mother are called to hand on to their children, and through the children to the Church and to the world.

The Elderly in the Family.

There are cultures which manifest a unique veneration and great love for the elderly: far from being outcasts from the family or merely tolerated as a useless burden, they continue to be present and to take an active and responsible part in family life, though having to respect the autonomy of the new family; above all they carry out the important mission of being a witness to the past and a source of wisdom for the young and for the future.

Other cultures, however, especially in the wake of disordered industrial and urban development, have both in the past and in the present set the elderly aside in unacceptable ways. This causes acute suffering to them and spiritually impoverishes many families.

The pastoral activity of the Church must help everyone to discover and to make good use of the role of the elderly within the civil and ecclesial community, in particular within the family. In fact, "the life of the aging helps to clarify a scale of human values; it shows the continuity of generations and marvelously demonstrates the interdependence of God's people. The elderly often have the charism to bridge generation gaps before they are made: how many children have found understanding and love in the eyes and words and caresses of the aging! And how many old people have willingly subscribed to the inspired word that the 'crown of the aged is their children's children' (Prv. 17:6)!"

The Rights of Children.

The Rights of Children

 In the family, which is a community of persons, special attention must be devoted to the children by developing a profound esteem for their personal dignity, and a great respect and generous concern for their rights. This is true for every child, but it becomes all the more urgent the smaller the child is and the more it is in need of everything, when it is sick, suffering or handicapped.

By fostering and exercising a tender and strong concern for every child that comes into this world, the Church fulfills a fundamental mission: for she is called upon to reveal and put forward anew in history the example and the commandment of Christ the Lord, who placed the child at the heart of the Kingdom of God: "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."

I repeat once again what I said to the General Assembly of the United Nations on October 2, 1979: "I wish to express the joy that we all find in children, the springtime of life, the anticipation of the future history of each of our present earthly homelands. No country on earth, no political system can think of its own future otherwise than through the image of these new generations that will receive from their parents the manifold heritage of values, duties and aspirations of the nation to which they belong and of the whole human family. Concern for the child, even before birth, from the first moment of conception and then throughout the years of infancy and youth, is the primary and fundamental test of the relationship of one human being to another. And so, what better wish can I express for every nation and for the whole of mankind, and for all the children of the world than a better future in which respect for human rights will become a complete reality throughout the third millennium, which is drawing near?"

Acceptance, love, esteem, many-sided and united material, emotional, educational and spiritual concern for every child that comes into this world should always constitute a distinctive, essential
 characteristic of all Christians, in particular of the Christian family: thus children, while they are able to grow "in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man,"(77) offer their own precious contribution to building up the family community and even to the sanctification of their parents.

The Feast of Christ The King.

Many nations have come and gone down through the centuries. Led by men and women who believed that they were king over the known universe. All these dominions have failed and disappeared, many leaving no trace of their ever having being, Whilst some like the Romans have left evidence of their presence in the world.

When God's chosen people were living under the rule of the Judges, they cried out to the prophet Samuel to give them a King  so that they could be "like the other Nations".
 Samuels sons were not walking the same path as their father and the people  wanted a "king" to rule
over them.  Reluctantly,  Samuel spoke to God about their desires. God warned the people of Israel
through the prophet  what would befall them if they chose a human King rather than staying true to his Kingship.

He told them kings would take their sons to become soldiers and to make weapons of war and they would be made to work in his fields.Their daughters would be taken to be cooks, bakers and makers of perfume. They would grab all the best land and crops, moreover he would demand a tenth from all their crops and flocks. All this pleading was to no avail. The people stubbornly insisted on being ruled by a king, who would fight their battles for them. Again, Israel failed to see how God had already fought their battles and had gone out before them.
 Now, what God warned of came to pass. Down through the ages the kings took the men and women, their sons and daughters, their best fields and meadows and a tenth of all they grew and of all their flocks. Many times over the years the people cried out for God to take away their bad kings, but The
Lord was not listening, at least not for the moment.

In 1925 the world was recovering from the effects of the First World War. It was lurching from one
major crisis to another. In Italy Mussolini took control of the government. Hitler  published his famous book Mien  Kampf and formed the S.S. In Greece an army General seized power by a military coup. It was into this climate that Pope Pius released his encyclical Quas Primas ( in the first) to counter the rising secularism that he could see creeping into people's heartsThe Pope gave out one message loud and clear Jesus Christ is King and Lord of all.
The Holy Father wanted to remind the world that there could not be two "kings." We needed  to place our trust in the one who had proved his faithfulness.

