"Christmas Is Joy Because We See -- and at Last We Are Sure -- That God Is Man's Good"
- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave last Wednesday during the general audience held in Paul VI Audience Hall. The Pope reflected on the feasts of Christmas and the Epiphany.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to welcome you in this first General Audience of the new year, and with all my heart I offer you and your families my affectionate good wishes: May God, who in the birth of Christ His Son filled the whole world with joy, dispose your endeavors and days in His peace.
We are in the liturgical season of Christmas, which begins on the evening of December 24thwith the vigil and concludes with the celebration of the Lord’s Baptism. It is a brief span of days, but it is dense in celebrations and in mysteries and centers around the two great solemnities of the Lord: Christmas and Epiphany. The very name of these two feasts points to their respective features. Christmas celebrates the historical fact of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. The Epiphany, which originated as a feast in the East, points to an event but above all to an aspect of the Mystery: God reveals Himself in Christ’s human nature; and this is the meaning of the Greek word epiphaino -- to become visible.
Within this perspective, the Epiphany recalls a plurality of events whose object is the manifestation of the Lord: particularly the adoration of the Magi, who recognize in Jesus the awaited Messiah, but also the Baptism in the river Jordan with its theophany -- the voice of God from heaven -- and the miracle at the Wedding Feast of Cana, as the first “sign” wrought by Christ.
A most beautiful antiphon from the Liturgy of the Hours unites these three events around the theme of the marriage between Christ and the Church: “Today the Church hath been joined to her heavenly Spouse, for Christ hath washed away her sins in the Jordan; the Magi hasten with gifts to the royal nuptials, and the guests are gladdened with wine made from water,” (Antiphon from Lauds). We could almost say that, in the feast of Christmas, it is the hiddenness of God in the humility of the human condition, in the Child of Bethlehem, which is underscored. The Epiphany, instead, emphasizes His Self-manifestation, God’s appearing by means of this same humanity.
In this Catechesis, I would like briefly to recall a number of themes proper to the celebration of the Lord’s Birth, so that each one of us may drink from the inexhaustible fount of this mystery and bear life-giving fruit.
First of all, we ask ourselves: what is the first reaction to the extraordinary action of God, who becomes a babe, who becomes man? I think that the first reaction can be none other than joy. “Let us all rejoice in the Lord, for our Savior has been born in the world”: thus begins the Mass during the Night of Christmas; and we just heard the words of the angel to the shepherds: “Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy” (Luke 2:10). [Joy] is the theme that opens the Gospel, and it is the theme that concludes it, since the Risen Jesus will reproach the Apostles precisely for being sad (cf. Luke 24:17) -- something incompatible with the fact that He remains Man forever.
But let us go one step further: where does this joy come from? I would say that it is born of the heart’s wonder in seeing how close God is to us, how God thinks of us, how God acts in history; it is a joy, then, that comes from contemplating the face of that humble Child, because we know that it is the Face of God present to humanity forever -- for us and with us. Christmas is joy because we see -- and at last we are sure -- that God is man’s good, his life and his truth; and He lowers Himself to man in order that He might raise man to Himself: God becomes close enough to see and touch.
The Church contemplates this ineffable mystery, and the liturgical texts for this season are imbued with wonder and joy; it is this joy that all the songs of Christmas express. Christmas is the point where heaven and earth unite, and the various expressions we hear throughout these days emphasize the grandeur of what has occurred: what was far off -- God seems so very far away -- has drawn near; “He who was inaccessible willed to be accessible: abiding before all time He began to be in time: the Lord of the universe, He veiled His immeasurable majesty and took on the form of a servant," exclaims St. Leo the Great (Sermon 2 on Christmas, 2.1). In that Child, needy in every way as infants are, what God is: eternity, power, holiness, life, joy, is joined to what we are: weakness, sin, suffering and death.
The theology and spirituality of Christmas use a particular expression to describe this event. They speak of an admirabile commercium; that is, a wondrous exchange between divinity and humanity. St. Athanasius of Alexandria affirms: “The Son of God became man so that we might become God” (De Incarnatione, 54,3:PG 25,192), but it is above all with St. Leo the Great and his celebrated Homilies on Christmas that this reality becomes the object of a profound meditation. The holy Pontiff affirms in fact: “If we have recourse to that unutterable condescension of the Divine Mercy, whereby the Creator of men deigned to become man, by it we shall be raised to the nature of Him whom we adore in ours” (Sermon 8 on Christmas: CCL 138,139).
The first act of this wondrous exchange is wrought in Christ’s own humanity. The Word assumed our humanity and, in exchange, human nature was raised to the divine dignity. The second act of the exchange consists in our real and intimate participation in the divine nature of the Word. St. Paul says: “When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).
Christmas, then, is the feast in which God becomes so close to man that He shares in the very act of being born, in order to reveal to man his most profound dignity: that of being a child of God. And thus, man’s dream beginning in [the Garden of] Paradise -- we want to be like God -- is realized in an unexpected way -- not through the greatness of man, who cannot make himself like God, but by the humility of God who comes down, and in His humility enters into us and raises us to the true greatness of His being. The Second Vatican Council said in this regard: “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light” (Gaudium et Spes, 22); otherwise, he remains an enigma: what is the meaning of this creature who is man? We can only see the light regarding our own being, be happy to be men and live with confidence and joy, by seeing that God is with us.
And where is this marvelous exchange made present in a real way, so that it might be at work in our lives and make them the lives of the true children of God? It becomes very concrete in the Eucharist. When we participate in the Holy Mass, we present to God what is ours: bread and wine, the fruit of the earth, so that He might receive and transform them, giving us His very self and making Himself our food in order that, by receiving His Body and His Blood, we might participate in His divine life.
Lastly, I would like to consider one other aspect of Christmas. When the angel of the Lord appears to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ Birth, the Evangelist Luke notes that “the glory of the Lord shone around them” (2:9); and the Prologue of John’s Gospel speaks of the Word made flesh as the true light coming into the world, the light that enlightens every man (cf. John 1:9). The Christmas liturgy is pervaded by light. The coming of Christ dispels the world’s darkness; it fills the holy Night with a heavenly radiance and sheds forth upon the faces of men the splendor of God the Father. Even today. Enveloped by the light of Christ, we are earnestly invited by the Christmas liturgy to allow our minds and hearts to be enlightened by the God who has shown us the splendor of His Face. The first Preface of Christmas proclaims: “In the mystery of the Word made flesh a new light of your glory has shone upon the eyes of our mind, so that, as we recognize in him God made visible, we may be caught up through him in love of things invisible”. In the mystery of the Incarnation, God, after having spoken and intervened in history through messengers and signs, “appeared”; He went forth from His own inaccessible light to enlighten the world.
On the Solemnity of the Epiphany, January 6, which we will celebrate in just a few days, the Church sets forth for us a very meaningful passage from the prophet Isaiah: “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And the nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (60:1-3).
It is an invitation addressed to the Church -- the Community of Christ -- but also to each one of us, to become even more keenly aware of the mission and responsibility of witnessing and carrying the new light of the Gospel to the world. At the beginning of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution Lumen Gentium we find the following words: “Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature, to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church” (n. 1).
The Gospel is the light that should not be hidden, that should be placed upon a lamp stand. The Church is not the light; rather, she receives the light of Christ; she welcomes it, that she may be enlightened by it and spread it abroad in all its splendor. And this must also happen in our personal lives. Once more, I quote St. Leo the Great who said on the Holy Night: “Recognize, O Christian, your dignity and, now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God” (Sermon 1 on Christmas, 3,2: CCL 138,88).
Dear brothers and sisters, Christmas is to stop and to contemplate that Child, [to contemplate] the mystery of God who becomes man in humility and poverty; but above all, it is to welcome again that Child, who is Christ the Lord, into our very selves, so that we might live by His very life, so that His sentiments, His thoughts, His actions might be our sentiments, our thoughts, our actions. To celebrate Christmas, then, is to manifest the joy, the newness and the light that this Birth brings to the whole of our existence, such that we too become heralds of the joy, the true newness and the light of God to others. Once more, I wish you all a Christmas season blessed by the presence of God!
Showing posts with label Holy Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Family. Show all posts
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
On the Holy Family's Prayer
"Learn More and More to Say With Your Whole Existence: 'Father'"
- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave Dec. 28 during the general audience held in Paul VI Hall. The Pope continued with his series of catecheses on prayer, reflecting on prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today's meeting takes place within the Christmas atmosphere, imbued with intimate joy in the Savior's birth. We have just celebrated this mystery, and its echo resounds in the liturgies throughout these days. It is a mystery of light that men of every age may relive in faith and prayer. It is precisely through prayer that we are enabled to draw near to God with intimacy and depth. For this reason, bearing in mind the theme of prayer that I am developing at this time in the catecheses, today I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
The address of the Servant of God Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth remains memorable [in this regard]. The Pope said that, in the school of the Holy Family, "we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ." And he added: "First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters" (Address at Nazareth, Jan. 5, 1964).
We can glean several insights on the Holy Family's prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus' childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, "when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord" (2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus' parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law's prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is, two young pigeons. The Holy Family's pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.
The contemplation of Christ has in Mary its matchless model. The face of the Son belongs to her in a special way, since it was in her womb that He was formed, taking from her also a human resemblance. No one has dedicated himself to the contemplation of Jesus as devotedly as did Mary. Her heart's gaze focuses upon Him already at the moment of the Annunciation, when she conceived Him through the power of the Holy Spirit; in the months that follow, little by little she feels His presence, until the day of His birth, when her eyes are able to gaze with maternal tenderness upon the face of her Son, while she wraps Him in swaddling clothes and lays Him in the manger.
