A part summary of John Paul II's the Family inn the modern world

 

INTRODUCTION

The saintly Pope John Paul in this encyclical letter the family in the modern world solicitudes earnestly to married couples; fathers and mothers of families, young men and women who are the future and hope of the church and world, and destined to be the dynamic central nucleus of the family in the approaching third millennium, bishops, priests and religious who are consecrated to God and bear witness before married couples to the ultimate reality of the love of God, and upright men and women, to take to heart, with particular concerns, the care, faith and life of the family, because the family has been beset by many profound and rapid changes that have affected the society and culture. Some families live in this situation with fidelity to the values of marriage while others have become uncertain and bewildered over their role and even doubtful and unaware of the truth of conjugal and family life.

The chapter four of the family in the modern world emphasizes the need for the family to be given appropriate and adequate pastoral need; it laid down the stages, structures, agents and situations for the pastoral care which is to be given to the family. It recommends that the agents of the pastoral care of the family should endeavor to accompany the family on its journey through life.

The Church Accompanies the Christian Family on Its Journey through Life

The family is called to development and growth. At the sacrament of marriage the couples begin a progressive journey towards the actualization of the values and duties of marriage. The family shares, in union with the church, the earthly pilgrimage experience towards the revelation and manifestation of God’s kingdom. It is urgent that the church support the family; priority should be given to the pastoral care for the family, it must be developed and strengthened, with special regards to families in difficult or irregular situations. The church is to give words of truth, goodness, understanding, hope and deep sympathy to the sometimes tragic difficulties. The church is to equally offer disinterested help to the families. This pastoral action must be progressive in itself.

 

 

Preparation for Marriage

The young are to be prepared for marriage and family life. The values must be passed on to them; they must be prepared for their future responsibilities. The church must promote better and intensive programs in order to eliminate the possibilities of difficulties found in marriage, and favour successful marriages. Preparing for marriage is a continuous and gradual process which has three main stages, remote, proximate and immediate preparation. Remote preparation begins in early childhood. This leads children to discover in themselves the rich and complex psychology and understand the peculiarity of their personalities with its strength and weaknesses. At this period the esteem for human values are instilled. Here also there is a solid spiritual and catechetical formation showing that marriage is a true vocation. Proximate preparation continues from where remote preparation stopped. This involves a more specific preparation for the sacrament. This stage is absolutely necessary in order that the sacrament may be lived with the right moral and spiritual dispositions. This preparation stages marriage as an interpersonal relationship of a man and a woman that has to be continually developed, and it will encourage those concerned to study the nature of conjugal sexuality and responsible parenthood. The Immediate preparation takes place in the months and weeks preceding the wedding. This preparation is not only necessary but urgent. This stage instills a deeper knowledge of the mystery of Christ and the Church, the meaning of grace and of the responsibility of Christian marriage. Such preparations are always to be set forth and put into practice in such a way that omitting it is not an impediment to the celebration of marriage.

The celebration

The Christian marriage requires a liturgical celebration to express the ecclesial and sacramental nature of the conjugal covenant between baptized persons. Within this context it is considered valid, worthy and fruitful, and it opens a wide field for pastoral solicitude, in order to fully meet the needs deriving from the nature of conjugal covenant.

The celebration of marriage is to be simple and dignified according to the church norms. The elements proper to each culture which serve to express clearly the profound human and religious significance of marriage can be added provided they are not contrary to Christian faith and morality. The liturgical celebration is to be conducted in a way that will constitute also the external reality, a proclamation of the word of God and a profession of faith. This celebration is to involve the Christian community.

Celebration of Marriage and Evangelization of Non-Believing Baptized Persons

In the celebration of the sacrament, special attention is to be given to the moral and spiritual dispositions of the couples with regards to the faith. The faith of the couples should be rediscovered and nourished and brought to maturity by the pastor. Matrimony is the sacrament of something that was part of the creation economy; it was a conjugal covenant instituted by the creator from the beginning. Therefore marriage involves an attitude of profound obedience to the will of God. It’s a journey towards salvation.

