Posted March 20, 2015

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

139. Debates about redefining marriage, including questions of same-sex marriage, raise legal and political questions. In political theory and theology, Catholics speak of the family as a pre-political institution. To put it another way, the family is legally “antecedent” to civil society, the community, and the political state, since the family is “founded more immediately in nature.” Society does not invent or found the family; rather, the family is the foundation of society: “The family, in which the various generations come together and help one another grow wiser and harmonize personal rights with the other requirements of social life, is the very foundation of society.” Public authority thus has a duty to protect and serve the family.

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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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