See the daily excerpt from the preparatory catechesis for the 2015 World Meeting of Families, “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.”
60. To love in this way is not something we postpone, saying we will try once we have put to rest certain practical questions; rather, life’s practical questions are adequately approached only when we love in this way. To love in this way is not an ideal on an ever-receding horizon; rather, to love in this way is something that we choose to do in everyday life, beginning here and now amidst daily pressures. As Pope Francis taught on another occasion:
Matrimony is [a] work of every day; I could say a craftwork, a goldsmith’s work, because the husband has the task to make his wife more woman, and the wife has the task to make her husband more man. To grow also in humanity, as man and as woman. And this is done between you. It is called growing together. This doesn’t come from the air! The Lord blesses it, but it comes from your hands, from your attitudes, from your way of living, from your way of loving one another. Make yourselves grow! Always act so that the other grows.
Pope Francis acknowledges that many people might be afraid of such a challenge; that people might avoid marriage out of skepticism or fear:
Today many people are afraid of making definitive decisions, that affect them for all their lives, because it seems impossible … and this mentality leads many who are preparing for marriage to say, “We will stay together for as long as our love lasts.” But what do we mean by “love”? A mere emotion, a psycho-physical state? Certainly, if it is just this, it cannot provide the foundation for building something solid. But if instead love is a relationship, then it is a growing reality, and we can also say, by way of example, that it is IV. Two B ecome On e 45 built in the same way that we build a house. And we build a house together, not alone! … You would not wish to build it on the shifting sands of emotions, but on the rock of true love, the love that comes from God…. We must not allow ourselves to be conquered by a “throwaway culture.” This fear of “forever” is cured by entrusting oneself day by day to the Lord Jesus in a life that becomes a daily spiritual path of common growth, step by step.
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In its introduction, the document says its aim is to present “Catholic teaching in a way that is fresh, insightful, and accessible to contemporary Catholics and all people of good will.” The catechesis “offers a narrative beginning with our creation, soberly noting our fall and the challenges we face, but emphasizing God’s plan for our salvation. Love is our mission, and it is by loving God and one another that we will be fully alive.”
Each day in CatholicPhilly.com’s World Meeting of Families section you can reflect on the official Catholic teaching on the family presented in the catechesis, pray a special prayer together as a family or individually, and stay on top of breaking news about the events coming Sept. 22-27, 2015.
Order the catechesis for your home via Our Sunday Visitor, and visit WorldMeeting2015.org for more information on the events.
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I enjoyed the meeting of the families last night. I had to catch a train, so I did not get a chance to talk or say hello to our Bishop. This was the first time I took a train into the city. It was great. I am going to try and attend his Mass on Sunday nights. How do I get his schedule?? Love & prayers Paul