Our journey in the company of the Word of God continues, accompanied by the liturgical-pastoral resource Sunday of the Word of God.
After reflecting on the Word of God heard and lived out in community, today we meditate on the beauty of the Word of God shared within the family.
«Make your little home a Church», says Saint John Chrysostom, and it is essential to accept his invitation in a world where, as the liturgical-pastoral resource reminds us, «society and the family are in crisis because so many fickle ways of living have been constructed which, without denying God, seem not to take him into account at all.
To grow in a truly human way, the family must have God present within it; as a domestic Church, one learns to be a father, mother, son, brother…
The best model we can adopt to make the Word of God the culmination of family life is to imitate the family of Nazareth: the family of Jesus, like ours, had its difficulties: as soon as they became engaged, Joseph realized that Mary was pregnant before they had lived together; resolving this problem was not easy and involved dialogue, discernment, and prayer. Then, in Bethlehem, Jesus was born, and the couple encountered difficulties during their journey and in finding accommodation. Moreover, they suffered political persecution and had to go into exile in a foreign country».
Now let us ask ourselves: “What challenges are we facing? The family, sexuality and marriage are increasingly seen as personal achievements, and the first to be affected are the children, who should instead be welcomed into a home that ensures their physical, spiritual and emotional growth. If Jesus used parables to reach people, family life can be a great invitation to become a parable, to embrace the charism of encounter, to become an evangelical internet, to form spiritual networks together with Jesus Christ so that ‘the Word of God may spread rapidly and be glorified’ (2 Thessalonians 3:1).
Reading the signs of the times today in the light of the Word of God can make the home a stronger domestic Church, one that touches deep emotional and vital sources and inspires all members of the family to live their relationship with God in a new way, to practice silence, love, obey, welcome and work. It is essential that the revealed Word bear fruit in the family. As reality changes, God's revelation is showing a new face of God: while preserving constant features – the core of Christian identity – it is also transforming to offer answers to new family situations.”
Let us then embrace the invitation to make our home a domestic Church, placing Jesus and his Word at the center!
By clicking here, you can download a PDF with pastoral suggestions, taken from the liturgical-pastoral booklet, for living the Word of God in the family.