On this last Sunday of the year we are called to contemplate the coming of the " Son of man"
Today's feast reminds us that once again God "hearkened" to his people  and raised up a new "King." One man who sought not his own glory but came to give glory to God. One who did not try to obtain
 everything for himself but actually gave a complete outpouring of himself for the needs of
others.Wherever he went he taught how to serve others, to love not only those that are easy to love
but those whom we may consider our enemies. His teachings turned the religious beliefs of the time on their heads, and he challenged the leaders to open their minds and hearts to his words.
Some listened and took on board what he said. Many did not, and called out for his demise. This King  unlike those that went before and some that have come after him has stood the test of time down through the Centuries.

God presented us with this new King, his Son. A King whose Kingdom is not of this world, who is above and beyond all human politics. One who is eager to be our King so that we may be his people.


Within our families, today is a good day to get the children making and decorating crowns. These can be worn, or made out of clay and hung on some branches or used as name places at dinner time. If
you have a statue of Jesus maybe during family prayer time a simple prayer and crowning of Jesus can take place. Here are some fun ideas I found on pintrest to help inspire you!

Men as Husbands And Fathers.

Men as Husbands and Fathers

Within the conjugal and family communion-community, the man is called upon to live his gift and role as husband and father.

In his wife he sees the fulfillment of God's intention: "It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a helper fit for him,"(67) and he makes his own the cry of Adam, the first husband: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."(68)

Authentic conjugal love presupposes and requires that a man have a profound respect for the equal dignity of his wife: "You are not her master," writes St. Ambrose, "but her husband; she was not given to you to be your slave, but your wife.... Reciprocate her attentiveness to you and be grateful to her for her love."(69) With his wife a man should live "a very special form of personal friendship."(70) As for the Christian, he is called upon to develop a new attitude of love, manifesting towards his wife a charity that is both gentle and strong like that which Christ has for the Church."

Love for his wife as mother of their children and love for the children themselves are for the man the natural way of understanding and fulfilling his own fatherhood. Above all where social and cultural conditions so easily encourage a father to be less concerned with his family or at any rate less involved in the work of education, efforts must be made to restore socially the conviction that the place and task of the father in and for the family is of unique and irreplaceable importance.(72) As experience teaches, the absence of a father causes psychological and moral imbalance and notable difficulties in family relationships, as does, in contrary circumstances, the oppressive presence of a father, especially where there still prevails the phenomenon of "machismo," or a wrong superiority of male prerogatives which humiliates women and inhibits the development of healthy family relationships.

In revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God,(73) a man is called upon to ensure the harmonious and united development of all the members of the family: he will perform this task by exercising generous responsibility for the life conceived under the heart of the mother, by a more solicitous commitment to education, a task he shares with his wife,(74) by work which is never a cause of division in the family but promotes its unity and stability, and by means of the witness he gives of an adult Christian life which effectively introduces the children into the living experience of Christ and the Church.

Offenses Against Women's Dignity

Unfortunately the Christian message about the dignity of women is contradicted by that persistent mentality which considers the human being not as a person but as a thing, as an object of trade, at the service of selfish interest and mere pleasure: the first victims of this mentality are women.

This mentality produces very bitter fruits, such as contempt for men and for women, slavery, oppression of the weak, pornography, prostitution-especially in an organized form-and all those various forms of discrimination that exist in the fields of education, employment, wages, etc.

Besides, many forms of degrading discrimination still persist today in a great part of our society that affect and seriously harm particular categories of women, as for example childless wives, widows, separated or divorced women, and unmarried mothers.

The Synod Fathers deplored these and other forms of discrimination as strongly as possible. I therefore ask that vigorous and incisive pastoral action be taken by all to overcome them definitively so that the image of God that shines in all human beings without exception may be fully respected.

The Rights and Role of Women.

In that it is, and ought always to become a communion and community of persons, the family finds in love the source and the constant impetus for welcoming, respecting and promoting each one of its members in his or her lofty dignity as a person, that is, as an image of God. As the Synod Fathers rightly stated, the moral criterion for the authenticity of conjugal and family relationships consist in fostering the dignity and vocation of the individual persons, who achieve their fullness by sincere self-giving.

In this perspective the synod devoted special attention to women, to their rights and role within the family and society. In the same perspective are also to be considered men as husbands and Fathers, and likewise children and the elderly.

Above all it is important to underline the equal dignity and responsibility of women with men. This equality is realized in a unique manner in that reciprocal self-giving by each one to the other and by both to the children. What human reason intuitively perceives and acknowledge is fully revealed by the word of God: the history of salvation, in fact, is a continuous and luminous testimony of the dignity of women.

