Posted October 2, 2014

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

18. By now it should be clear why “Love is our mission” is the theme for the 2015 World Meeting of Families. One of the most significant 20th-century papal documents on family life — Familiaris Consortio, again by Saint John Paul II — summarized how Catholic teaching about God and human nature shapes Catholic beliefs about how we should live:
God created man in his own image and likeness: calling him to existence through love, he called him at the same time for love. God is love and in himself he lives a mystery of personal loving 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.
God’s love never ceases to summon us. We cannot forfeit this invitation. We have been created in the image of God, and despite the reality of human sin, the vocation implicit in our creation can never be erased.

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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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