Posted September 24, 2014

See the daily excerpt from the preparatory catechesis for the 2015 World Meeting of Families, “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.”

12. Jesus reveals who God is, including that God loves us and reaches out to us. But Jesus also reveals what it means to be human. The Second Vatican Council, speaking of Jesus as the “Word” of God, taught, “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light.” In Jesus Christ, we learn things about ourselves that are true, which we could not invent, and which we would not otherwise know. As the Bible puts it, “your life is hidden with Christ.” (Col 3:3, NRSV) Catholics believe that God so loves the world (Jn 3:16), that rather than leave us in confusion, God took human flesh to disclose who God is and who we are. The Second Vatican Council explains:

The root reason for human dignity lies in man’s call to communion with God. From the very circumstance of his origin, man is already invited to converse with God. For man would not exist were he not created by God’s love and constantly preserved by it; and he cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and devotes himself to his Creator.

As Pope Benedict XVI stressed at the last World Meeting of Families, in Milan in 2012, “It is love that makes the human person the authentic image of the Blessed Trinity, [the] image of God.”

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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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