In creating the human race "Male and Female," God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity, endowing them with inalienable rights and responsibilities proper to the human person. God then manifests the dignity of women in the highest form possible, by assuming human flesh from the Virgin Mary, whom the Church honours as the Mother of God, calling her the new Eve and presenting her as the model of redeemed woman. The sensitive respect of Jesus towards the women that he called to his following and His friendship, His appearing on Easter morning to a woman

before the other disciples, the mission entrusted to women to carry the good news of the Resurrection to the apostles---- these are all signs that confirm the special esteem of The Lord Jesus for women. The Apostle Paul will say: " In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith..... There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

The Broader Communion of the Family.

The Broader Communion of the Family.

Conjugal communion constitutes the foundation on which is built the broader communion of the family, of parents and children, of brothers and sisters with each other, of relatives and other members of the household.

This communion is rooted in the natural bonds of flesh and blood, and grows to it's specifically human perfection with the establishment and maturing of the still deeper and richer bonds of the spirit: the love that animates the interpersonal relationships of the different members of the family constitutes the interior strength that shapes and animates the family communion and community.

The Christian family is also called to experience a new and original communion which confirms and perfects natural and human communion. In fact the grace of Jesus Christ, " the first-born among many brethren," is by it's nature and interior dynamism "a grace of brotherhood," as St. Thomas Aquinas calls it. The Holy Spirit, who is poured forth in the celebration of the sacraments, is the living source and inexhaustible sustenance of the supernatural community  that gathers believers and links them with Christ and with each other in the unity of the Church of God. The Christian
family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason too it can and should be called the domestic Church.

All members of the family, each according to his or her own gift, have the grace and responsibility of building day by day, the communion of persons, making the family " a school of deeper humanity" this happens where there is care and love for the little ones, the sick, the aged; where there is mutual service every day; when there is sharing of goods, of joys and of sorrows.

A fundamental opportunity for building such a communion is constituted by the educational exchange between parents and children, in which each gives and receives. By means of love, respect and obedience towards their parents children offer their specific and irreplaceable contribution to the construction of an authentically human and Christian family.  They will be aided in this if parents exercise their unrenounceable authority as a true and proper"ministry," that is, as a service to the human and Christian well-being of their children, and in particular as a service aimed at helping them acquire a truly responsible freedom, and if parents maintain a living awareness of the"gift" they continually receive from their children.

Family communion can only be preserved and perfected through the great spirit of sacrifice. It requires, in fact, a ready and generous openness of each and all to understanding, to forbearance, to pardon, to Reconciliation. There is no family that does not know how selfishness, discord,  tension and conflict violently  attack and at times mortally wound it's own communion: hence there arises the many and varied forms of division in family life. But, at the same time, every family is called by  the God  of peace to have the joyous and renewing experience of "Reconciliation," that is, communion reestablished, unity restored. In particular, participation in the sacrament of Reconciliation and in the banquet of the one Body of Christ offers to the Christian family the grace and the responsibility of overcoming every division and of moving towards the fullness of communion willed by God, responding in this way to the ardent desire of The Lord: " that they maybe one."

An Indissoluble Communion!

Conjugal communion is characterized not only by its unity but also by its indissolubility: "As a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union, as well as the good of children, imposes total fidelity on the spouses and argues for an unbreakable oneness between them."

 It is a fundamental duty of the Church to reaffirm strongly, as the synod Fathers did, the doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage. To all those who, in our times, consider it too difficult, or indeed impossible, to be bound to one person for the whole of life, and to those caught up in a culture that rejects the indissolubility of marriage and openly mocks the commitment of spouses to fidelity, it is necessary to reconfirm the good news of the definitive nature of that conjugal love that has in Christ it's foundation and strength.

Being rooted in the personal and total self-giving of the couple, and  being required by the good of the children, the indissolubility of marriage finds it's ultimate truth in the plan that God has manifested in His Revelation: He wills and He communicates the indissolubility of marriage as a fruit, a sign and a requirement of the absolutely faithful love that God has for man and that The Lord Jesus Christ has for the Church.

Christ renews the first plan that the Creator inscribed on the hearts of man and woman, and in the celebration of the sacrament of matrimony offers a "new heart" : thus the couples are not only able to overcome "hardness of heart," but also and above all they are able to share the full and definitive love of Christ, the new and eternal Covenant made flesh. Just as The Lord Jesus is the "faithful witness" the "yes" of the promises of God and the supreme realization of the unconditional faithfulness with which God loves his people, so Christian couples are called to participate truly in the irrevocable indissolubility that binds Christ to the Church His bride, loved by Him to the end.

