Day 286: The Family and Society (2207-2213)

• It’s Day 286!!

• THE FAMILY AND SOCIETY

• Here is the role of the family in society

• Paragraph 2207 says, “The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.”

• Paragraph 2208 says, “The family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor. There are many families who are at times incapable of providing this help. It devolves then on other persons, other families, and, in a subsidiary way, society to provide for their needs: ‘Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.’”

• St. Pope John Paul II said, “The family is the school of love. So marriage and family is meant to be the school of love.”

• Wow we haven’t even started and I’m writing a third paragraph that Fr. Mike quotes haha…

• Paragraph 2209 says, “The family must be helped and defended by appropriate social measures. Where families cannot fulfill their responsibilities, other social bodies have the duty of helping them and of supporting the institution of the family. Following the principle of subsidiarity, larger communities should take care not to usurp the family’s prerogatives or interfere in its life.”

• Ok I’m just going to write down the Paragraph he is quoting and you can read in your Catechism!!

• Paragraph 2210…

• Paragraph 2211…

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, we thank you. We give you praise this day. We ask you to please receive our praise, receive our thanks. May you be glorified. Lord God, your identity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is an image of what families are meant to be. It is an image of this pouring out in love, receiving love, and that love bringing forth life. We ask that you please heal the wounds in our own families, heal the wounds in the families around us. And we ask you, Lord, help our families be a source of goodness for the people around us. And help the people around us support the family. Lord God, let there be in our community and our culture, let there be no division between or opposition between family and society. But help the family to help society, and help society to help the family. Lord God, in your name, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• This is not a response to any particular political climate

• It is a response to the fact that we are living in this good but broken world 

• So we have political systems that are good but broken

• We have social systems that are good but broken

• We have families that are good but broken

• So what do we do?

• We need help

• Paragraph 2207 says, “The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.”

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike’s story about the social scientist he listened to the other day…

• The bigger factor is where the parents decide to raise their children

• The family is a school of love, but where does a person utilize what they have learned?

• IN SOCIETY!!

• When you have a good, stable home, you have a foundation for freedom and security

• If a person does not experience a certain degree of stability, they are going to possibly have a wound when it comes to security for the majority of their life

• Paragraph 2208 says, “The family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor. There are many families who are at times incapable of providing this help. It devolves then on other persons, other families, and, in a subsidiary way, society to provide for their needs: ‘Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.’”

• This might not be your family

• But it is the way of the family where you learn to take care of each other

• Hopefully you learn to take care of your grandparents, younger kids, etc. 

• We learn how to love well

• That is one of the things that family ought to be

• Remember the principle of subsidiarity?

• Everything that can be handled at the lower level should not be usurped by higher level organizations

• Paragraph 2209 says, “The family must be helped and defended by appropriate social measures. Where families cannot fulfill their responsibilities, other social bodies have the duty of helping them and of supporting the institution of the family. Following the principle of subsidiarity, larger communities should take care not to usurp the family’s prerogatives or interfere in its life.”

• The government cannot step in and tell a family how it ought to live

• UNLESS…

• The family is in danger or is incapable of providing for the good of its members

• Paragraph 2211 says, “The political community has a duty to honor the family, to assist it, and to ensure especially: -the freedom to establish a family, have children, and bring them up in keeping with the family’s own moral and religious convictions; -the protection of the stability of the marriage bond and the institution of the family; -the freedom to profess one’s faith, to hand it on, and raise one’s children in it, with the necessary means and institutions; -the right to private property, to free enterprise, to obtain work and housing, and the right to emigrate; -in keeping with the country’s institutions, the right to medical care, assistance for the aged, and family benefits; -the protection of security and health, especially with respect to dangers like drugs, pornography, alcoholism, etc.; -the freedom to form associations with other families and so to have representation before civil authority.”

• All these things should be ensured, protected, guarded, and defended by the governing bodies

• The role of the political community is not to usurp these things

• Paragraph 2212 says, “The fourth commandment illuminates other relationships in society. In our brothers and sisters we see the children of our parents; in our cousins, the descendants of our ancestors; in our fellow citizens, the children of our country; in the baptized, the children of our mother the Church; in every human person, a son or daughter of the One who wants to be called ‘our Father.’ In this way our relationships with our neighbors are recognized as personal in character. The neighbor is not a ‘unit’ in the human collective; he is ‘someone’ who by his known origins deserves particular attention and respect.”

• WE BELONG TO EACH OTHER!!

• We have to see others not as cogs in a machine or as someone in our way

• Unless we are driving 😉

• JUST KIDDING!!

• They are someone who is made in God’s image and likeness

• Paragraph 2213 says, “Human communities are made up of persons. Governing them well is not limited to guaranteeing rights and fulfilling duties such as honoring contracts. Right relations between employers and employees, between those who govern and citizens, presuppose a natural good will in keeping with the dignity of human persons concerned for justice and fraternity.”

• We are always dealing with individuals

• Even when we are dealing with communities, it is made up of persons

• Those persons have immortal souls

• Those persons will, one day, be reunited with their body and soul in immortality forever either for glory or for damnation

• It is vitally important for us to treat people with dignity

• That person is a someone

• They have a mom and a dad

• They are someone who has been willed into existence by God

• Everyone around us has an origin and a destiny

• Even if they don’t have a dad in their life

• Everyone around us has a Creator who made that person in His own image and likeness and has destined, called, and redeemed that person if only they say YES to God’s plan of salvation so that they will live forever in glory with Him

• When we treat people like this, everything changes

• Not just in our families but in our world

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!