The celebration of marriage is always an occasion of rejoicing that brings families and friends together. By virtue of baptism, couples share in the marriage covenant of Christ with the church. However when engaged couples reject explicitly what the church intends to do when marriage is celebrated, the pastor of souls cannot admit them to the celebration of marriage. There is equally the need for evangelization and catechesis before and after marriage so that marriage would not only be celebrated validly but also fruitfully.

Pastoral Care after Marriage

The pastoral care of the family signifies the commitment of all the members of the local ecclesial community in helping the couples to discover and live their new vocation and mission. The family is a true community of love and the members are helped and trained in their responsibilities. Young married couples should accept and make use of the discreet, tactful and generous help offered by other more experienced couples. Each member of the ecclesial community puts to the service of others their experiences of life, as well as the gift of faith and grace. This assistance from family to family is a simple and effective and accessible means for transmitting the values that are the starting point and goal of all pastoral care.

In this pastoral care, the church pay special attention to help the families live married love responsibly in relationship with its demands of communion and service to life. The church helps the families to harmonize the intimacy of home life; the church remains close to families to make sure there is acceptance and love for the children as a gift from the lord of life. Pastoral activity is always the dynamic expression of the reality of the church.

The Ecclesial Community and in Particular the Parish

In the church, the parish is of special importance. The particular church is promoted and guaranteed by the universal church. Each parochial community receives grace and responsibility from the Lord to promote pastoral care of the family. It is important that all those who are to be specifically involved in family care apostolate are adequately prepared.

The Family

The mission of the family should be placed at the service of building up the church; it is an act of docile obedience to Christ. Married couples act in communion and collaboration with the other members of the church. This apostolate starts firstly from the family through the witness of a life lived in conformity to the divine law, through the Christian formation of children, helping them to mature in faith and educating them to chastity, and protecting them from ideological and moral dangers, and helping them choose a vocation.

Associations of Families for Families

Mention should be made within the church of the groupings of the faithful within which the mystery of Christ’s church is made manifest. Each one is to be made use of in relation to its own characteristics, purpose, effectiveness and methods. It is their task to foster among the faithful a lively sense of solidarity, to favour a manner of living inspired by the gospel and by the faith of the church, to form conscience according to Christian values and not public opinion.

Bishops and Priests

The bishop is principally responsible for the pastoral care of the family in the diocese. He devotes personal interest, care, time, personnel and resources to it. He is to make the diocese a diocesan family. The bishop and the priests has not only moral and liturgical responsibilities, but also responsible in personal and social matters. They must support families in its difficulties and sufferings, caring for its members and helping them to see their lives in the light of the gospel. The bishops, priests and deacons must unceasingly act towards families as fathers, brothers, pastors and teachers, assisting them with the means of grace and enlightening them with the light of truth.

The pastor and the laity share the prophetic mission of Christ; the laity by witnessing to the faith with their words and Christian lives, while the pastors do so by distinguishing in their witness the expression of genuine faith from what is less in harmony with the light of the faith, and the family as a Christian community does so through its special sharing and witness of faith.

Men and Women Religious

Their contribution finds its primary, fundamental and original expression precisely in their consecration to God. The religious always recalls the wonderful marriage in which the church has Christ for her only spouse and this makes them ever more available to dedicate themselves generously to the service of God and to the works of the apostolate; they offer their works of teaching, counseling in the preparation of young people for marriage and in helping couples towards truly responsible parenthood.

Lay Specialists

Theirs is a commitment that well deserves the title of mission; the aims it pursues are noble and so determining for the good of the society and the Christian community herself. All they do to support the family is destined to have an effectiveness that goes beyond its own sphere and reach other people in the society.

