Posted April 10, 2015

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

154. The Gospels are full of accounts of Jesus’ healings. Christ the physician is a frequent image in the work of Saint Augustine. In an Easter homily he writes: “The Lord [like] an experienced doctor knew better what was going on in the sick man, than the sick man himself. Doctors do for the indispositions of bodies what the Lord can also do for the indisposition of souls.” Drawing on the parable of the Good Samaritan, Augustine sees the Church as the inn where the wounded traveler is taken to recover: “Let us, the wounded, entreat the physician, let us be carried to the inn to be healed … therefore Brothers, in this time the Church too, in which the wounded man is healed, is the inn of the traveler.”

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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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