GOD’S PLAN FOR LOVEMARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFEIn his exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the Joy of Love, Pope Francis teaches us that God delights in human love as does the Church: “With inner joy and deep comfort, the Church looks to the families who remain faithful to the teachings of the Gospel, encouraging them and thanking them for the testimony they offer. For they bear witness, in a credible way, to the beauty of marriage as indissoluble and perpetually faithful” (AL, 86) Pope Francis explains that the Bible is full of families, births, love stories, and family crises from the very first page beginning with Adam and Eve to the last page where we see the marriage supper of the lamb. In this insert, we will discover Jesus’ clear vision for marriage and family life. When he came to restore us to the Father’s love, the Lord pointed to Genesis and our creation in the image of God which says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them (Gen 1:27). It is striking that the ‘image of God’ here refers to the couple, ‘male and female.’” The life-giving love of the human couple is “a visible sign of his creative act” (AL, 10).

At the same time, Jesus raised up marriage as a sacrament, a part of his mission for the Church. This means that when Christians marry, Jesus Christ makes himself present to and remains with the spouses in their marriage through the Holy Spirit who ignites in them a spiritual fire so that his love transforms every part of their lives. Because Jesus is so present, the family becomes a domestic church, a church of the home. In their day to day life, Christian families carry out the mission of Jesus to reveal the beauty of the Gospel, awaken the desire for God, and hand on the faith.

Children are entrusted to mothers and fathers as a gift from God. Parents have a responsibility not only to welcome and protect their children but to hand on the gift of faith to their children and prepare them for the joy of eternal life (AL, 166).

Parents instruct their children more efficiently through example rather than words. Parents, when correcting their children with love, teach their children to ask for forgiveness and to repair the damages caused to others.

Jesus confirmed the original plan of creation for love and marriage and when he reconciled all things in himself Christ redeemed marriage and the family and restored it in the image of the Holy Trinity from which all true love flows (AL, 63).

Pope Francis reminds us that the family is the generous place where new life is welcomed as a gift from God; love always gives life (AL, 165).

It is in the example of parents that children are able to recognize “to appreciate that values are best embodied in a few exemplary persons, but also realized imperfectly and to different degrees in others” (AL, 272). In the family, through the instruction and witness of parents, “one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous – even repeated – forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one’s life.” The love of families is source of life and culture for the world when they speak to others about Jesus and show concern for the poor and underprivileged. (AL, 184).

MOTHERS AND FATHERSMother’s testify to the beauty of life. The mother, in her tenderness and compassion helps us to “grow in confidence and to experience that the world is a good and welcoming place,” in her love children can develop the capacity for intimacy and empathy. Mothers, even in the worst of times, share the deepest meaning of religion by teaching the first prayers and devotion to children. Without mothers, the faith would lose its warmth.

A father helps us to perceive the limits of life, the challenge of the world and the need for hard work and strenuous effort. The real masculinity of fathers is expressed to children in affection and concern for his wife. To be the loving father God intends means to be present and close to his children, in play, work, conversation, and in silence (AL, 177).

The love of parents is the means by which God our Father shows his love.

CHILDRENEvery child growing within the mother’s womb is part of the eternal loving plan of God the Father:‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you’ (Jer. 1:5).”

In his plan for family life, God commands children to honor their parents, and Pope Francis expounds, “a society with children who do not honor parents is a society without honor” (AL, 189). In pointing out the gift and obligations of children, the Pope, concludes that honoring parents does not end when children leave home: children cannot abandon or neglect their parents in their later years. God invites us to listen to the cries of parents with the same sensibility with which we listen to the cry of the poor. In addition, relationships between siblings makes the family a school of freedom, forgiveness, service, and peace.

Pope Francis, recalling that children are a gift from the Lord, reminds us that each of us is always a child, a son or daughter. He reminds us that the generosity of large families is a joy for the Church.

THIS WEEK: Share a meal or activity as a family without any distractions. Make an intentional effort to put away phones, turn off the television, and enjoy the company of those you love most. To read more visit VisibleSign.org.