Recipients and Agents of Social Communication

These sets exercise a beneficial influence on the life and habits of the family and on the education of children, they also conceal “snares and dangers that cannot be ignored”. This danger is all the more real inasmuch as ‘the modern life style’, especially in the more industrialized nations, too often causes families to abandon their responsibility to educate their children. Parents as recipients must actively ensure the moderate, critical, watchful and prudent use of the media, by discovering what effect they have on their children and by controlling the use of the media in such a way as to “train the conscience of their children to express calm and objective judgments, which will then guide them in the choice or rejection of programmes available.

The families need to count on the goodwill, integrity and sense of responsibility of the media professionals: publishers, writers, producers, directors, playwrights, newsmen, commentators and actors. It is also the duty of the church to continue to devote every care to these categories.

PASTORAL CARE OF THE FAMILY IN DIFFICULT CASES

Particular Circumstances

Pastoral commitment, modeled on the good shepherd is called for in the case of families which often find themselves faced by situations which are objectively difficult. Special attention is paid to certain particular groups which are more in need not only of assistance but also more incisive action. These groups include the families of migrant workers; the families of those obliged to be away for long periods, such as members of the armed forces, sailors and all kinds of itinerant people; the families of those in prison, of refugees and exiles; the families living as outcasts; families with no home; incomplete or single-parent families; families with handicapped or drug addict children; families of alcoholics; families discriminated against for political or other reasons; families that are ideologically divided.

Regarding the families of migrants, they should be able to find a homeland everywhere in the church. This is a task stemming from the nature of the church as being the sign of unity in diversity. Preferably, these people should be looked after by priests of their own rites, culture and language. Particular pastoral care is needed for families which are ideologically divided. In the first place, it is necessary to maintain tactful personal contact with such families. The believing members must be strengthened in their faith and supported in their Christian lives. However, in all these different situations let prayer, the source of light and strength and the nourishment of Christian hope, never be neglected.

Mixed Marriages

Couples living under this condition have special needs; attention must be paid to the obligations that faith imposes on the catholic party. Every reasonable effort must be made to ensure a proper understanding of catholic teaching on the qualities and obligations of marriage. The catholic party should be strengthened in faith and positively helped to mature in understanding and practicing that faith, so as to become a credible witness within the family through his or her own life and through the quality of love shown to the other spouse and the children. However, efforts should be made to establish cordial co-operation between the catholic and the non-catholic ministers from the time that preparations begin for the marriage.

Pastoral Action in Certain Irregular Situations

As a result of rapid cultural changes, there are certain situations which are irregular in a religious sense. A first example of an irregular situation is provided by what are called ‘Trial Marriages’. They are unacceptable. Human dignity demands a self-giving love without limitations of time or of any other circumstance and, not an experimental love. The church cannot admit such a kind of union, for in the first place, the gift of the body in the sexual relationship is a real symbol of the giving of the whole. In the second place, marriage between two baptized persons is a real symbol of the union of Christ and the church, which is not a temporary or trial union but one which is eternally faithful. Therefore, between two baptized persons there can exist only an indissoluble marriage. Here the indissolubility of marriage is not tampered with. Human person, from childhood, with the help of Christ’s grace and without fear, has been trained to dominate concupiscence from the beginning and to establish relationships of genuine love with other people.

De Facto Free Unions

This refers to a union without any publicly recognized institutional bond, either civil or religious. This union has no recognized bonding. People are driven to this kind of union by possible reasons that include extreme ignorance or poverty, sometimes by a conditioning due to situations of real injustice or by a certain psychological immaturity that makes them uncertain or afraid to enter into a stable and definitive union. Each of these elements presents the church with arduous pastoral problems by reason of the serious consequences deriving from them, both religious and moral (the loss of the religious sense of marriage seen in the light of the covenant of God with his people; deprivation of the grace of the sacrament; grave scandal), and also social consequences (the destruction of the concept of the family).

