The solemn feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and
Joseph brings to our attention the love of God for the human family in a way
that can only be identified as completely unexpected and surprising. God
surprises man with a Savior born into a human family. It is not a surprise to
us because it is so extraordinary, but because of its utter naturalness. It is so thoroughly human. It is surprising because God, who creates and
rules the cosmos, chooses to reveal Himself to us within the life a typical
family structure.
What could be more natural for humanity than a family built
upon love of father and mother? Even
though we accept the reality that, many times, homes are broken, as a
consequence of sin and the human condition, instinctively, we know, also, that
the home life of parents and children, in which love is preserved and protected, is to be supported by society. In turn,
we expect members of families and our society to reach out in those conditions
where homes are broken apart to see that the family is made as strong as
possible, and to insure that the children receive the type of support they need
to flourish.
We take it for granted that we have the opportunity in a
family for a special kind of relationship.
The family does something for the human person that every human person
needs. Our familial relationships form
us as human beings, even as the family is formed by the individual, each with his or her own human identity. Even Our Lord in His
human nature accepted such a set of relationships in order to become who He was
to be as a man. The Savior we know is God, but He was the product of the nurturing of Mary and Joseph, as his
mother and father, as well. The Gospel tells us
that Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and found favor before God and man. As
intimately as He, as God, knew His mother and foster father, in His humanity He
drew from them elements of His human character that he chose to carry to the
Cross and to Heaven.
The Church affirms that the family structure needs to be protected
for the benefit of each individual and for the benefit of mankind. The Scriptural teachings on the duties of the
husband and wife, father and mother, and children, might seem, at first glance,
to be an expression of accepted moral expectations among those who hold to a
certain structure of the family. Respect,
honor, obedience, and mutual forgiveness are certainly important duties in the Christian home. Truly, though, this
teaching expresses a moral code that is a consequence of the authentic nature
of the family. “God
sets a father in honor over his children; a mother's authority he confirms over
her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from
them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. Whoever
honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard.
Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father
brings comfort to his mother.” (Sir
3:2-6) The honor paid to the father
and mother as God has established it atones for sins, finds favor with God, and
prepares a heavenly inheritance. The
Gospel tells us of Jesus’ unhesitating obedience to his parents. Even though he knew he had a mission, he also
knew that His parents were given a particular mission in regard to him, as
well. The Lord God gives this mission to every father and
mother. Without this family structure,
we cannot find anywhere a moral code that leads to the values of a just
society. Without the family, the values and conduct which have formed civilizations have no basis. As the family, so goes society.
Much of what is written, above, is simply a restatement of the truth about the family that many in our society now seem to reject. All those who truly seek Christ’s justice must
not be drawn in to this rejection. Just yesterday, for example, the law in
Maine changed to allow for the redefinition of marriage. Christians, on the other hand, must be clear to
point out that with such new definitions, man loses the rational basis for a
just social order that has been built upon the flourishing of the family. With this rejection of the truth about
marriage and the family goes, as well, the foundation established for social
responsibilities such the right to a just wage, to education, the rights to insurance and retirement
benefits, the right to participate in economic development, the right to
adequate housing and healthcare, and so on.
These rights and responsibilities have been built around the maintenance
and support of the family. Social
relationships form the fabric out of which arise the rights of workers. The foundation of all of society is the
family. Without the family, there is no longer a firm moral basis for any of
these things. We would have to conclude
that with a redefinition of the family, there will come significant changes in
the way society will view labor and the duties owed by society toward
workers.
In
his Christmas Day address to the city of Rome and to the world, Pope Benedict
XVI spoke about this trend toward abandoning the traditional structure of the family. He acknowledged that this trend to redefine
the family is allegedly based upon the role attributed to freedom that would
allow society to create any family structure it wants. However, he said, in reality, the scope of
this trend goes to the point of being a rejection of the truth about one’s own
nature. He said, “People dispute the idea that
they have a nature, given by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining
element of the human being. They deny their nature and decide that it is not
something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves.” And he adds, “The manipulation of nature,
which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man’s
fundamental choice where he himself is concerned. From now on there is only the
abstract human being, who chooses for himself what his nature is to be.”
If
we as a people have decided that we can define ourselves in any way we wish, regardless
of the obvious realities of the human body, I would ask, is there anything left
that can be called sacred? We can see
ourselves; our bodies and its characteristics are obvious. If we cannot bind ourselves to a rational
understanding of that which we can
see, what will we do to God, whom we cannot see?
The
authentic family, even with all of its limitations and even with the effects of
the fall, reveals the truth about God and teaches us to look for the truth that
comes from Him. We, who believe, must
refuse to accept the redefinition of the family because it is a complete
rejection of God as He revealed Himself.
When a society abandons the truth about the family, it has abandoned the
God of Divine Revelation, as well.
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