The Gift of the sacrament is at the same time a vocation and commandment for the Christian spouses, that they may remain faithful to each other forever, beyond every trial and difficulty, in a generous obedience to the Holy will of The Lord: " what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

To bear witness to the inestimable value of the indissolubility and fidelity of marriage is one of the most precious and most urgent tasks of Christian couples in our time. So, with all my Brothers who participated in the Synod of Bishops, I praise and encourage those numerous couples who, though encountering no small difficulty, preserve and develop the value of indissolubility: thus, in a humble and courageous manner, they preform the role committed to them of being in the world a "sign"- a small precious sign, sometimes also subjected to temptation, but always renewed- of the unfailing fidelity with which God and Jesus Christ love each other and every human being. But it is also right and proper to recognize the value of the witness of those spouses who, even when abandoned by their partner, with the strength of faith and of Christian hope have not entered a new union: these spouses too give an authentic witness to fidelity, of which the world today has a great need. For this reason they must be encouraged and helped by the pastors and the faithful of the Church.

The Indivisible Unity of Conjugal Communion.

The first communion is the one that is established and which develops between husband and wife:by virtue of the covenant of married life, the man and woman " are no longer two but one flesh" and they are called to grow continually in their communion through day to day fidelity to their marriage promise of mutual self-giving.

This conjugal communion sinks its roots in the natural complementarity that exists between man and woman, and is nurtured through the personal willingness of the spouses to share their entire life-project, what they have and what they are: for this reason such communion is the fruit and the sign of a profoundly human need, confirms it, purifies it and elevates it, leading it to perfection through the sacrament of matrimony: the Holy Spirit who is poured out in the sacramental celebration offers Christian couples the gift of a new communion of love that is the living and real image of that unique unity which makes of the Church the indivisible mystical Body of The Lord Jesus.

The gift of the Spirit is a commandment of life for Christian spouses and at the same time a stimulating impulse so that every day they may progress towards an ever richer union with each other on all levels- of the body, of the character, of the heart, of the intelligence and will, of the soul- revealing in this way to the Church and to the world the new communion of love, given by the grace of Christ.

Such  a communion is radically contradicted by polygamy: this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive. As the Second Vatican Council writes: Firmly established by The Lord, the unity of marriage will radiate from the equal personal dignity of husband and wife, a dignity acknowledged by mutual and total love.

Love as the Principal and Power of Communion.

The family, which is founded and given life by love, is a community of persons: of husband and wife, of parents and children, of relatives. Its first task is to live with fidelity the reality of communion in a constant effort to develop an authentic community of persons.

The inner principal of that task, it's permanent power and it's final goal is love: without love the family is not a community of persons and, in the same way, without love the family cannot live, grow and perfect itself as a community of persons. What I wrote in the Encyclical Redemptorists hominis applies primarily and especially within the family as such: " Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it.

The love between husband and wife and in a derivatory  and broader way, the love between members of the same family-between parents and children, brothers and sisters and relatives and members of the household- is given life and sustenance by an unceasing  inner dynamism leading the family to ever deeper and more intense communion which is the foundation and soul of the community of marriage and the family

Family, Become What You Are.

The Family finds in the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer not only it's identity, what it is, but also it's mission, what it can and should do. The role that God calls the family to perform in history derives from what the family is; it's role represents the dynamic and existential development of what it is. Each family finds within itself a summons that cannot be ignored, and that specifies both it's dignity and it's responsibility:family, become what you are.

Accordingly, the family must go back to the "beginning" of God's creative act, if it is to attain self knowledge and self realization in accordance with the inner truth not only of what it is but also of what it does in history. And since in God's plan it has been established as an " intimate community of life and love," the family has the mission to become more and more what it is, that is to say, a community of life and love, in an effort that will find fulfillment, as will everything created and redeemed, in the Kingdom of God. Looking at it in such a way as to reach it's very roots, we must say that the essence and role of the family are in the final analysis specified by love. Hence the family has a mission to guard, reveal and communicate love,  and this is a living reflection of and a real sharing in God's love for humanity and the love of Christ The Lord for the Church His bride.
Every particular task of the family is an expression and concrete actuation of that fundamental mission. We must therefore go deeper into the unique riches of the family's mission and probe it's contents, which are both manifold and unified.
Thus, with love as it's point of departure and making constant reference to it, the recent Synod emphasized four general tasks for the family:
forming a community of persons;
Serving life;
Participating in the development of society;
Sharing in the life and mission of the Church.

Marriage, Virginity or Celibacy!