Tactful and respectful contact should be made by the pastors with the couples concerned. They should be enlightened patiently, corrected charitable and should be shown the witness of Christian family life in such a way as to smooth the path for them to regularize their situation. But above all, there must be a campaign of prevention which should be done by fostering the sense of fidelity in the whole moral and religious training of the young.

Catholic in Civil Marriages

The cases of Catholics who for ideological or practical reasons prefer to contract a merely civil marriage, and who reject, or at least defer religious marriage is on the increase. This situation is not acceptable in the church. Pastoral action should be aimed at making these people understand the need for consistency between their choice of life and the faith that they profess and to try to do everything possible to induce them to regularize their situation in the light of Christian principles. The pastors of the church will regrettably not be able to admit them to the sacraments.

Separated or Divorced Persons Who Have Not Remarried

This set of people must be supported by the ecclesial community. They should be given much respect, solidarity, understanding and practical help for them to preserve their fidelity even in their difficult situation. This also should be applicable to people who have undergone divorce, being well aware that the bond of a valid marriage is indissoluble, refrain from becoming involved in a new union and devote themselves solely to carrying out their family duties and responsibility of Christian life.

Divorced Persons Who Have Remarried

Those who are previously bound by sacramental marriage and who attempts a second marriage are not being abandoned to their own by the church. The church will, therefore make untiring efforts to put at their disposal her means of salvation. They are to be helped by the whole community of the faithful and with solicitous care make sure that they do not consider themselves as separated from the church, for as baptized persons they can, and indeed must, share in the life of the church. They should be encouraged and empowered in their Christian life.

The church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon sacred scriptures, of not admitting to Eucharistic communion divorced persons who have remarried. If these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.

Reconciliation in the sacrament of penance, which opens way to the Eucharist, can only be granted to those who repenting of having broken the sign of the covenant and of fidelity to Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage. Therefore pastors are forbidden for whatever reason or pretext even of a pastoral nature, to perform ceremonies of any kind for divorced people who remarry. By acting in this way, the church professes her fidelity to Christ and to his truth.

Those without a Family

These people are considered particularly close to the heart of Christ, and they deserve the affection and active solicitude of the church and of pastors. There exist countless people who cannot claim membership of what could be called in the proper sense a family. The door of the family which is the church is and must be opened even wider to people who have no natural family.  No one is without a family in this world: the church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who “labour and are heavily laden”.

CONCLUSION

The family is deserving of and is in need of love and must be shown a special love. This is an injunction that calls for concrete action. Loving the family means being able to appreciate its values and capabilities, and fostering them always. The growth of difficulties often tempts the modern Christian families to be discouraged and distressed; giving the family reason for confidence in itself in the riches that it possesses by nature and grace, and in the mission that God has entrusted to it is eminently a form of love. Christians should proclaim with joy and conviction the Good news about the family. The church knows the path by which the family can reach the heart of the deepest truth about itself. The good news includes the subject of the cross. But it is through the cross that the family can attain the fullness of its being and the perfection of its love. It is therefore indispensible and urgent that every person of good will should endeavour to save and foster the values and requirements of the family. Particular effort is required in this field from the sons and daughters of the church. They therefore have an extra reason for caring for the reality that is the family in this time of trial and of grace.

The role of the Christian family is demanding and fascinating. Its work in the life of a Christian cannot be denied or swept under the carpet; individual start his life within a definite family, biological or otherwise, the family therefore teaches the individual from childhood the letters of the faith following the admonition “raise up a child in the fear of the Lord and when he grows he will not depart from it. This is to say that the family is the first agent of catechism in the life of an individual. However how would all this be possible if the family is not well cared for or informed itself, what if the family is not staying together, what if the parents are ignorant of their duties? Regarding these possibilities that could pose a challenge to the well being of the family, the saintly Pope John Paul used this encyclical to address the issues that definitely refer to the possible situations of the family in the modern world; asking that the family should be given the maximum care and help it need for its proper growth.