Posted March 23, 2015

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

140. Until recently, this view of the family was widely accepted by non-Catholics as well. The 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights insists that “the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.” But as more jurisdictions re-imagine marriage as a matter of individual preference, dropping any organic connection to sexual difference and procreation, and promoting a contractual view of marriage, this consensus disappears. Today, the state purports more and more to invent marriage and redefine it at will. Allegedly, the family no longer builds society and the state; rather, the state now presumes to supervise and license 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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