Marriage and Virginity or Celibacy.
Virginity or celibacy for the kingdom of God not only does not contradict the dignity of marriage but presupposes it and confirms it. Marriage and virginity or celibacy are two ways of expressing and living one mystery of the covenant of God with his people. When marriage is not esteemed, neither can consecrated virginity or celibacy exist: when human sexuality is not regarded as a great value given by the creator, the renunciation of it for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven loses it's meaning.
 Rightly indeed does St. John Chrysostom. Say: " whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be particularly good. It is something better than what is admitted to be good that is the most excellent good."h

In virginity or celibacy, the human being is awaiting, also in a bodily way, the eschatological marriage of Christ with the Church, giving himself or herself completely to the Church in the hope that Christ may give Himself to the Church in the full truth of eternal life. The celibate person thus anticipates in his or her flesh the new world of the future resurrection
.
By virtue of this witness, virginity or celibacy keeps alive in the Church a consciousness of the mystery of marriage and defends it from any reduction and impoverishment.
Virginity or celibacy, by liberating the Human heart in a unique way " so as to make it burn with greater love for God and all humanity,"  bears witness that the kingdom of God and his justice is that pearl of great price which is preferred to every other value no matter how great, and hence must be sought as the only definitive value. It is for this reason that the Church throughout her history, has always defended the superiority of this charism to that of marriage, by reason of the wholly singular link which it has with the kingdom of God.

In spite of having renounced physical fecundity, the celibate person becomes spiritually fruitful, the father and mother of many, cooperating in the realization of the family according to God's  plan.

Christian couples therefore have the right to expect from celibate persons a good example and a witness of fidelity, to their vocation until death. Just as fidelity at times becomes difficult for married people and requires sacrifice, mortification and self denial, the same can happen to celibate persons, and their fidelity even in the trials that may occur, should strengthen the fidelity of married couples.

 These reflections on virginity or celibacy can enlighten and help those who, for reasons independent of their own will, have been unable to marry and have then accepted their situation in a spirit of service.  

The Family, A Communion of Persons.

   In matrimony and in the family a complex of interpersonal relationships is set up- married life, fatherhood and motherhood, filiation and fraternity-through which each human person is introduced into the "human family" and into the "family of God", which is the Church.

Christian marriage and the Christian family build up the Church: for in the family the human person is not only brought into being and progressively introduced by means of education into the human community, but by means of  the rebirth of baptism and education in the faith the child is introduced into God's family, which is the Church.

The human family, disunited by sin, is reconstituted in its unity by the redemptive power of the death and resurrection of Christ. Christian marriage, by participating in the Slavic efficacy of this event, constitutes the natural setting in which the human person is introduced into the great family of the Church.
The commandment  to grow and multiply, given to man and woman in the beginning, in this way reaches it's whole truth and full realization.
The Church thus finds in the family, born from the sacrament, the cradle and the setting in which she can enter the human generations, and where these in their turn can enter the Church.

Children, The Precious Gift Of Marriage.

According to God, marriage is the foundation of the wider community of the family, since the very institution of marriage and conjugal love are ordained to the procreation and education of children, in whom they find their crowning.

In its most profound reality, love is essentially a gift: and conjugal love, while leading the spouses to reciprocal " knowledge" which makes them "one flesh," does not end with the couple, because it makes them capable of the greatest possible gift, the gift by which they become co-operators with God for giving life to a new human person. Thus the couple, while giving themselves to one another, give not just themselves but the reality of children, who are a living reflection of their love, a permanent sign of conjugal unity and a living and inseparable synthesis of their being a Father and a Mother.

When they become parents, spouses receive from God the gift of a new responsibility. Their parental love is called to become for the children the visible sign of the very love of God,"from whom every family in Heaven and on earth is named."

It must not be forgotten however that, even when procreation is not possible, conjugal life does not for this reason lose it's value. Physical sterility in fact can be for spouses the occasion for other important services to the life of the human person, for example, adoption, various forms of educational work, and assistance to other families and to poor or handicapped children.

Jesus Christ, Bridegroom Of The Church, and the Sacrament of Matrimony.

