A DIFFERENT FAMILY - HOLY FAMILY

Rev. Fr. Valentine de Souza S.J.

A DIFFERENT FAMILY

José Antonio Pagola,

 Catholics almost instinctively defend the value of the family, but we do not stop to reflect on how family life, based on an understanding of the gospel and its values, would unfold. What would a family inspired by Jesus be like?

 The family, according to him, has its origin in the mystery of the Creator who attracts a man and a woman to become “one flesh”, sharing their lives in a mutual self-giving, prompted by a free and gratuitous love. This is basic and decisive. This loving experience of the parents can generate a healthy family.

 Following the deep call of their love, the parents become a source of new life. It’s their most exciting task. It can give a fresh depth and horizon to their love. It can strengthen and enhance forever their creative work in the world.

 Children are a gift and a responsibility, a difficult challenge and unparalleled satisfaction. The conduct of Jesus, in always defending the little ones, and embracing and blessing children, suggests a basic attitude: to nurture the fragile life of those beginning their journey through this world. No one can offer them anything better.

 A Christian family tries to go through an original experience inserted in a modern, indifferent and agnostic society : to build a family founded on Jesus. “Where two or three are gathered in my name there I am with them.” It is Jesus who inspires, sustains and directs the healthy life of the family.

 The home then becomes a privileged place to undertake the most basic experiences of the Christian faith: trust in a Good God, friend of the human being: the attraction for the way of life of Jesus; the discovery of the project of God to build a more dignified, just and kind world for all. To achieve all this, the family reading of the Gospel is a decisive experience.

 In a home where life is inspired by simple faith in Jesus, lived with great enthusiasm, the result is a family always welcoming, sensitive to the suffering of the most needy, where all learn to share and commit themselves to a more humane world; a family that does not live enclosed in their own interests and ambitions but lives open to the human family.

 Many parents today are overwhelmed by different problems, and too alone to face their task. Could they not receive more specific and effective help from Christian communities? Many believing fathers and mothers would benefit from meeting, sharing their worries and supporting each other. It is not in the spirit of the Gospel to demand of them heroic tasks and then ignore their struggles and sleepless nights.

Jose Antonio Pagola, vgentza@euskalnet.net , San Sebastian, Guipuzcoa, Spain.

English Translation by Valentine de Souza S.J. Mandal, Gujarat , India.394650