Posted January 7, 2015

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

87. The parish, the diocese, and other Catholic institutions such as schools, movements, and associations, are especially key for children who do not have two parents. Children may be without one or both parents for a variety of reasons, including death and illness, divorce, immigration, war, alcohol and drug addictions, domestic violence, abuse, political persecution, and unemployment or itinerant working conditions due to poverty. Sadly, sometimes husbands and wives and mothers and fathers separate, often for reasons demanding our compassion. “The emotional upheaval suffered by children of separated couples who suddenly find themselves with a single parent or in a ‘new’ family poses a challenge for bishops, catechists, teachers, and all who are responsible for the young…. It is not a question of replacing their parents but of collaborating with them.”

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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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