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| Inserts for Parish Bulletins and Newsletters |
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Communicating
and raising awareness of the holiness of the home, of marital and
family spirituality, was identified by participants at the Releasing
Formidable Energy symposium as the most crucial strategy for this
phase. A very simple and easy way to begin to do this is by inserting a
short quote in each week’s parish bulletin that illustrates an aspect of
family or marital spirituality: a Thought
for the Week about Home is a Holy Place. The inserts below are taken from Church documents, theological and other writing about domestic church, marital and family spirituality and theology.
NB: These quotes are not designed to fit with the Sunday Lectionary. For a family perspective on each Sunday’s gospel see the Nazareth Pages from Bethany Family Institute. Church Teaching | Marital Spirituality | Family Spirituality | Hurting Families | General quotes "The
communion of love present in family life serves as a model of the
relationships which must exist in Christ’s family, the Church."
Family,
become what you are: The Church in the home Family, become what you are: A
sanctuary of life Family, become
what you are: "Good News" for all the world "...The
family is the domestic church". The meaning of this traditional
Christian idea is that the home is the Church in miniature. The Church is
the sacrament of God's love. She is a communion of faith and life. She is
a mother and teacher. She is at the service of the whole human family as
it goes forward towards its ultimate destiny. In the same way the family
is a community of life and love. It educates and leads its members to
their full human maturity and it serves the good of all along the road of
life. The family is the "first and vital cell of society". In
its own way it is a living image and historical representation of the
mystery of the Church. The future of the world and of the Church,
therefore, passes through the family." Quotes about Marital Spirituality "Marriage
partakes of the mystery of the Church and will continually yield up new treasures" “…fulfilling
their conjugal and family role… spouses are penetrated with the spirit
of Christ and their whole life is suffused by faith,
hope and charity.
Thus they increasingly further their own perfection and their mutual
sanctification, and together they render glory to God.” "Spousal spirituality, by involving human experience which is never separated from moral life, has its roots in Baptism and Confirmation.
By celebrating the memory of Christ's giving to the Church, the Eucharist develops the affective love proper to marriage in daily giving to one's spouse and children, without forgetting and overlooking that "the celebration which gives meaning to every other form of prayer and worship is found in the family's actual daily life together, if it is a life of love and
self-giving." Quotes about Family Spirituality “It is not only erroneous, but a
heresy, to hold that life in the … home is incompatible with devotion.
Purely contemplative, monastic or religious devotion cannot be practised
in these callings; yet, these are not the only kinds of devotion; there
are many others suitable for those who live in the world.” ‘God
wished to be born and to grow in a human family. Thus he consecrated [the
family] as the basic and ordinary way of His meeting with humanity’ "The family is where passion,
affection and companionship meet in the most intimate of human bondings.
It is where, if we are blessed, we become most like God himself, bringing
new life into the world through and for the sake of love. It is our first
school, a miniature welfare state, a healthcare centre, a tutorial in
responsibility. And yes, there is something spiritual about it. It is
solitude redeemed. The prophet Hosea said it in the name of God. “I will
betroth you to me for ever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and
justice, devotion and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness.”
The family is where selves touch and are transformed: life joined to life
in love." "Purely
functional relationships are not enough
for human beings. They need interpersonal
relationships that are rich in inner depth, gratuitousness and
self-sacrifice. Fundamental among these are the relationships created in
the family.” "Since
ancient times, the development of spirituality has been accomplished
predominantly by persons focussed primarily (though not exclusively) on
God’s transcendent love, as opposed to God’s immanent
love. … While God is certainly other-worldly, God is also fully present
in the nuts and bolts, the highs and lows, the chaos and noise of each
person’s life. An
immanent spirituality says that instead of eliminating those
“distractions” which comprise a great deal of our day why not seek
truth and wholeness from within the “distractions” themselves? So that
the activities of family life are no longer obstacles to faith and
relationship with God but are vehicles for faith and relationship with God" "Relationships
with other people form the spiritual web of our lives, with crucial
strands being marriages, partnerships, family and friends. According to
many religious traditions, our deepest values are expressed through these
essential bonds. Relationships provide us with opportunities to practice
enthusiasm, gratitude, hospitality, love, play and questing. At the same
time they may expose our shadow sides, drawing out our anger, envy,
hatred, pain, greed and shame." "To be holy is simply to be like God. And God is Love. So holiness for a family is mainly about loving. That means it is about ordinary, earthy things like sex, giving birth, breastfeeding, laughing together, shedding tears, giving hugs, wiping snotty noses… They are holy things when they are living things. That does not exclude prayer, of course, but it definitely includes the messiness of daily life in a family." "Christian spirituality is primarily and essentially relational.
From the standpoint of faith, the way we relate to one another must be
identified as the quintessential spiritual discipline of family and church
life. I believe it is our native vocation as Christians to reflect God's
love, forgiveness and challenge to faithful growth in whatever context we
find ourselves. There is nothing abstract or easy about expressing
consistent respect and care for one another, especially amid the mundane,
repetitious routines and daily stresses of life together. That’s what
makes family spirituality such a challenge." “Family is where I learn the core of Jesus’ words; “Take up your cross and follow me.”
“Find yourself by losing yourself,” “Love God, love your neighbour.” But so often it is easier to love your neighbour than it is to love your own family. We at least don’t have to live with our neighbour, rub shoulders and feet day after day. Yet what closer neighbour can there be than those we live with: roommate, sister, brother, spouse, child, partner, parents. As family, we are beloved neighbours, learning love in the midst of covenant – dying to self.”
"Precisely
through the effort of supporting one another day by day, precisely through
accepting one another ever anew in the crucible of daily trials, living
and suffering to the full their initial "yes", precisely on this
Gospel path of "losing oneself", [families] mature, rediscover
themselves and become happy." "Holiness does not consist in not making
mistakes or never sinning. Holiness grows with the capacity for
conversion, repentance, willingness to begin again, and above all with the
capacity for reconciliation and forgiveness. And we can all learn this way
of holiness." "Families are
not fairytales whose last line is “and they all lived happily ever
after”. They are places of conflict and stress. But they are also places
where we learn to resolve them by honest communication, mutual
understanding and forgiveness. The family is where we learn the grammar of
emotional intelligence by not giving up when the going gets tough. It’s
our ongoing seminar on the meaning of loyalty."
"Families
are where love is written not in poetry but in prose. What is love? Watch
a parent caring for a handicapped child. See a spouse coping with a
partner suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Watch a family playing
together in a park on a sunny afternoon, or a toddler taking its first
steps and falling laughingly into outstretched parental arms. There is a
beauty, undemonstrative, unselfconscious, that lives in a thousand small
gestures of listening, caring, helping, giving, for no ulterior motive
other than the fact that here we are 'we' not 'I'."
“There are places in the heart that do not yet exist, and it is into
these that suffering enters, that they may have existence.” Having a place to go - is a home. Having someone to love - is a
family. Other things may change us but we start and end with family. Friendship is a virtue by which hearts are united and made one, in the
bond of sweetness and love. "God is Emmanuel. We cannot be tempted to
celebrate or recognize his presence only in a class of holy ones --
whether these be priests, prophets, sages, kings, monks, nuns, ascetics,
martyrs; his presence is everywhere and must be recognized in all his
brothers and sisters. For, in the end, even Paul summarizes the Law as
love of neighbour, and the Lucan parable of the Samaritan indicates who is
our neighbour -- anyone who is in need."
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