FAMILY, do you know who you are? St. John Paul 2nd.

FAMILY!  Do you know who you are?

Do you know who you are?

You are the Domestic Church ...

You are a model of the Holy Family...

You are a royal priesthood...

You are "becoming" the Word of God made flesh!

You are the Body of Christ!

You may be the only Bible someone reads!

You are the "conscience" of the present culture of your day.

In reading the encyclical on the role of the family, the then Pope, John Paul 2nd states

emphatically, the Church,the Christian family, "is the first community called to

announce the Gospel...for growth and transformation toward full Christian maturity".

"The Church forms the conscience of  society. The culture of the day is always in need of being evangelized by the Gospel of Jesus. We need to find the right way, the best method, of bringing this message to the people who are being swayed and educated by the media of  our day,"

The pope continues,"willed by God in the very act of creation, marriage and the family

can only find fulfillment in Christ and have need of His Grace in order to be healed

of the wounds of sin...and be restored ... to full understanding of God's plan."

The pope further states that"the family unit, formed in conscience by the Word of God

and the Church's teachings, needs to live these truths in their daily lives, to be seen 

and heard by others, so as to be effective witnesses and be able to make a difference within the culture.

This Grace comes to us through the Sacraments of the Church.  Healing, or a change of heart, is the Promise!

 "For I will restore you to health; of your wounds I will heal you", says the Lord. (Jeremiah 30:17)

The Holy Spirit, Who is poured forth in the celebration of the Sacraments, is the Living Source and... sustenance of the supernatural communion that gathers believers and links them with Christ and each other in the unity of the Church of God.

We, as parents, following the example of Joseph and Mary, the Holy family, 

have an awesome responsibility in the formation of "the consciences of those entrusted 

to us in our family."

The basic, fundamental unit of the family is being severely attacked and demoralized.

An attitude of a "new tolerance" is widespread, deceiving even Christians into accepting 

every thing as being equally good...meaning that 

everything is relative and there are no Absolute Truths!

This false teaching asks us , not only to be tolerant, but

to be accepting and to believe everything is equally good in itself!

This "concept' is not only dangerous, but one which 

more people are accepting in the guise of "unity."

If we are doing our best..."Bravo!"

If we could use some help... the Church is at the service of the family

.

This life we have been given is "Gift! We are it's stewards.

 Like the treasure, we are not to bury it. 

We are the initial caretakers of those who will help form the 

culture of tomorrow and it's conscience.

We have a Father, God, Who comes to meet us and welcomes us Home.

He has adopted us into the  Life of the Trinity.

May we each do our part in moving toward the 'Culture of Life!"