The memories of Jesus -- fixed in her mind and in her heart -- marked every moment of Mary's life. She lives with her eyes on Christ and she treasures His every word. St. Luke says: "For her part [Mary] kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (2:19) and in this way he describes Mary's attitude before the Mystery of the Incarnation, an attitude that will extend throughout her entire life: to keep all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke is the evangelist who makes Mary's heart known to us, her faith (cf. 1:45), her hope and obedience (cf. 1:38), above all her interiority and prayer (cf. 1:46-56) and her free adherence to Christ (cf. 1:55). And all this proceeds from the gift of the Holy Spirit who descends upon her (cf. 1:35) as He will descend upon the Apostles according to Christ's promise (cf. Acts 1:8).
The image of Mary given us by St. Luke presents Our Lady as a model for every believer who keeps and confronts Jesus' words and actions, a confrontation that always involves a growth in the knowledge of Jesus. In the wake of Blessed Pope John Paul II (cf. Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae) we may say that the prayer of the rosary draws its model from Mary, since it consists in contemplating Christ's Mysteries in spiritual union with the Mother of the Lord.
Mary's ability to live by the gaze of God is, as it were, contagious. The first to experience this was St. Joseph. His humble and sincere love for his betrothed, and the decision to unite his life to Mary's, also attracted and introduced him who was already a "just man" (Matthew 1:19) into unique intimacy with God. In fact, with Mary -- and above all, with Jesus -- he enters into a new way of relating to God, of welcoming Him into his own life, of entering into His plan of salvation, by fulfilling His will. After having trustingly followed the Angel's instructions -- "do not fear to take Mary your wife" (Matthew 1:20) -- he took Mary to himself and shared his life with her; he truly gave himself totally to Mary and to Jesus, and this led him toward the perfect response to the vocation he had received.
The Gospel, as we know, has not preserved any of Joseph's words: His is a silent but faithful, constant and active presence. We may imagine that he also, like his spouse, and in intimate harmony with her, lived the years of Jesus' childhood and adolescence savoring, as it were, His presence in their family. Joseph completely fulfilled his paternal role in every respect. Certainly, he educated Jesus in prayer, together with Mary. He, in a particular way, would have taken [Jesus] with him to the synagogue for the Sabbath rituals, as well as to Jerusalem, for the great feasts of the people of Israel. Joseph -- according to Hebrew tradition -- would have guided family prayer both in daily life -- in the morning, in the evening, at meals -- as well as in the major religious celebrations. Thus, in the rhythm of the days spent in Nazareth, between their simple dwelling and Joseph's workshop, Jesus learned to alternate prayer and work, and also to offer to God the struggle of earning the bread the family needed.
And lastly, another episode that sees the Holy Family of Nazareth gathered together in prayer: Jesus, we heard -- at the age of 12 -- went with his parents to the temple in Jerusalem. As St. Luke emphasizes, this episode occurs within the context of the pilgrimage: "His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom" (2:41-42).
The pilgrimage is a religious expression that is at once nourished by prayer, and [in turn] nourishes it. Here we are speaking of the Passover pilgrimage, and the Evangelist has us observe that Jesus' family takes part in it each year so that they might participate in the rituals in the Holy City. The Hebrew family, like the Christian family, prays in the intimacy of the home, but also prays together with the community -- seeing themselves as part of the pilgrim people of God -- and the pilgrimage expresses precisely the People of God being on a journey. The Passover is the center and summit of it all, and involves the family dimension as well as that of the liturgical and public cult.
In the episode of the 12-year-old Jesus, Jesus' first words are also recorded: "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (2:49). After searching for three days, His parents find him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers while he listens to them and asks them questions (cf. 2:46). When asked why He did this to His father and mother, He responds that He only did what a Son should do: that is, be near the Father. In this way, He indicates who the true Father is, what the true home is, that He did nothing strange or disobedient. He remained where the Son had to be, that is, close to the Father, and He emphasizes who His Father is.
The word "Father" dominates the focus of this response and the whole Christological mystery appears. This word, therefore, opens the mystery; it is the key to the mystery of Christ, who is the Son, and it also opens the key to our mystery as Christians -- we who are sons in the Son. At the same time, Jesus teaches us how to be sons -- precisely by being with the Father in prayer. The Christological mystery, the mystery of Christian existence, is intimately bound to, and founded upon prayer. Jesus will one day teach His disciples to pray, telling them: when you pray, say "Father." And, naturally, do not say it only with a word, say it with your lives, learn more and more to say with your whole existence: "Father" -- thus will you be true sons in the Son, true Christians.
Here, when Jesus is still fully a part of the life of the Family of Nazareth, it is important to note the resonance that hearing the word "Father" from Jesus' mouth would have had in the hearts of Mary and Joseph, [to hear Him] reveal and emphasize who the Father is, and to hear this word spoken from His mouth in the awareness of the Only Begotten Son, who on this account willed to remain for three days in the temple, which is the "Father's house."
From then on, we may imagine, life in the Holy Family was filled even more with prayer, since from the heart of the Child Jesus -- and then from the adolescent and young man -- this profound sense of relationship with God the Father unceasingly poured forth and was reflected in the hearts of Mary and Joseph. This episode shows us the true situation, the atmosphere of being with the Father. Thus, the Family of Nazareth is the first model of the Church, in which -- gathered around the presence of Jesus and thanks to His mediation -- everyone lives the filial relation with God the Father, which also transforms human interpersonal relationships.
Dear friends, on account of the various aspects I have briefly traced out in the light of the Gospel, the Holy Family is the icon of the domestic Church, which is called to pray together. The family is the domestic Church and must be the first school of prayer. In the family, children -- from the most tender age -- can learn to perceive the sense of God, thanks to their parents' teaching and example: to live in an atmosphere marked by the presence of God. An authentically Christian education cannot prescind from the experience of prayer. If we do not learn how to pray within the family, it will be difficult to fill this void. And for this reason, I would like to address to you the invitation to rediscover the beauty of praying together as a family in the school of the Holy Family of Nazareth. In this way, will you truly become but one heart and mind, a true family. Thank you.
- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave Dec. 28 during the general audience held in Paul VI Hall. The Pope continued with his series of catecheses on prayer, reflecting on prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today's meeting takes place within the Christmas atmosphere, imbued with intimate joy in the Savior's birth. We have just celebrated this mystery, and its echo resounds in the liturgies throughout these days. It is a mystery of light that men of every age may relive in faith and prayer. It is precisely through prayer that we are enabled to draw near to God with intimacy and depth. For this reason, bearing in mind the theme of prayer that I am developing at this time in the catecheses, today I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
The address of the Servant of God Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth remains memorable [in this regard]. The Pope said that, in the school of the Holy Family, "we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ." And he added: "First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters" (Address at Nazareth, Jan. 5, 1964).
We can glean several insights on the Holy Family's prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus' childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, "when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord" (2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus' parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law's prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is, two young pigeons. The Holy Family's pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.
The contemplation of Christ has in Mary its matchless model. The face of the Son belongs to her in a special way, since it was in her womb that He was formed, taking from her also a human resemblance. No one has dedicated himself to the contemplation of Jesus as devotedly as did Mary. Her heart's gaze focuses upon Him already at the moment of the Annunciation, when she conceived Him through the power of the Holy Spirit; in the months that follow, little by little she feels His presence, until the day of His birth, when her eyes are able to gaze with maternal tenderness upon the face of her Son, while she wraps Him in swaddling clothes and lays Him in the manger.
The memories of Jesus -- fixed in her mind and in her heart -- marked every moment of Mary's life. She lives with her eyes on Christ and she treasures His every word. St. Luke says: "For her part [Mary] kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (2:19) and in this way he describes Mary's attitude before the Mystery of the Incarnation, an attitude that will extend throughout her entire life: to keep all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke is the evangelist who makes Mary's heart known to us, her faith (cf. 1:45), her hope and obedience (cf. 1:38), above all her interiority and prayer (cf. 1:46-56) and her free adherence to Christ (cf. 1:55). And all this proceeds from the gift of the Holy Spirit who descends upon her (cf. 1:35) as He will descend upon the Apostles according to Christ's promise (cf. Acts 1:8).
The image of Mary given us by St. Luke presents Our Lady as a model for every believer who keeps and confronts Jesus' words and actions, a confrontation that always involves a growth in the knowledge of Jesus. In the wake of Blessed Pope John Paul II (cf. Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae) we may say that the prayer of the rosary draws its model from Mary, since it consists in contemplating Christ's Mysteries in spiritual union with the Mother of the Lord.
Mary's ability to live by the gaze of God is, as it were, contagious. The first to experience this was St. Joseph. His humble and sincere love for his betrothed, and the decision to unite his life to Mary's, also attracted and introduced him who was already a "just man" (Matthew 1:19) into unique intimacy with God. In fact, with Mary -- and above all, with Jesus -- he enters into a new way of relating to God, of welcoming Him into his own life, of entering into His plan of salvation, by fulfilling His will. After having trustingly followed the Angel's instructions -- "do not fear to take Mary your wife" (Matthew 1:20) -- he took Mary to himself and shared his life with her; he truly gave himself totally to Mary and to Jesus, and this led him toward the perfect response to the vocation he had received.
The Gospel, as we know, has not preserved any of Joseph's words: His is a silent but faithful, constant and active presence. We may imagine that he also, like his spouse, and in intimate harmony with her, lived the years of Jesus' childhood and adolescence savoring, as it were, His presence in their family. Joseph completely fulfilled his paternal role in every respect. Certainly, he educated Jesus in prayer, together with Mary. He, in a particular way, would have taken [Jesus] with him to the synagogue for the Sabbath rituals, as well as to Jerusalem, for the great feasts of the people of Israel. Joseph -- according to Hebrew tradition -- would have guided family prayer both in daily life -- in the morning, in the evening, at meals -- as well as in the major religious celebrations. Thus, in the rhythm of the days spent in Nazareth, between their simple dwelling and Joseph's workshop, Jesus learned to alternate prayer and work, and also to offer to God the struggle of earning the bread the family needed.
