Weekly Bulletin

 We belong to God's eternal kingdom

Both society and the church recognise the family as the cornerstone of society. And as the cornerstone, it lays the foundation for the support system for the wider society.

Since Vatican II there has been a tendency in the church to refer to the family as the domestic church. For Catholic Christians, family is the first place where faith, virtues, and moral values are taught and passed down.

The church has been perhaps the most obvious warrior on behalf of the family in the past century. But there’s been an unfortunate side-effect to how church leaders and theologians have presented the church’s teachings about the family in recent decades: the tendency has been to stress the similarity between the family and the church, even to the point of blurring the boundary between them.

Dr Mehmet Çiftçi in his article The Family is Not a Church, states comparing the family with the church has watered down the church’s political nature. The article warns against conflating the family with the church. Today’s gospel can be seen as maintaining a necessary distinction between earthly family bonds and the greater spiritual realities of the kingdom. Jesus' teaching about marriage acknowledges its sacredness but also subtly points beyond it. When Jesus declares, “What God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9), he affirms marriage’s divine origin, yet later in the gospel, Jesus speaks of a future where marriage is no longer necessary (Mark 12:25). The family, then, is a vital earthly institution but not an eternal or salvific one.

Furthermore, when Jesus welcomes children and declares that the kingdom of God belongs to those like them, he highlights the need for humility and openness to God’s grace. This challenges any notion of the family as a saving community on its own. The family can nurture faith, but salvation comes from Christ and participation in the broader body of the church.

Çiftçi’s article critiques the modern tendency to treat the family as a "domestic church" in a way that risks confusing its purpose with that of the church itself. Jesus' teachings in Mark 10 echo this caution: while family is important, it must not be idolized or seen as the ultimate realization of God’s kingdom. Instead, both family and church point to a greater reality—our belonging to God’s eternal kingdom.

Based on: Çiftçi, M. The Family Is Not a Church - August 2024.
Accessed at- https://shorturl.at/7CgPX

 May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved……….forever! 

The nature of a being is its likeness to God. Its nature is more or less perfect in so far as it more or less resembles God. In fact, it is impossible for a created being not to resemble God; for God is all. Not to resemble God in anything would mean not to exist.

How does God communicate to beings this likeness to himself?

By that continual and intimate act called creation. I say continual for creation is not a passing act that ceases while the effect continues to exist. If God should cease to create, even merely for an instant, in the very instant the world would be no more. 

 Jules Chevalier msc 
Le Sacr -Coeur de Jésus, p. 281f. Paris, 1900

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It is the task of families to tirelessly work to restore God’s original plan for marriage and family life — homes filled with gratitude, acceptance, and love. 

To recognize the gifts God has bestowed on us through the members of our families, we need to remain close to our Gracious Giver. Just as Adam and Eve “walked” with God in the Garden before their fall, we too are called to walk with God in our day-to-day moments. This is primarily done through prayer and action. 

It takes a daily commitment to live out our call to holiness to restore our families to this beautiful image.

We must ask ourselves, how are we living out that mission? It should be the very heart and soul of our families.

www.catholicsteward.com 

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By remembering your faith community in your Will, you contribute to the spiritual legacy that has enriched your life. Your bequest ensures the continuation of the traditions, teachings, and support that have shaped your journey.

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