The communion of God and his people finds definitive fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the bridegroom who loves and gives Himself as the Saviour of humanity, uniting it to Himself as His body.
He reveals the original truth of marriage, the truth of the"beginning," and, freeing man from his hardness of heart, He makes man capable of realizing this truth in its entirety.
This revelation reaches it's definitive fullness in the gift of love which the word of God makes to humanity in assuming a human nature, and in the sacrifice which Jesus Christ makes of himself on the cross for his bride, the Church. In this sacrifice there is entirely revealed that plan which God has imprinted on the humanity of man and woman since their creation; the marriage of baptized persons thus becomes a real symbol of that new and eternal covenant sanctioned in the blood of Christ. The Spirit which The Lord pours forth gives a new heart, and renders man and woman capable of loving each other as Christ has loved us. Conjugal love reaches that fullness to which it is interiorly ordained, conjugal charity, which is the proper and specific way in which the spouses participate in and are called to live the very charity of Christ who gave himself on the cross.
In a deservedly famous page, Tertullian has well expressed the greatness of this conjugal life in Christ and it's beauty: " How can I ever express the happiness of the marriage that is joined together by the Church, strengthened by an offering, sealed by a blessing, announced by angels and ratified by the Father? ...How wonderful the bond between two believers, with a single hope, a single desire, a single observance, a single service! They are both brethren and both fellow servants; there is no separation between them in spirit or flesh; in fact they are truly two in one flesh and where the flesh is one, one is the spirit."
Receiving and meditating faithfully on the word of God, the Church has solemnly taught and continues to teach that marriage of the baptized is one of the seven sacraments of the New Covenant.
Indeed, by means of baptism, man and woman are definitely placed within the new and eternal covenant , in the spousal covenant of Christ with the Church. And it is because of this  indestructible
intersection that the intimate community of conjugal life and love, founded by the Creator, is elevated and assumed into spousal charity of Christ, sustained and enriched by His redeeming power.
By virtue of the sacramentality of their marriage spouses are bound to one another in the most profoundly indissoluble manner. Their belonging to each other is the real representation, by means of the sacramental sign, of the very relationship of Christ with the Church.

Spouses therefore are the permanent reminder to the Church of what happened on the Cross;they are for one another and for the children witnesses to the salvation in which the sacrament makes them sharers.

Of this salvation event marriage, like every sacrament, is a memorial, actuation and prophecy:  "As a memorial, the sacrament gives them the grace and duty of commemorating the great works of God and of bearing witness to them before their  children. As actuation, it gives them the grace and duty
of putting into practice in the present, towards each other and their children, the demands of a love
which forgives and redeems. As prophecy, it gives them the grace and duty of living and bearing witness to the hope of the future encounter with Christ"
Like each of the seven sacraments, so also marriage is a real symbol of the event of salvation, but in its own way. "The spouses participate in it as spouses, together, as a couple, so that the first  and immediate effect of marriage is not supernatural grace itself, but The Christian conjugal bond, a typically Christian communion of two persons because it represents the mystery of Christ's incarnation and the mystery of his covenant. The content of participation in Christ's life is also specific: conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter- appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affective lay, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, that unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to a forming one heart and one soul;it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving: and it is open to fertility. In a word it is a question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but with a new significance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but raises them to the extent of making them the expression of specifically Christian values."

Man, the image of the God who is love.

God created man in his own image and likeness, calling him into existence through love, He called him at the same time for love.
 God is love and in Himself He lives a mystery of personal living communion. Creating the human race in his own image and continually keeping it in being.God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility of love and communion. Love is therefore the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being.
As an incarnate spirit, that is a soul which expresses itself in a body and a body informed by an immortal spirit, man is called to love in his unified totality. Love includes the human body, and the body is a sharer in spiritual love.
Christian revelation recognizes two specific ways of realizing the vocation of the human person, in its entirety, to love; marriage and virginity or celibacy. Either one is, in its own proper form, an actuation of the most profound truth of mam, of his being "created in the image and likeness of God."
Consequently, sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is by no means something purely biological, but concerns the innermost  being of the human person as such. It is realized in a truly human way only if a man and a woman commit themselves totally to one another until death. The total physical self-giving would be a lie if it were not the sign and fruit of a total personal self giving, in which the whole person, including the temporal dimension, is present: if the person were to withhold something or reserve the possibility of deciding otherwise in the future, by this very fact he or she would not be giving totally.
This totality which is required by conjugal love also corresponds to the demands of responsible fertility. This fertility is directed to the generation of a human being, and so by its nature it surpasses the purely biological order and involves a whole series of personal values. For the harmonious growth of those values a persevering and unified contribution by both parents is necessary.
 The only "place" in which this self-giving in its whole truth is made possible is marriage, the covenant of conjugal love freely and consciously chosen, whereby man and woman accept the intimate community of life and love willed by God Himself, which only in this light manifests it's true meaning.
 The institution of marriage is not an undue interference in society or authority, nor the extrinsic imposition of form. Rather it is an interior requirement of the covenant of conjugal love which is publicly affirmed as unique and exclusive, in order to liven complete fidelity to the plan of God, the Creator. A person,s freedom, far from being restricted by this fidelity, is secured against every form of subjectivism or relativism and is made a sharer in creative wisdom.

The Feast Of Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran!

Today the Church celebrates the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. This Church was the first one to be built when the persecution of the Christians came to an end under the reign of Constantine. It was consecrated by Pope Sylvester on November 9th 324. Originally the feast was only celebrated in Rome but eventually it spread throughout Christendom.