And lastly, another episode that sees the Holy Family of Nazareth gathered together in prayer: Jesus, we heard -- at the age of 12 -- went with his parents to the temple in Jerusalem. As St. Luke emphasizes, this episode occurs within the context of the pilgrimage: "His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom" (2:41-42).
The pilgrimage is a religious expression that is at once nourished by prayer, and [in turn] nourishes it. Here we are speaking of the Passover pilgrimage, and the Evangelist has us observe that Jesus' family takes part in it each year so that they might participate in the rituals in the Holy City. The Hebrew family, like the Christian family, prays in the intimacy of the home, but also prays together with the community -- seeing themselves as part of the pilgrim people of God -- and the pilgrimage expresses precisely the People of God being on a journey. The Passover is the center and summit of it all, and involves the family dimension as well as that of the liturgical and public cult.
In the episode of the 12-year-old Jesus, Jesus' first words are also recorded: "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (2:49). After searching for three days, His parents find him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers while he listens to them and asks them questions (cf. 2:46). When asked why He did this to His father and mother, He responds that He only did what a Son should do: that is, be near the Father. In this way, He indicates who the true Father is, what the true home is, that He did nothing strange or disobedient. He remained where the Son had to be, that is, close to the Father, and He emphasizes who His Father is.
The word "Father" dominates the focus of this response and the whole Christological mystery appears. This word, therefore, opens the mystery; it is the key to the mystery of Christ, who is the Son, and it also opens the key to our mystery as Christians -- we who are sons in the Son. At the same time, Jesus teaches us how to be sons -- precisely by being with the Father in prayer. The Christological mystery, the mystery of Christian existence, is intimately bound to, and founded upon prayer. Jesus will one day teach His disciples to pray, telling them: when you pray, say "Father." And, naturally, do not say it only with a word, say it with your lives, learn more and more to say with your whole existence: "Father" -- thus will you be true sons in the Son, true Christians.
Here, when Jesus is still fully a part of the life of the Family of Nazareth, it is important to note the resonance that hearing the word "Father" from Jesus' mouth would have had in the hearts of Mary and Joseph, [to hear Him] reveal and emphasize who the Father is, and to hear this word spoken from His mouth in the awareness of the Only Begotten Son, who on this account willed to remain for three days in the temple, which is the "Father's house."
From then on, we may imagine, life in the Holy Family was filled even more with prayer, since from the heart of the Child Jesus -- and then from the adolescent and young man -- this profound sense of relationship with God the Father unceasingly poured forth and was reflected in the hearts of Mary and Joseph. This episode shows us the true situation, the atmosphere of being with the Father. Thus, the Family of Nazareth is the first model of the Church, in which -- gathered around the presence of Jesus and thanks to His mediation -- everyone lives the filial relation with God the Father, which also transforms human interpersonal relationships.
Dear friends, on account of the various aspects I have briefly traced out in the light of the Gospel, the Holy Family is the icon of the domestic Church, which is called to pray together. The family is the domestic Church and must be the first school of prayer. In the family, children -- from the most tender age -- can learn to perceive the sense of God, thanks to their parents' teaching and example: to live in an atmosphere marked by the presence of God. An authentically Christian education cannot prescind from the experience of prayer. If we do not learn how to pray within the family, it will be difficult to fill this void. And for this reason, I would like to address to you the invitation to rediscover the beauty of praying together as a family in the school of the Holy Family of Nazareth. In this way, will you truly become but one heart and mind, a true family. Thank you.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Papal Address to Engaged Couples
"Educate Yourselves Henceforth in the Liberty of Fidelity"
- Here is a translation of the address to engaged couples that Benedict XVI gave Sunday during his visit to Ancona. He made a one-day trip to the Italian port city for the close of the 25th Italian National Eucharistic Congress.
* * *
Dear engaged couples,
I am happy to conclude this intense day, the culmination of the National Eucharistic Congress, by meeting with you, almost as though wishing to entrust the legacy of this event of grace to your young lives. Moreover, the Eucharist, Christ's gift for the salvation of the world, points to and contains the truest dimension of the experience you are living: the love of Christ as the plenitude of human love. I thank the archbishop of Ancona-Osimo, Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli, for his cordial greeting, and all of you for your lively participation; thank you also for the words you addressed to me and which I receive trusting in the Lord Jesus' presence in our midst: He alone has words of eternal life, words of life for you and for your future!
The questions you pose, in the present social context, take on an even greater weight. I would like to give you just one guideline as an answer. For these aspects, ours is not an easy time, above all for you young people. The table is full of many delicious things, but, as in the Gospel episode of the Wedding of Cana, it seems that wine is lacking from the celebration. Above all, the difficulty of finding stable work spreads a veil of uncertainty over the future. This condition contributes to [people choosing to] leave definitive commitments for later, and influences the growth of society in a negative way. Society is not able to appreciate fully the wealth of energies, competencies and creativity of your generation.
The wine of celebration is also lacking from a culture that tends to put aside clear moral criteria: In this disorientation, everyone is seen striving to move in an individual and autonomous way, often only within the perimeter of the present. The fragmentation of the communal fabric is reflected in a relativism that hides essential values; a consonance in sensations, states of mind and emotions seems more important than sharing a plan of life. Also fundamental decisions become vulnerable, exposed to a perennial revocability, which often is considered an expression of liberty, though actually, it points rather to a lack of liberty. The apparent exaltation of the body belongs also to a culture deprived of the wine of celebration, [an apparent exaltation] which in reality trivializes sexuality and tends to make it exist outside a context of communion of life and love.
Dear young people, do not be afraid to face these challenges! Never lose hope. Have courage, also in difficulties, remaining firm in the faith. Be sure that, in every circumstance, you are loved and protected by the love of God, which is our strength. Because of this, it is important that an encounter with him, above all in personal and community prayer, be constant, faithful -- precisely as the path for your love: to love God and to feel that he loves me. Nothing can separate us from the love of God!
Be sure, moreover, that the Church is also close to you, supports you, and does not fail to regard you with great confidence. She knows that you are thirsty for values, the true values upon which it is worthwhile to build your home. The value of faith, of the person, of the family, of human relations, of justice. Do not lose courage in face of the needs that seem to extinguish joy at the table of life. At the Wedding of Cana, when wine was lacking, Mary invited the servants to go to Jesus and she gave them a precise indication: "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). Treasure these words, the last of Mary's taken up in the Gospels -- virtually a spiritual testament -- and you will always have the joy of the celebration: Jesus is the wine of the celebration!
As engaged couples you are living a unique stage, which opens to the wonder of encounter and which makes one discover the beauty of existing and of being precious to someone, of being able to say to one another: You are important to me. Live this path with intensity, gradualness and truth. Do not give up on pursuing the lofty ideal of love, which is a reflection and testimony of the love of God!
But, how should this phase of your life be lived? How can you give a witness of love in the community? I would like to suggest to you first of all that you avoid enclosing yourselves in intimate relations, which are falsely tranquilizing; instead, make your relationship become leaven in an active and responsible presence in the community. Moreover, do not forget that to be genuine, love also requires a journey of maturing: beginning from the initial attraction and "feeling well" with the other, educate yourselves to "love well," to "want the good" of the other. Love lives from gratuitousness, self-sacrifice, forgiveness and respect for the other.
Dear friends, all human love is a sign of the eternal Love that has created us, and whose grace sanctifies the decision of a man and a woman to give themselves reciprocally to the life of matrimony. Live this time of engagement in confident waiting for this gift, which must be received by following a path of knowledge, respect, and attentions that you must never neglect. Only under this condition will the language of love become meaningful also with the passing of the years. Hence, educate yourselves henceforth in the liberty of fidelity, which leads to protecting one another, to the point of the one living for the other. Prepare yourselves to choose with conviction the "for ever" that distinguishes love: indissolubility, more than a condition, is a gift that must be desired, requested and lived, beyond any changing human situation. And do not think, along with the widespread mentality, that living together is a guarantee for the future. If you skip the steps of intimacy, which require respect for time and a gradual progression of expressions, you will “get burned” in love; love needs room for Christ, who is capable of making a human love faithful, happy and indissoluble. The fidelity and enduring nature of your love will also make you capable of being open to life, of being parents: The stability of your union in the sacrament of matrimony will enable the children that God wishes to give you to grow confident in the goodness of life. Fidelity, indissolubility and transmission of life are the pillars of every family, a true common good, a precious patrimony for the whole society. Henceforth, found on them your path to matrimony and give witness of this to your contemporaries: This is a precious service! Be grateful to those who with commitment, competence and willingness accompany you in formation: They are the sign of the attention and care that the Christian community reserves for you. You are not alone: Seek and receive in the first place the company of the Church.
I would like to return again to an essential point: the experience of love has within itself a tension toward God. True love promises the infinite! Hence, make of this time of preparation for matrimony an itinerary of faith: Rediscover for your life as a couple the centrality of Jesus Christ and of walking with the Church. Mary teaches us that the good of each one depends on listening with docility to the word of the Son. In those who trust in him, the water of daily life is transformed into the wine of a love that makes life good, beautiful and fruitful. Cana, in fact, is a proclamation and anticipation of the gift of the new wine of the Eucharist, the sacrifice and banquet in which the Lord reaches us, renews us and transforms us. Do not neglect the vital importance of this encounter; may the Sunday liturgical assembly find you active participants: From the Eucharist springs the Christian meaning of existence and a new way of living (cf. postsynodal apostolic exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis," 72-73). Hence, do not be afraid to take on the committed responsibility of the conjugal choice; do not fear to enter into this "great mystery," in which two persons become one flesh (cf. Ephesians 5:31-32).
