Lesson 10 - The Family is the Domestic Church

(Lesson 10)

The Family is the Domestic Church

“As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

Discussion Guide:

The Catholic Church has always held the family in high regard. There can be no doubt that God instituted the family from the beginning of creation. Male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27) Since the very beginning, every society has recognized the bond between family members. It is an integral part of the natural order of creation. Honor thy mother and thy father was one of the Ten Commandments given to Moses. Jesus became “God with us” in the context of a human family. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are known as the Holy Family. They are the perfect example of what a family should be. We must seek to imitate, in our own families, the love that exists in the Holy Family. We must not only pray for the unity of our own families, but for the unity of all families. There needs to be an emphasis on prayer and catechesis within the home. Forgiveness, patience and love must also be a part of every Christian family. The breakdown of the family is one of the greatest tragedies in modern times. Divorce causes grief for many children and creates a heavy burden, especially upon women. Society should always strive toward the goal of strengthening the family by fostering Christian values.

Discussion Points:

· The Church refers to the family as the domestic church

· The family is a gift from God

· Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are called the Holy Family

· The family is where children should first learn about God

· Parents are the primary educators of their children in the faith

· The breakdown of family life has a negative effect on society

· We are called to be a witness to Christ in the way we live our family lives

· Anyone with family related issue should seek pastoral advice from their parish priest

· All of humanity is, in a sense, our family because we are all joined together under one God

THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY:GOOD NEWS FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
VIII. THE FAMILY: COMMUNITY OF PRAYER
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE FAMILY (Manila, January 25-26, 2003)

Teaching Children to Pray

Christian parents have the specific responsibility of educating their children in prayer, introducing them to gradual discovery of the mystery of God and to personal dialogue with Him: it is particularly in the Christian family, enriched by the grace and the office of the sacrament of Matrimony, that from the earliest years children should be taught, according to the faith received in Baptism, to have a knowledge of God, to worship Him and to love their neighbor.
Family prayer has its own characteristic qualities. It is prayer offered in common, husband and wife together, parents and children together. Communion in prayer is both a consequence of and a requirement for the communion bestowed by the sacraments of Baptism and Matrimony. The concrete example and living witness of parents is fundamental and irreplaceable in educating their children to pray. Only by praying together with their children can a father and mother—exercising their royal priesthood—penetrate the innermost depths of their children's hearts and leave an impression that the future events in their lives will not be able to efface.
It is significant that precisely in and through prayer, man comes to discover in a very simple and yet profound way his own unique subjectivity: in prayer the human «I» more easily perceives the depth of what it means to be a person. This is also true of the family, which is not only the basic «cell» of society, but also possesses a particular subjectivity of its own. This subjectivity finds its first and fundamental confirmation, and is strengthened, precisely when the members of the family meet in the common invocation: Our Father. Prayer increases the strength and spiritual unity of the family, helping the family to partake of God's own «strength».

Prayer in the Family and Liturgical Prayer

An important purpose of the prayer of the domestic Church is to serve as the natural introduction for the children to the liturgical prayer of the whole Church. Hence the need for gradual participation by all the members of the Christian family in the celebration of the Eucharist, especially on Sundays and feast days, and of the other sacraments, particularly the sacraments of Christian initiation of the children.
The liturgy is the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the source from which all her power flows. It is therefore the privileged place for catechizing the People of God. Catechesis is intrinsically linked with the whole of liturgical and sacramental activity, for it is in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist, that Christ Jesus works in fullness for the transformation of men.

The Family is the Domestic Church

“As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

Opening Prayer:

Hail Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, we ask for your intercession on behalf of our own families, our church family, and all families in the world. We pray that they are strengthened in unity and in love through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Theme:

Understanding the term “domestic church”. To look to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, as the perfect example for our own families to imitate. To learn some of the teachings of the Catholic Church about Christian family life.

Bible Readings:

Joshua 24:14-15 "Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you

Mark 10:2-9 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away." But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.' So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

Proverbs13:1 A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

Explanation of the Bible readings: The people of Israel were rebelling against the commandments of God. Joshua pleaded with them to be faithful. He also makes it clear that no matter what evil was going on around him, his household would remain faithful to God. As Christians, we should not just go along with the crowd. Just because “everyone else is doing it” is no reason that we should do it if it goes against the Catholic faith. Our families are a gift from God and must be guided by Godly principles. Joshua gives us a good example of the domestic church and evidence that it was in existence during Old Testament times. God instructs us to honor our parents. We should always have great respect and love for our parents. Even if they have done wrong to us, we should always forgive them. We should hold no grudges against our brothers, sisters or anyone else. We must acknowledge that we have faults and are also in need of forgiveness. Jesus teaches that marriage is a one time event and the man and woman are joined together by God. No earthly court has the power to dissolve what God has joined together.

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2208 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."

2211 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.

2207 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.

2209 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.

1666 The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called "the domestic church," a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity.

1658 We must also remember the great number of single persons who, because of the particular circumstances in which they have to live - often not of their choosing - are especially close to Jesus' heart and therefore deserve the special affection and active solicitude of the Church, especially of pastors. …."No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who 'labor and are heavy laden.'"

2204 "The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church." It is a community of faith, hope, and charity; it assumes singular importance in the Church, as is evident in the New Testament.

2685 The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer. Based on the sacrament of marriage, the family is the "domestic church" where God's children learn to pray "as the Church" and to persevere in prayer. For young children in particular, daily family prayer is the first witness of the Church's living memory as awakened patiently by the Holy Spirit.

Teaching:

Since the home is the first place that a family experiences the knowledge of God, the Church rightly refers to it as the “domestic church”. It is helpful to have reminders of our faith visible in our homes. A crucifix, statues of Jesus, Mary and the saints, a Bible, and a holy water font are all good religious items to have in the home. It is essential that we raise our children in the Catholic faith. When people say, “I will let them make up their own mind about religion when they grow up”, they are abandoning their children spiritually and disobeying the teachings of the faith. Make certain your children go to Mass, learn to pray, receive religious instruction, and receive all their sacraments.

We should be proud of our families when speaking about them to others. I have heard some husbands complain about their wives in an unflattering manner. This is a bad witness to the faith and it dishonors the marital bond that God has put together. The same thing goes for speech that is demeaning about any other family member. Don’t do it!


Faith words:

Ecclesia Domestica: The Second Vatican Council referred to the family as the domestic church. LG 11

The Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are the perfect reflection of the Christian family.

Subsidiarity: A community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community in the lower order. For example: The government should not dictate the way we exercise our rights as Catholics in regard to our family life.


Reflection Questions:

Can you name a few extra things that you can do for your family to show how much you appreciate them?








Is there any family member that you need to forgive? If you would rather not discuss it, perhaps ask the group to pray about it.






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Do you have any outward signs of your Catholic faith on display in your home? Do you remember any in your home when you were growing up?