This idea of "Church" was important to the Jewish people. Each year the Jews  commemorate  the feast of the Dedication in memory of the purification and re-establishment of worship in the temple in Jerusalem following the victory of Judas Maccabeus over the king of Antioch.

 The celebration lasts for a week, and it reminds  the children of God of this great event. It also reminds them of the miracle of the oil. As the Jews purified the Holy Temple, they found only one flask of the oil for the eternal lamp — enough to keep it burning for just one day. But a miracle occurred, and the oil lasted eight days and nights. Hence the name the "festival of light." Jewish families  continue this tradition by lighting a special,candelabra called a "menorah," Over a period of eight nights.

 Similarly the whole Church recalls the dedication of the Lateran Basilica. It is the oldest and most dignified of all the Western Churches. Each diocese holds a day of celebration for the dedication of each of its cathedrals and most parishes celebrate the day of dedication within their own parish.

Like the Jews, we too go to our Churches to encounter God. He always awaits us there, hidden in our tabernacles.  JPII said " Any Church is your house, and the house of God. Value it as the place where we encounter the common Father."

 The Church structure is the sign of the Whole Assembly. The congregation are the living stones,
men and women consecrated to God by their Baptism. The Church building is the place where the Christian community gathers together to hear the word of God, to offer prayers of petition and to praise God and to receive him in a most special way.

We should have a deep reverence for our parishes, since there is no place more worthy of respect than the house of God. These great buildings, no matter if they are the most majestic, like the basilica in Rome, or the humblest little shack, these buildings should inspire us, since the most supreme sacrifice of Heaven and earth, the blood of God made Man, is offered up there.

Let us never fail to visit them with confidence of a person on his way to meet his best friend, Jesus Christ. Who gave his life for each one of us out of love, and eagerly awaits us there every day.
In our Churches we also encounter the house we share in common with our brothers and sisters in the faith and through ministering to each other we should strengthen our bonds and edify each other to grow in faith and holiness.

Marriage and Communion between God and Man!

The communion of love between God and people, a fundamental part of Revelation and faith experience of Israel, finds a meaningful expression in the marriage covenant which is established between a man and a woman.
 For this reason the central word of Revelation, "God loves His people" is likewise proclaimed through the living and concrete word whereby a man and a woman express their conjugal love. Their bond of love becomes the image and symbol of the covenant which unites God and his people. And the same sin which can harm the conjugal covenant becomes an image of the infidelity of the people to their God: idolatry is prostitution, infidelity of Israel does not destroy the eternal fidelity of The Lord, and therefore the ever faithful God is put forward as the model of the relations of faithful love which should exist between spouses.

The Influence of Circumstances on the Consciences of the Faithful.

Living in such a world, under the pressures coming above all from mass media, the faithful do not always remain immune from the obscuring of certain fundamental values, nor set themselves up as the critical conscience of family culture and as active agents in the building of an authentic family humanism.
Among the more troubling signs of this phenomenon, the Synod Fathers stressed the following in particular; the spread of divorce and of recourse to a new union,even on the part of the faithful; the acceptance of purely civil marriage in contradiction to the vocation of the baptized to" be married in The Lord"; the celebration of the marriage sacrament without living faith, but for other motives; the rejection of the moral norms that guide and promote the human and Christian exercise of sexuality in marriage.

The Situation of the Family in the World Today!

The situation in which the family finds itself  (please remember this was written in 1980/81) presents positive and negative aspects: the first are a sign of salvation of Christ operating in the world; the second, a sign of refusal that man gives to the love of God.
On one hand, in fact there is a more lively awareness of personal freedom and greater attention to the quality of interpersonal relationships in marriage, to promoting the dignity of women, to responsible procreation, to the education of children. There is also an awareness of the need to the development of inter family relationships, for reciprocal spiritual and material assistance, the rediscovery of the ecclesial mission proper to the family and it's responsibility for the building of a more just society. On the other hand, however signs are not lacking of the disturbing degradation of some fundamental values: a mistaken theoretical and practical concept of the independence of spouses in relation to each other; serious  misconceptions regarding the relationship of authority between parents and children ; the concrete difficulties that the family itself experiences in the transmission of values; the growing number of divorces; the scourge of abortion; the ever more frequent recourse to sterilization; the appearance of a truly contraceptive mentality.