Very dear young people, I entrust you to the protection of St. Joseph and Mary Most Holy; following the invitation of the Virgin Mother "Do whatever he tells you," you will not lack the pleasure of the real celebration and you will be able to take the best "wine," the one that Christ gives for the Church and for the world.
I would like to tell you that I am also close to you and to those, like you, who live this wonderful journey of love. I bless you with all my heart!
- Here is a translation of the address to engaged couples that Benedict XVI gave Sunday during his visit to Ancona. He made a one-day trip to the Italian port city for the close of the 25th Italian National Eucharistic Congress.
* * *
Dear engaged couples,
I am happy to conclude this intense day, the culmination of the National Eucharistic Congress, by meeting with you, almost as though wishing to entrust the legacy of this event of grace to your young lives. Moreover, the Eucharist, Christ's gift for the salvation of the world, points to and contains the truest dimension of the experience you are living: the love of Christ as the plenitude of human love. I thank the archbishop of Ancona-Osimo, Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli, for his cordial greeting, and all of you for your lively participation; thank you also for the words you addressed to me and which I receive trusting in the Lord Jesus' presence in our midst: He alone has words of eternal life, words of life for you and for your future!
The questions you pose, in the present social context, take on an even greater weight. I would like to give you just one guideline as an answer. For these aspects, ours is not an easy time, above all for you young people. The table is full of many delicious things, but, as in the Gospel episode of the Wedding of Cana, it seems that wine is lacking from the celebration. Above all, the difficulty of finding stable work spreads a veil of uncertainty over the future. This condition contributes to [people choosing to] leave definitive commitments for later, and influences the growth of society in a negative way. Society is not able to appreciate fully the wealth of energies, competencies and creativity of your generation.
The wine of celebration is also lacking from a culture that tends to put aside clear moral criteria: In this disorientation, everyone is seen striving to move in an individual and autonomous way, often only within the perimeter of the present. The fragmentation of the communal fabric is reflected in a relativism that hides essential values; a consonance in sensations, states of mind and emotions seems more important than sharing a plan of life. Also fundamental decisions become vulnerable, exposed to a perennial revocability, which often is considered an expression of liberty, though actually, it points rather to a lack of liberty. The apparent exaltation of the body belongs also to a culture deprived of the wine of celebration, [an apparent exaltation] which in reality trivializes sexuality and tends to make it exist outside a context of communion of life and love.
Dear young people, do not be afraid to face these challenges! Never lose hope. Have courage, also in difficulties, remaining firm in the faith. Be sure that, in every circumstance, you are loved and protected by the love of God, which is our strength. Because of this, it is important that an encounter with him, above all in personal and community prayer, be constant, faithful -- precisely as the path for your love: to love God and to feel that he loves me. Nothing can separate us from the love of God!
Be sure, moreover, that the Church is also close to you, supports you, and does not fail to regard you with great confidence. She knows that you are thirsty for values, the true values upon which it is worthwhile to build your home. The value of faith, of the person, of the family, of human relations, of justice. Do not lose courage in face of the needs that seem to extinguish joy at the table of life. At the Wedding of Cana, when wine was lacking, Mary invited the servants to go to Jesus and she gave them a precise indication: "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). Treasure these words, the last of Mary's taken up in the Gospels -- virtually a spiritual testament -- and you will always have the joy of the celebration: Jesus is the wine of the celebration!
As engaged couples you are living a unique stage, which opens to the wonder of encounter and which makes one discover the beauty of existing and of being precious to someone, of being able to say to one another: You are important to me. Live this path with intensity, gradualness and truth. Do not give up on pursuing the lofty ideal of love, which is a reflection and testimony of the love of God!
But, how should this phase of your life be lived? How can you give a witness of love in the community? I would like to suggest to you first of all that you avoid enclosing yourselves in intimate relations, which are falsely tranquilizing; instead, make your relationship become leaven in an active and responsible presence in the community. Moreover, do not forget that to be genuine, love also requires a journey of maturing: beginning from the initial attraction and "feeling well" with the other, educate yourselves to "love well," to "want the good" of the other. Love lives from gratuitousness, self-sacrifice, forgiveness and respect for the other.
Dear friends, all human love is a sign of the eternal Love that has created us, and whose grace sanctifies the decision of a man and a woman to give themselves reciprocally to the life of matrimony. Live this time of engagement in confident waiting for this gift, which must be received by following a path of knowledge, respect, and attentions that you must never neglect. Only under this condition will the language of love become meaningful also with the passing of the years. Hence, educate yourselves henceforth in the liberty of fidelity, which leads to protecting one another, to the point of the one living for the other. Prepare yourselves to choose with conviction the "for ever" that distinguishes love: indissolubility, more than a condition, is a gift that must be desired, requested and lived, beyond any changing human situation. And do not think, along with the widespread mentality, that living together is a guarantee for the future. If you skip the steps of intimacy, which require respect for time and a gradual progression of expressions, you will “get burned” in love; love needs room for Christ, who is capable of making a human love faithful, happy and indissoluble. The fidelity and enduring nature of your love will also make you capable of being open to life, of being parents: The stability of your union in the sacrament of matrimony will enable the children that God wishes to give you to grow confident in the goodness of life. Fidelity, indissolubility and transmission of life are the pillars of every family, a true common good, a precious patrimony for the whole society. Henceforth, found on them your path to matrimony and give witness of this to your contemporaries: This is a precious service! Be grateful to those who with commitment, competence and willingness accompany you in formation: They are the sign of the attention and care that the Christian community reserves for you. You are not alone: Seek and receive in the first place the company of the Church.
I would like to return again to an essential point: the experience of love has within itself a tension toward God. True love promises the infinite! Hence, make of this time of preparation for matrimony an itinerary of faith: Rediscover for your life as a couple the centrality of Jesus Christ and of walking with the Church. Mary teaches us that the good of each one depends on listening with docility to the word of the Son. In those who trust in him, the water of daily life is transformed into the wine of a love that makes life good, beautiful and fruitful. Cana, in fact, is a proclamation and anticipation of the gift of the new wine of the Eucharist, the sacrifice and banquet in which the Lord reaches us, renews us and transforms us. Do not neglect the vital importance of this encounter; may the Sunday liturgical assembly find you active participants: From the Eucharist springs the Christian meaning of existence and a new way of living (cf. postsynodal apostolic exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis," 72-73). Hence, do not be afraid to take on the committed responsibility of the conjugal choice; do not fear to enter into this "great mystery," in which two persons become one flesh (cf. Ephesians 5:31-32).
Very dear young people, I entrust you to the protection of St. Joseph and Mary Most Holy; following the invitation of the Virgin Mother "Do whatever he tells you," you will not lack the pleasure of the real celebration and you will be able to take the best "wine," the one that Christ gives for the Church and for the world.
I would like to tell you that I am also close to you and to those, like you, who live this wonderful journey of love. I bless you with all my heart!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
On the Holy Family
"That Every Child Coming Into the World Be Welcomed by the Warmth of a Family"
- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave Dec. 26 before praying the midday Angelus together with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The Gospel according to Luke recounts that when the shepherds of Bethlehem had received the Angel's announcement of the Messiah's birth "they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger" (2:16). The first eyewitnesses of Jesus' birth therefore beheld a family scene: a mother, a father and a newborn son. For this reason the Liturgy has us celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family on the First Sunday after Christmas. This year it occurred the very day after Christmas, and, taking precedence over the Feast of St Stephen, invites us to contemplate this "icon" in which the little Jesus appears at the centre of his parents' affection and care.
In the poor grotto of Bethlehem -- the Fathers of the Church wrote -- shines a very bright light, a reflection of the profound mystery which envelopes that Child, which Mary and Joseph cherish in their hearts and which can be seen in their expression, in their actions, and especially in their silence. Indeed, they preserve in their inmost depths the words of the Angel's Annunciation to Mary: "the Child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God" (Lk 1:35).
Yet every child's birth brings something of this mystery with it! Parents who receive a child as a gift know this well and often speak of it in this way. We have all heard people say to a father and a mother: "this child is a gift, a miracle!". Indeed, human beings do not experience procreation merely as a reproductive act but perceive its richness and intuit that every human creature who is born on earth is the "sign" par excellence of the Creator and Father who is in Heaven.
How important it is, therefore, that every child coming into the world be welcomed by the warmth of a family! External comforts do not matter: Jesus was born in a stable and had a manger as his first cradle, but the love of Mary and of Joseph made him feel the tenderness and beauty of being loved. Children need this: the love of their father and mother. It is this that gives them security and, as they grow, enables them to discover the meaning of life. The Holy Family of Nazareth went through many trials, such as the "massacre of the innocents" -- as recounted in the Gospel according to Matthew -- which obliged Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt (cf. 2:13-23). Yet, trusting in divine Providence, they found their stability and guaranteed Jesus a serene childhood and a sound upbringing.
Dear friends, the Holy Family is of course unique and unrepeatable, but at the same time it is a "model of life" for every family because Jesus, true man, chose to be born into a human family and thereby blessed and consecrated it. Let us therefore entrust all families to Our Lady and to St Joseph, so that they do not lose heart in the face of trials and difficulties but always cultivate conjugal love and devote themselves with trust to the service of life and education.
- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave Dec. 26 before praying the midday Angelus together with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The Gospel according to Luke recounts that when the shepherds of Bethlehem had received the Angel's announcement of the Messiah's birth "they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger" (2:16). The first eyewitnesses of Jesus' birth therefore beheld a family scene: a mother, a father and a newborn son. For this reason the Liturgy has us celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family on the First Sunday after Christmas. This year it occurred the very day after Christmas, and, taking precedence over the Feast of St Stephen, invites us to contemplate this "icon" in which the little Jesus appears at the centre of his parents' affection and care.
