Living Catholicism: Activism and the Family

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June 12, 2006

Activism and the Family

We live in a busy world. Things are constantly changing in business, education, politics...and dare I say the family. In our busy times it seems that the family has suffered the most from our need to be "doing". Activism is consuming our culture. We stay busy, our kids stay busy. The question is do we ever stop long enough to ask why.

Sure we want our children to experience "new" and "different" things. We want them to be socially well-rounded. Yet is not the family the most important and essential element in society? True and lasting social skills develop in the home not on the baseball field. It is in the home that we learn to sacrifice, to give, to share, and, ultimately to love. The home should be the school in which we learn our morality, our ethics, our faith. When this doesn't occur the long-term effects can be devastating. Our current age is demonstrating this in stunning detail. Premarital sex, pornography, drug use, alcohol abuse, suicide, theft, and many other moral/ethical deviations can be directly linked to the deterioration of the family.

Presence is the key. If the family is eating meals together, spending time together, learning together, and praying together they will grow in unity and love. When home is simply a place to crash those key elements of family unity are lost.

In our modern age, we need families that can grow in holiness and love together. We all need to slow down and spend time together. The future of America is directly tied to the way of the family. If the family continues to be torn apart so will America and all cultures for that matter. The family, often referred to as the domestic church, must be preserved at all costs. As Catholics we must be committed to living lives centered on Christ and the family.

In Christ,
Joe

Posted by jay at June 12, 2006 11:20 PM