At the root of these negative phenomena there frequently lies a corruption of an idea and the experience of freedom, conceived not as a capacity for realizing the truth of God's plan for marriage, and the family, but as an autonomous power of self-affirmation, often against others, for ones own selfish well-being.
Worthy of our attention also is the fact that, in the countries of the so called third world, families often lack both the means necessary for survival, such as food, work, housing and medicine, and the most elementary freedoms. In richer countries, on the contrary, excessive prosperity and the consumer mentality, paradoxically joined to a certain anguish and uncertainty about the future deprive married couples of the generosity and courage needed for raising up new human life: thus life is often perceived not as a blessing, but as a danger from which to defend oneself.

The historical situation in which the family lives therefore appears as an interplay. Of light and darkness.
This shows that history is not a simply a fixed progression towards what is better, but rather an event of freedom and even a struggle between freedoms that are in mutual conflict, that is, according to the well known expression of St. Augustine, a conflict between to loves;the love of God to the point of disregarding self, and the love of self to the point of disregarding God.
It follows that only an education rooted in faith can lead to the capacity of interpreting "the sign of the times," which are the historical expression of this twofold love.

The Need to Understand the Situation

Since God's plan for marriage and the family touches men and women in the concreteness of their daily existence in specific social and cultural situations within which marriage and the family are lived today, in order. To fulfill her task of serving.
This understanding is, therefore, an inescapable requirement of the work of evangelization. It is, in fact, to the families of our time that the Church must bring the unchangeable and ever new Gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it is the families involved in the present conditions of the world that are called to accept and to live the plan of God that pertains to them. Moreover the call and demands of the spirit resound in the very events of history, and so the Church can also be guided to a more profound understanding of the inexhaustible mystery of marriage and the family by the circumstances, the questions and the anxieties and hopes of the young people, married couples and parents of today.
To this ought to be added a further reflection of particular importance at the present time. Not infrequently ideas and solutions which are very appealing, but which obscure in varying degrees the truth and the dignity of the human person, are offered to the men and women of today, in their sincere and deep search for a response to the important daily problems that affect their married life. These views are often supported by the powerful and pervasive organization of the means of social communication, which subtly endanger freedom and the capacity for objective judgement.
Many are already aware of this danger to the human person and are working for the truth. The Church, with her evangelical discernment, joins with them, offering her own services to the truth, to freedom and to the dignity of every man and woman.

Our Age Needs Wisdom!

The whole Church is obliged to deep reflection and commitment, so that the new culture now emerging may be evangelized in depth, true values acknowledged, the rights of men and women defended, and justice promoted in the very structures of society. In this way the "new humanism" will not distract people from their relationship with God, but will lead them to it more fully.
Science and it's technical applications offer new and immense possibilities in the construction of such humanism. Still, as a consequence of political choices that decide the direction of research and it's applications, science is often against its original purpose, which is the advancement of the human person.
 It becomes necessary, therefore, on the part of all, to recover an awareness of the primacy of moral values, which are the values of the human person as such. The great task that has to be faced today for the renewal of society is that of recapturing the ultimate meaning of life and it's fundamental values. Only an awareness of the primacy of these values enables man to use immense possibilities given him by science in such a way as to bring about the true advancement of the human person in his or her who,e truth, in his or her freedom and dignity. Science is called to ally itself with wisdom.
The following words of the Second Vatican Council can therefore be applied to the problems of the family: "Our era needs such wisdom moe than bygone ages if the discoveries made by man are to be further humanized. For the future of the world stands in peril unless wiser people are forthcoming."
The education of the moral conscience, which makes every human being capable of judging and of discerning the proper way to achieve self-realization according to his or her original truth, thus becomes a pressing requirement that cannot be renounced.
 Modern culture must be led to a profoundly restored covenant with Divine Wisdom through the creating action of God. And it is only in faithfulness to this covenant that the families of today will be in a position to influence positively the building of a more just and fraternal world.

The Precious Value of Marriage And Of The Family

Illuminated by faith that gives her an understanding of all truth concerning the great value of marriage and the family and their deepest meeting, the Church once again feels the pressing need to proclaim the Gospel, that it is "good news," to all people without exception, in particular to all those who are called to marriage and are preparing for it, to all married couples and parents in the world. The Church is deeply convinced that only by the acceptance of the Gospel are the hopes that man legitimately places in marriage and in family capable of being fulfilled.
Willed by God in the very act of creation, marriage and the family are interiorly  ordained to fulfillment in Christ and have need of His graces in order to be healed from the wounds of sin and restored to their "beginning"' that is, to full understanding and the realization of God's plan.
At a moment of history in which the family is the object of numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform it, and aware that the well-being of society and her own good are intimately tied to the good of the family, the Church perceives in a more urgent and compelling way her mission of proclaiming to all people the plan of God for marriage and the family, ensuring their full vitality and human and Christian. Development, and thus contributing to the renewal of society and of the people of God.