In the poor grotto of Bethlehem -- the Fathers of the Church wrote -- shines a very bright light, a reflection of the profound mystery which envelopes that Child, which Mary and Joseph cherish in their hearts and which can be seen in their expression, in their actions, and especially in their silence. Indeed, they preserve in their inmost depths the words of the Angel's Annunciation to Mary: "the Child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God" (Lk 1:35).
Yet every child's birth brings something of this mystery with it! Parents who receive a child as a gift know this well and often speak of it in this way. We have all heard people say to a father and a mother: "this child is a gift, a miracle!". Indeed, human beings do not experience procreation merely as a reproductive act but perceive its richness and intuit that every human creature who is born on earth is the "sign" par excellence of the Creator and Father who is in Heaven.
How important it is, therefore, that every child coming into the world be welcomed by the warmth of a family! External comforts do not matter: Jesus was born in a stable and had a manger as his first cradle, but the love of Mary and of Joseph made him feel the tenderness and beauty of being loved. Children need this: the love of their father and mother. It is this that gives them security and, as they grow, enables them to discover the meaning of life. The Holy Family of Nazareth went through many trials, such as the "massacre of the innocents" -- as recounted in the Gospel according to Matthew -- which obliged Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt (cf. 2:13-23). Yet, trusting in divine Providence, they found their stability and guaranteed Jesus a serene childhood and a sound upbringing.
Dear friends, the Holy Family is of course unique and unrepeatable, but at the same time it is a "model of life" for every family because Jesus, true man, chose to be born into a human family and thereby blessed and consecrated it. Let us therefore entrust all families to Our Lady and to St Joseph, so that they do not lose heart in the face of trials and difficulties but always cultivate conjugal love and devote themselves with trust to the service of life and education.
Friday, December 24, 2010
On Christmas: Where Everything Began
"May the Christ Child Find All of Us Spiritually Prepared"
- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience in Paul VI Hall.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
With this last audience before the Christmas celebrations, tremulous and full of astonishment, we approach the "place" where everything began for us and for our salvation, where everything found its fulfillment, where the hopes of the world and of the human heart met and interlaced with the presence of God.
We can already have a foretaste of the joy awakened by the little light that is perceived, which from the grotto of Bethlehem begins to radiate in the world. In the Advent journey, which the liturgy has invited us to live, we have been prepared to receive readily and gratefully the great event of the coming of the Savior, to contemplate in wonder his entrance in the world.
Joyful hope, characteristic of the days that precede Holy Christmas, is certainly the essential attitude of the Christian who desires to live fruitfully the renewed encounter with him who comes to dwell in our midst: Christ Jesus, the Son of God made man. We find this disposition of the heart again, and make it our own, in those who first welcomed the coming of the Messiah: Zachariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, the simple folk, and especially Mary and Joseph, who themselves felt the tremor, but above all the joy over the mystery of this birth.
The whole of the Old Testament is one great promise, which would be realized with the coming of a powerful Savior. The book of the Prophet Isaiah is a particular witness of this, as it speaks to us of the sufferings of history and of the whole of creation for a redemption destined to give back new energies and a new orientation to the whole world. Thus, next to the expectation of the personalities of sacred Scripture, our hope also finds space and meaning through the centuries, a hope which we are experiencing these days and which keeps us going during the whole of our life's journey. In fact, the whole of human existence is animated by this profound sentiment, by the desire that what is most true, most beautiful and greatest, which we have perceived and intuited with our mind and heart, can come to meet us and become concrete before our eyes and raise us again.
"Behold, the omnipotent Lord is coming: He will be called Emmanuel, 'God-with-us'" (Entrance Antiphon, Holy Mass of Dec. 21). During these days, we repeat these words often. In the time of the liturgy, which again actualizes the Mystery, he who is coming to save us from sin and death is already at the door, he who, after Adam's and Eve's disobedience, embraces us again and opens to us access to true life.
St. Irenaeus explains it in his treatise "Against the Heresies," when he states: "The Son of God himself descended 'in the likeness of sinful flesh' (Romans 8:3) to condemn sin and, after having condemned it, exclude it completely from the human race. He called man to likeness with himself, he made him imitator of God, he set him on the path indicated by the Father so that he could see God, and give him as gift to the Father himself" (III, 20, 2-3).
We see some of St. Irenaeus' favorite ideas, that God with the Child Jesus calls us to likeness with himself. We see how God is, and are thus reminded that we should be like God. That we must imitate him. God has given himself, God has given himself into our hands. We must imitate God. And finally, the idea that in this way we can see God. A central idea of St. Irenaeus: Man does not see God, he cannot see him, and so he is in darkness about the truth of himself. However man, who cannot see God, can see Jesus, and so he sees God, and begins to see the truth and thus begins to live.
Hence the Savior comes to reduce to impotence the work of evil and all that which can still keep us away from God, to restore to us the ancient splendor and primitive paternity. With his coming among us, he indicates to us and also assigns to us a task: precisely that we be like him and that we tend toward true life, to come to the vision of God in the face of Christ. St. Irenaeus affirms again: "The Word of God made his dwelling among men and made himself Son of man, to accustom man to understand God and to accustom God to dwell in man according to the will of the Father. That is why God gave us as 'sign' of our salvation him who, born of the Virgin, is the Emmanuel" (ibid.). Here also there is a very beautiful central idea of St. Irenaeus: We must accustom ourselves to perceive God. God is generally distant from our lives, from our ideas, from our action. He has come to us and we must accustom ourselves to be with God. And, audaciously, Irenaeus dares to say that God must also accustom himself to be with us and in us. And that God perhaps should accompany us at Christmas, accustom ourselves to God, as God must accustom himself to us, to our poverty and frailty. Hence, the coming of the Lord can have no objective other than to teach us to see and love events, the world, and everything that surrounds us with the very eyes of God. The Word-become-a-child helps us to understand God's way of acting, so that we will be capable of allowing ourselves to be transformed increasingly by his goodness and his infinite mercy.
In the night of the world, we must let ourselves be amazed and illumined by this act of God, which is totally unexpected: God becomes a Child. We must let ourselves be amazed, illumined by the Star that inundated the universe with joy. May the Child Jesus, in coming to us, not find us unprepared, busy only in making the exterior reality more beautiful and attractive. May the care we give to making our streets and homes more resplendent impel us even more to predispose our soul to encounter him who will come to visit us. Let us purify our conscience and our life of what is contrary to this coming: thoughts, words, attitudes and deeds -- impelling us to do good and to contribute to bring about in our world peace and justice for every man and thus walk toward our encounter with the Lord.
A characteristic sign of Christmastide is the nativity scene. Also in St. Peter's Square, in keeping with custom, it is almost ready and appears ideally over Rome and over the whole world, representing the beauty of the Mystery of God who became man and dwelt among us (cf. John 1:14). The crib is an expression of our expectation that God will come close to us, that Jesus will come close to us, but also thanksgiving for him who decided to share our human condition, in poverty and simplicity. I am happy because the tradition of preparing the crib in homes, in workplaces, in meeting places, remains alive and is even being rediscovered. May this genuine witness of Christian faith be able to offer also today for all men of good will an eloquent icon of the infinite love of the Father for us all. May the hearts of children and adults still be able to be amazed before him.
Dear brothers and sisters, may the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph help us to live the Mystery of Christmas with renewed gratitude to the Lord. In the midst of the frenetic activity of our days, may this time give us some calm and joy and enable us to touch with our hand the goodness of our God, who became a Child to save us and to give new encouragement and light on our journey. This is my wish for a holy and happy Christmas: I address it affectionately to all of you here present, to your families, in particular to the sick and the suffering, as well as to your communities and your loved ones.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]
In these last days before Christmas, the Church invites us to contemplate the mystery of Christ's Birth and to receive the gift of his presence, which is the fulfillment of humanity's deepest hopes and expectations. We share in the quiet joy which filled the hearts of Mary and Joseph, and all those who first welcomed the promised Savior, who is Emmanuel, God-with-us. By taking our flesh, the Lord saved us from the sin of our first parents; now he bids us to become like him, to see the world through his eyes and to let our hearts be transformed by his infinite goodness and mercy. This Christmas, may the Christ Child find all of us spiritually prepared for his coming. The traditional Christmas crib, which families prepare in these days, is an eloquent sign of our expectation of the Lord who comes. May the wonderment that the crib evokes in children and adults alike bring us closer to the mystery of God's love revealed in the incarnation of his beloved Son. Let us ask the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph to help us contemplate this great mystery with renewed joy and gratitude.
- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience in Paul VI Hall.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
With this last audience before the Christmas celebrations, tremulous and full of astonishment, we approach the "place" where everything began for us and for our salvation, where everything found its fulfillment, where the hopes of the world and of the human heart met and interlaced with the presence of God.
We can already have a foretaste of the joy awakened by the little light that is perceived, which from the grotto of Bethlehem begins to radiate in the world. In the Advent journey, which the liturgy has invited us to live, we have been prepared to receive readily and gratefully the great event of the coming of the Savior, to contemplate in wonder his entrance in the world.
Joyful hope, characteristic of the days that precede Holy Christmas, is certainly the essential attitude of the Christian who desires to live fruitfully the renewed encounter with him who comes to dwell in our midst: Christ Jesus, the Son of God made man. We find this disposition of the heart again, and make it our own, in those who first welcomed the coming of the Messiah: Zachariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, the simple folk, and especially Mary and Joseph, who themselves felt the tremor, but above all the joy over the mystery of this birth.
The whole of the Old Testament is one great promise, which would be realized with the coming of a powerful Savior. The book of the Prophet Isaiah is a particular witness of this, as it speaks to us of the sufferings of history and of the whole of creation for a redemption destined to give back new energies and a new orientation to the whole world. Thus, next to the expectation of the personalities of sacred Scripture, our hope also finds space and meaning through the centuries, a hope which we are experiencing these days and which keeps us going during the whole of our life's journey. In fact, the whole of human existence is animated by this profound sentiment, by the desire that what is most true, most beautiful and greatest, which we have perceived and intuited with our mind and heart, can come to meet us and become concrete before our eyes and raise us again.
"Behold, the omnipotent Lord is coming: He will be called Emmanuel, 'God-with-us'" (Entrance Antiphon, Holy Mass of Dec. 21). During these days, we repeat these words often. In the time of the liturgy, which again actualizes the Mystery, he who is coming to save us from sin and death is already at the door, he who, after Adam's and Eve's disobedience, embraces us again and opens to us access to true life.
St. Irenaeus explains it in his treatise "Against the Heresies," when he states: "The Son of God himself descended 'in the likeness of sinful flesh' (Romans 8:3) to condemn sin and, after having condemned it, exclude it completely from the human race. He called man to likeness with himself, he made him imitator of God, he set him on the path indicated by the Father so that he could see God, and give him as gift to the Father himself" (III, 20, 2-3).
We see some of St. Irenaeus' favorite ideas, that God with the Child Jesus calls us to likeness with himself. We see how God is, and are thus reminded that we should be like God. That we must imitate him. God has given himself, God has given himself into our hands. We must imitate God. And finally, the idea that in this way we can see God. A central idea of St. Irenaeus: Man does not see God, he cannot see him, and so he is in darkness about the truth of himself. However man, who cannot see God, can see Jesus, and so he sees God, and begins to see the truth and thus begins to live.
Hence the Savior comes to reduce to impotence the work of evil and all that which can still keep us away from God, to restore to us the ancient splendor and primitive paternity. With his coming among us, he indicates to us and also assigns to us a task: precisely that we be like him and that we tend toward true life, to come to the vision of God in the face of Christ. St. Irenaeus affirms again: "The Word of God made his dwelling among men and made himself Son of man, to accustom man to understand God and to accustom God to dwell in man according to the will of the Father. That is why God gave us as 'sign' of our salvation him who, born of the Virgin, is the Emmanuel" (ibid.). Here also there is a very beautiful central idea of St. Irenaeus: We must accustom ourselves to perceive God. God is generally distant from our lives, from our ideas, from our action. He has come to us and we must accustom ourselves to be with God. And, audaciously, Irenaeus dares to say that God must also accustom himself to be with us and in us. And that God perhaps should accompany us at Christmas, accustom ourselves to God, as God must accustom himself to us, to our poverty and frailty. Hence, the coming of the Lord can have no objective other than to teach us to see and love events, the world, and everything that surrounds us with the very eyes of God. The Word-become-a-child helps us to understand God's way of acting, so that we will be capable of allowing ourselves to be transformed increasingly by his goodness and his infinite mercy.
In the night of the world, we must let ourselves be amazed and illumined by this act of God, which is totally unexpected: God becomes a Child. We must let ourselves be amazed, illumined by the Star that inundated the universe with joy. May the Child Jesus, in coming to us, not find us unprepared, busy only in making the exterior reality more beautiful and attractive. May the care we give to making our streets and homes more resplendent impel us even more to predispose our soul to encounter him who will come to visit us. Let us purify our conscience and our life of what is contrary to this coming: thoughts, words, attitudes and deeds -- impelling us to do good and to contribute to bring about in our world peace and justice for every man and thus walk toward our encounter with the Lord.
A characteristic sign of Christmastide is the nativity scene. Also in St. Peter's Square, in keeping with custom, it is almost ready and appears ideally over Rome and over the whole world, representing the beauty of the Mystery of God who became man and dwelt among us (cf. John 1:14). The crib is an expression of our expectation that God will come close to us, that Jesus will come close to us, but also thanksgiving for him who decided to share our human condition, in poverty and simplicity. I am happy because the tradition of preparing the crib in homes, in workplaces, in meeting places, remains alive and is even being rediscovered. May this genuine witness of Christian faith be able to offer also today for all men of good will an eloquent icon of the infinite love of the Father for us all. May the hearts of children and adults still be able to be amazed before him.
Dear brothers and sisters, may the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph help us to live the Mystery of Christmas with renewed gratitude to the Lord. In the midst of the frenetic activity of our days, may this time give us some calm and joy and enable us to touch with our hand the goodness of our God, who became a Child to save us and to give new encouragement and light on our journey. This is my wish for a holy and happy Christmas: I address it affectionately to all of you here present, to your families, in particular to the sick and the suffering, as well as to your communities and your loved ones.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]
In these last days before Christmas, the Church invites us to contemplate the mystery of Christ's Birth and to receive the gift of his presence, which is the fulfillment of humanity's deepest hopes and expectations. We share in the quiet joy which filled the hearts of Mary and Joseph, and all those who first welcomed the promised Savior, who is Emmanuel, God-with-us. By taking our flesh, the Lord saved us from the sin of our first parents; now he bids us to become like him, to see the world through his eyes and to let our hearts be transformed by his infinite goodness and mercy. This Christmas, may the Christ Child find all of us spiritually prepared for his coming. The traditional Christmas crib, which families prepare in these days, is an eloquent sign of our expectation of the Lord who comes. May the wonderment that the crib evokes in children and adults alike bring us closer to the mystery of God's love revealed in the incarnation of his beloved Son. Let us ask the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph to help us contemplate this great mystery with renewed joy and gratitude.
Monday, June 8, 2009
On the Holy Trinity
"Inexhaustible Font of Life That Unceasingly Gives Itself"
Reading this address this morning at the House of Formation was very enlightening since it explains in a very brief manner Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Trinitarian conception of God's Creation and of the entire world, a vision rooted in the Divine Communion of Love revealed by Jesus, throughout his life, and in his founding of the Catholic Church, which is a real sacramental manifestation of this Communion of Love for the world. Very important address.
- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Following Eastertide, which culminates with the feast of Pentecost, the liturgy foresees these three solemnities of the Lord: today, the Most Holy Trinity; on Thursday, that of Corpus Domini, which, in many countries, Italy among them, is celebrated next Sunday; finally, on Friday in two weeks, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Each one of these liturgical observances manifests a perspective from which the whole mystery of the Christian faith is embraced: respectively, the reality of God one and three, the sacrament of the Eucharist and the divine-human center of the Person of Christ. They are in truth aspects of the one mystery of salvation, which, in a certain sense, summarize the whole path of the revelation of Jesus, from the incarnation to the death and resurrection to the ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Today we contemplate the Most Holy Trinity as it was made know to us by Jesus. He revealed to us that God is love “not in the unity of a single person, but in the Trinity of a single substance” (Preface): the Trinity is Creator and merciful Father; Only Begotten Son, eternal Wisdom incarnate, dead and risen for us; it is finally the Holy Spirit, who moves everything, cosmos and history, toward the final recapitulation. Three Persons who are one God because the Father is love, the Son is love, the Spirit is love. God is love and only love, most pure, infinite and eternal love. The Trinity does not live in a splendid solitude, but is rather inexhaustible font of life that unceasingly gives itself and communicates itself.
We can in some way intuit this, whether we observe the macro-universe: our earth, the planets, the stars, the galaxies; or the micro-universe: cells, atoms, elementary particles. The “name” of the Most Holy Trinity is in a certain way impressed upon everything that exists, because everything that exists, down to the least particle, is a being in relation, and thus God-relation shines forth, ultimately creative Love shines forth. All comes from love, tends toward love, and is moved by love, naturally, according to different grades of consciousness and freedom. “O Lord, our Lord, / how wondrous is your name over all the earth!” (Psalm 8:2) -- the Psalmist exclaims. In speaking of the “name” the Bible indicates God himself, his truest identity; an identity that shines forth in the whole of creation, where every being, by the very fact of existing and by the “fabric” of which it is made, refers to a transcendent Principle, to eternal and infinite Life that gives itself, in a word: to Love. “In him,” St. Paul says, on the Areopagus in Athens, “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The strongest proof that we are made in the image of the Trinity is this: only love makes us happy, because we live in relation, and we live to love and be loved. Using an analogy suggested by biology, we could say the human “genome” is profoundly imprinted with the Trinity, of God-Love.
The Virgin Mary, in her docile humility, made herself the handmaid of divine Love: she accepted the will of the Father and conceived the Son by the work of the Holy Spirit. In her omnipotence made a temple worthy of himself, and made her the model and image of the Church, mystery and house of communion for all men. May Mary, mirror of the Most Holy Trinity, help us to grow in the faith of the Trinitarian mystery.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various languages. In English he said:]
I extend cordial greetings to all the English-speaking pilgrims here today on this feast of the Most Holy Trinity, especially the members of the Holy Trinity Prayer Group from Texas. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, and with your families and loved ones at home. And may your stay in Rome strengthen your faith, fill you with hope in God’s promises and inflame your hearts with his love. God bless all of you!
Reading this address this morning at the House of Formation was very enlightening since it explains in a very brief manner Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Trinitarian conception of God's Creation and of the entire world, a vision rooted in the Divine Communion of Love revealed by Jesus, throughout his life, and in his founding of the Catholic Church, which is a real sacramental manifestation of this Communion of Love for the world. Very important address.
- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Following Eastertide, which culminates with the feast of Pentecost, the liturgy foresees these three solemnities of the Lord: today, the Most Holy Trinity; on Thursday, that of Corpus Domini, which, in many countries, Italy among them, is celebrated next Sunday; finally, on Friday in two weeks, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Each one of these liturgical observances manifests a perspective from which the whole mystery of the Christian faith is embraced: respectively, the reality of God one and three, the sacrament of the Eucharist and the divine-human center of the Person of Christ. They are in truth aspects of the one mystery of salvation, which, in a certain sense, summarize the whole path of the revelation of Jesus, from the incarnation to the death and resurrection to the ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Today we contemplate the Most Holy Trinity as it was made know to us by Jesus. He revealed to us that God is love “not in the unity of a single person, but in the Trinity of a single substance” (Preface): the Trinity is Creator and merciful Father; Only Begotten Son, eternal Wisdom incarnate, dead and risen for us; it is finally the Holy Spirit, who moves everything, cosmos and history, toward the final recapitulation. Three Persons who are one God because the Father is love, the Son is love, the Spirit is love. God is love and only love, most pure, infinite and eternal love. The Trinity does not live in a splendid solitude, but is rather inexhaustible font of life that unceasingly gives itself and communicates itself.
We can in some way intuit this, whether we observe the macro-universe: our earth, the planets, the stars, the galaxies; or the micro-universe: cells, atoms, elementary particles. The “name” of the Most Holy Trinity is in a certain way impressed upon everything that exists, because everything that exists, down to the least particle, is a being in relation, and thus God-relation shines forth, ultimately creative Love shines forth. All comes from love, tends toward love, and is moved by love, naturally, according to different grades of consciousness and freedom. “O Lord, our Lord, / how wondrous is your name over all the earth!” (Psalm 8:2) -- the Psalmist exclaims. In speaking of the “name” the Bible indicates God himself, his truest identity; an identity that shines forth in the whole of creation, where every being, by the very fact of existing and by the “fabric” of which it is made, refers to a transcendent Principle, to eternal and infinite Life that gives itself, in a word: to Love. “In him,” St. Paul says, on the Areopagus in Athens, “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The strongest proof that we are made in the image of the Trinity is this: only love makes us happy, because we live in relation, and we live to love and be loved. Using an analogy suggested by biology, we could say the human “genome” is profoundly imprinted with the Trinity, of God-Love.
The Virgin Mary, in her docile humility, made herself the handmaid of divine Love: she accepted the will of the Father and conceived the Son by the work of the Holy Spirit. In her omnipotence made a temple worthy of himself, and made her the model and image of the Church, mystery and house of communion for all men. May Mary, mirror of the Most Holy Trinity, help us to grow in the faith of the Trinitarian mystery.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various languages. In English he said:]
I extend cordial greetings to all the English-speaking pilgrims here today on this feast of the Most Holy Trinity, especially the members of the Holy Trinity Prayer Group from Texas. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, and with your families and loved ones at home. And may your stay in Rome strengthen your faith, fill you with hope in God’s promises and inflame your hearts with his love. God bless all of you!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Papal Homily on Nazareth's Mount of Precipice
"Children Have a Special Role to Play in the Growth of Their Parents in Holiness"
This is a very important homily the Holy Father gave while making his pilgrimage in the Holy Land. He again makes reference to the need for a new "ecology of man", a phrase he took up last at his Christmas greeting to the Roman Curia 2008.
- Here is the text of the homily Benedict XVI gave today on the Mount of Precipice in Nazareth, in a Mass that concluded the Year of the Family launched by the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
"May the peace of the Risen Christ reign in your hearts, for as members of the one body you have been called to that peace!" (Col 3:15). With these words of the Apostle Paul, I greet all of you with affection in the Lord. I rejoice to have come to Nazareth, the place blessed by the mystery of the Annunciation, the place which witnessed the hidden years of Christ's growth in wisdom, age and grace (cf. Lk 2:52). I thank Archbishop Elias Chacour for his kind words of welcome, and I embrace with the sign of peace my brother Bishops, the priests and religious, and all the faithful of Galilee, who, in the diversity of their rites and traditions, give expression to the universality of Christ's Church. In a special way I wish to thank all those who have helped to make this celebration possible, particularly those involved in the planning and construction of this new theatre with its splendid panorama of the city.
Here in the home town of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we have gathered to mark the conclusion of the Year of the Family celebrated by the Church in the Holy Land. As a sign of hope for the future I will bless the first stone of an International Center for the Family to be built in Nazareth. Let us pray that the Center will promote strong family life in this region, offer support and assistance to families everywhere, and encourage them in their irreplaceable mission to society.
This stage of my pilgrimage, I am confident, will draw the whole Church's attention to this town of Nazareth. All of us need, as Pope Paul VI said here, to return to Nazareth, to contemplate ever anew the silence and love of the Holy Family, the model of all Christian family life. Here, in the example of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, we come to appreciate even more fully the sacredness of the family, which in God's plan is based on the lifelong fidelity of a man and a woman consecrated by the marriage covenant and accepting of God's gift of new life. How much the men and women of our time need to reappropriate this fundamental truth, which stands at the foundation of society, and how important is the witness of married couples for the formation of sound consciences and the building of a civilization of love!
In today's first reading, drawn from the book of Sirach (3:3-7, 14-17), the word of God presents the family as the first school of wisdom, a school which trains its members in the practice of those virtues which make for authentic happiness and lasting fulfillment. In God's plan for the family, the love of husband and wife bears fruit in new life, and finds daily expression in the loving efforts of parents to ensure an integral human and spiritual formation for their children. In the family each person, whether the smallest child or the oldest relative, is valued for himself or herself, and not seen simply as a means to some other end. Here we begin to glimpse something of the essential role of the family as the first building-block of a well-ordered and welcoming society. We also come to appreciate, within the wider community, the duty of the State to support families in their mission of education, to protect the institution of the family and its inherent rights, and to ensure that all families can live and flourish in conditions of dignity.
The Apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians, speaks instinctively of the family when he wishes to illustrate the virtues which build up the "one body" which is the Church. As "God's chosen ones, holy and beloved", we are called to live in harmony and peace with one another, showing above all forbearance and forgiveness, with love as the highest bond of perfection (cf. Col 3:12-14). Just as in the marriage covenant, the love of man and woman is raised by grace to become a sharing in, and an expression of, the love of Christ and the Church (cf. Eph 5:32), so too the family, grounded in that love, is called to be a "domestic church", a place of faith, of prayer and of loving concern for the true and enduring good of each of its members.
As we reflect on these realities here, in the town of the Annunciation, our thoughts naturally turn to Mary, "full of grace", the mother of the Holy Family and our Mother. Nazareth reminds us of our need to acknowledge and respect the God-given dignity and proper role of women, as well as their particular charisms and talents. Whether as mothers in families, as a vital presence in the work force and the institutions of society, or in the particular vocation of following our Lord by the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, women have an indispensable role in creating that "human ecology" (cf. Centesimus Annus, 39) which our world, and this land, so urgently needs: a milieu in which children learn to love and to cherish others, to be honest and respectful to all, to practice the virtues of mercy and forgiveness.
Here too, we think of Saint Joseph, the just man whom God wished to place over his household. From Joseph's strong and fatherly example Jesus learned the virtues of a manly piety, fidelity to one's word, integrity and hard work. In the carpenter of Nazareth he saw how authority placed at the service of love is infinitely more fruitful than the power which seeks to dominate. How much our world needs the example, guidance and quiet strength of men like Joseph!
Finally, in contemplating the Holy Family of Nazareth, we turn to the child Jesus, who in the home of Mary and Joseph grew in wisdom and understanding, until the day he began his public ministry. Here I would simply like to leave a particular thought with the young people here. The Second Vatican Council teaches that children have a special role to play in the growth of their parents in holiness (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 48). I urge you to reflect on this, and to let the example of Jesus guide you, not only in showing respect for your parents, but also helping them to discover more fully the love which gives our lives their deepest meaning. In the Holy Family of Nazareth, it was Jesus who taught Mary and Joseph something of the greatness of the love of God his heavenly Father, the ultimate source of all love, the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name (cf. Eph 3:14-15).
Dear friends, in the Opening Prayer of today's Mass we asked the Father to "help us to live as the Holy Family, united in respect and love". Let us reaffirm here our commitment to be a leaven of respect and love in the world around us. This Mount of the Precipice reminds us, as it has generations of pilgrims, that our Lord's message was at times a source of contradiction and conflict with his hearers. Sadly, as the world knows, Nazareth has experienced tensions in recent years which have harmed relations between its Christian and Muslim communities. I urge people of good will in both communities to repair the damage that has been done, and in fidelity to our common belief in one God, the Father of the human family, to work to build bridges and find the way to a peaceful coexistence. Let everyone reject the destructive power of hatred and prejudice, which kills men's souls before it kills their bodies!
Allow me to conclude with a word of gratitude and praise for all those who strive to bring God's love to the children of this town, and to educate new generations in the ways of peace. I think in a special way of the local Churches, particularly in their schools and charitable institutions, to break down walls and to be a seedbed of encounter, dialogue, reconciliation and solidarity. I encourage the dedicated priests, religious, catechists and teachers, together with parents and all concerned for the good of our children, to persevere in bearing witness to the Gospel, to be confident in the triumph of goodness and truth, and to trust that God will give growth to every initiative which aims at the extension of his Kingdom of holiness, solidarity, justice and peace. At the same time I acknowledge with gratitude the solidarity which so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world show towards the faithful of the Holy Land by supporting the praiseworthy programs and activities of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
"Let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). May our Lady of the Annunciation, who courageously opened her heart to God's mysterious plan, and became the Mother of all believers, guide and sustain us by her prayers. May she obtain for us and our families the grace to open our ears to that word of the Lord which has the power to build us up (cf. Acts 20:32), to inspire courageous decisions, and to guide our feet into the path of peace!
© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
This is a very important homily the Holy Father gave while making his pilgrimage in the Holy Land. He again makes reference to the need for a new "ecology of man", a phrase he took up last at his Christmas greeting to the Roman Curia 2008.
- Here is the text of the homily Benedict XVI gave today on the Mount of Precipice in Nazareth, in a Mass that concluded the Year of the Family launched by the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
"May the peace of the Risen Christ reign in your hearts, for as members of the one body you have been called to that peace!" (Col 3:15). With these words of the Apostle Paul, I greet all of you with affection in the Lord. I rejoice to have come to Nazareth, the place blessed by the mystery of the Annunciation, the place which witnessed the hidden years of Christ's growth in wisdom, age and grace (cf. Lk 2:52). I thank Archbishop Elias Chacour for his kind words of welcome, and I embrace with the sign of peace my brother Bishops, the priests and religious, and all the faithful of Galilee, who, in the diversity of their rites and traditions, give expression to the universality of Christ's Church. In a special way I wish to thank all those who have helped to make this celebration possible, particularly those involved in the planning and construction of this new theatre with its splendid panorama of the city.
Here in the home town of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we have gathered to mark the conclusion of the Year of the Family celebrated by the Church in the Holy Land. As a sign of hope for the future I will bless the first stone of an International Center for the Family to be built in Nazareth. Let us pray that the Center will promote strong family life in this region, offer support and assistance to families everywhere, and encourage them in their irreplaceable mission to society.
This stage of my pilgrimage, I am confident, will draw the whole Church's attention to this town of Nazareth. All of us need, as Pope Paul VI said here, to return to Nazareth, to contemplate ever anew the silence and love of the Holy Family, the model of all Christian family life. Here, in the example of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, we come to appreciate even more fully the sacredness of the family, which in God's plan is based on the lifelong fidelity of a man and a woman consecrated by the marriage covenant and accepting of God's gift of new life. How much the men and women of our time need to reappropriate this fundamental truth, which stands at the foundation of society, and how important is the witness of married couples for the formation of sound consciences and the building of a civilization of love!
In today's first reading, drawn from the book of Sirach (3:3-7, 14-17), the word of God presents the family as the first school of wisdom, a school which trains its members in the practice of those virtues which make for authentic happiness and lasting fulfillment. In God's plan for the family, the love of husband and wife bears fruit in new life, and finds daily expression in the loving efforts of parents to ensure an integral human and spiritual formation for their children. In the family each person, whether the smallest child or the oldest relative, is valued for himself or herself, and not seen simply as a means to some other end. Here we begin to glimpse something of the essential role of the family as the first building-block of a well-ordered and welcoming society. We also come to appreciate, within the wider community, the duty of the State to support families in their mission of education, to protect the institution of the family and its inherent rights, and to ensure that all families can live and flourish in conditions of dignity.
The Apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians, speaks instinctively of the family when he wishes to illustrate the virtues which build up the "one body" which is the Church. As "God's chosen ones, holy and beloved", we are called to live in harmony and peace with one another, showing above all forbearance and forgiveness, with love as the highest bond of perfection (cf. Col 3:12-14). Just as in the marriage covenant, the love of man and woman is raised by grace to become a sharing in, and an expression of, the love of Christ and the Church (cf. Eph 5:32), so too the family, grounded in that love, is called to be a "domestic church", a place of faith, of prayer and of loving concern for the true and enduring good of each of its members.
As we reflect on these realities here, in the town of the Annunciation, our thoughts naturally turn to Mary, "full of grace", the mother of the Holy Family and our Mother. Nazareth reminds us of our need to acknowledge and respect the God-given dignity and proper role of women, as well as their particular charisms and talents. Whether as mothers in families, as a vital presence in the work force and the institutions of society, or in the particular vocation of following our Lord by the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, women have an indispensable role in creating that "human ecology" (cf. Centesimus Annus, 39) which our world, and this land, so urgently needs: a milieu in which children learn to love and to cherish others, to be honest and respectful to all, to practice the virtues of mercy and forgiveness.
Here too, we think of Saint Joseph, the just man whom God wished to place over his household. From Joseph's strong and fatherly example Jesus learned the virtues of a manly piety, fidelity to one's word, integrity and hard work. In the carpenter of Nazareth he saw how authority placed at the service of love is infinitely more fruitful than the power which seeks to dominate. How much our world needs the example, guidance and quiet strength of men like Joseph!
Finally, in contemplating the Holy Family of Nazareth, we turn to the child Jesus, who in the home of Mary and Joseph grew in wisdom and understanding, until the day he began his public ministry. Here I would simply like to leave a particular thought with the young people here. The Second Vatican Council teaches that children have a special role to play in the growth of their parents in holiness (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 48). I urge you to reflect on this, and to let the example of Jesus guide you, not only in showing respect for your parents, but also helping them to discover more fully the love which gives our lives their deepest meaning. In the Holy Family of Nazareth, it was Jesus who taught Mary and Joseph something of the greatness of the love of God his heavenly Father, the ultimate source of all love, the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name (cf. Eph 3:14-15).
Dear friends, in the Opening Prayer of today's Mass we asked the Father to "help us to live as the Holy Family, united in respect and love". Let us reaffirm here our commitment to be a leaven of respect and love in the world around us. This Mount of the Precipice reminds us, as it has generations of pilgrims, that our Lord's message was at times a source of contradiction and conflict with his hearers. Sadly, as the world knows, Nazareth has experienced tensions in recent years which have harmed relations between its Christian and Muslim communities. I urge people of good will in both communities to repair the damage that has been done, and in fidelity to our common belief in one God, the Father of the human family, to work to build bridges and find the way to a peaceful coexistence. Let everyone reject the destructive power of hatred and prejudice, which kills men's souls before it kills their bodies!
Allow me to conclude with a word of gratitude and praise for all those who strive to bring God's love to the children of this town, and to educate new generations in the ways of peace. I think in a special way of the local Churches, particularly in their schools and charitable institutions, to break down walls and to be a seedbed of encounter, dialogue, reconciliation and solidarity. I encourage the dedicated priests, religious, catechists and teachers, together with parents and all concerned for the good of our children, to persevere in bearing witness to the Gospel, to be confident in the triumph of goodness and truth, and to trust that God will give growth to every initiative which aims at the extension of his Kingdom of holiness, solidarity, justice and peace. At the same time I acknowledge with gratitude the solidarity which so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world show towards the faithful of the Holy Land by supporting the praiseworthy programs and activities of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
"Let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). May our Lady of the Annunciation, who courageously opened her heart to God's mysterious plan, and became the Mother of all believers, guide and sustain us by her prayers. May she obtain for us and our families the grace to open our ears to that word of the Lord which has the power to build us up (cf. Acts 20:32), to inspire courageous decisions, and to guide our feet into the path of peace!
© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Pontiff's Reflection on St. Joseph
"To Be a Father Means Above All to Be at the Service of Life and Growth"
Here is the address Benedict XVI delivered today upon presiding over a celebration of vespers with local clergy and with representatives of ecclesial movements and of other Christian confessions at the Basilica of Mary Queen of the Apostles.
* * *
Dear Brother Cardinals and Bishops,
Priests and Deacons,
Consecrated Brothers and Sisters,
Friends from other Christian Confessions,
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
It is a great joy to meet here to give thanks to God in this Basilica of Marie Reine des Apôtres in Mvolyé, raised on the site of the first church built by the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit who came to bring the Good News to Cameroon. Reflecting the apostolic fervour of those men whose hearts embraced the whole of your country, this place symbolically contains every portion of your land. And so, dear brothers and sisters, in deep spiritual closeness to all the Christian communities where you render service, we raise our prayer of praise this evening to the Father of lights.
In the presence of the representatives of other Christian confessions, to whom I extend my respectful and fraternal greetings, I wish to reflect on the figure of Saint Joseph, setting out from the words of Scripture offered to us in this evening’s liturgy.
Speaking to the crowd and to his disciples, Jesus declared: "You have only one Father" (Mt 23:9). There is but one fatherhood, that of God the Father, the one Creator of the world, "of all that is seen and unseen". Yet man, created in the image of God, has been granted a share in this one paternity of God (cf. Eph 3:15). Saint Joseph is a striking case of this, since he is a father, without fatherhood according to the flesh. He is not the biological father of Jesus, whose Father is God alone, and yet he lives his fatherhood fully and completely. To be a father means above all to be at the service of life and growth. Saint Joseph, in this sense, gave proof of great devotion. For the sake of Christ he experienced persecution, exile and the poverty which this entails. He had to settle far from his native town. His only reward was to be with Christ. His readiness to do all these things illustrates the words of Saint Paul: "It is Christ the Lord whom you serve" (Col 3:24).
What is important is not to be a useless servant, but rather a "faithful and wise servant". The pairing of the two adjectives is not by chance. It suggests that understanding without fidelity, and fidelity without wisdom, are insufficient. One quality alone, without the other, would not enable us to assume fully the responsibility which God entrusts to us.
Dear brother priests, you are called to live out this fatherhood in the daily tasks of your ministry. In the words of the conciliar Constitution Lumen Gentium: "As their fathers in Christ, priests should care for the faithful whom they have spiritually begotten by Baptism and instruction" (No. 28). If this is the case, how can we not continually return to the very foundation of our priesthood, the Lord Jesus Christ? Our personal relationship with Jesus is constitutive of the way we wish to live our lives. He has called us his friends because everything which he learned from the Father he has made known to us (cf. Jn 15:15). In living out this deep friendship with Christ you will discover true freedom and deep joy. The ministerial priesthood entails a profound relationship with Christ who is given to us in the Eucharist. Let the celebration of the Eucharist be truly the centre of your priestly lives; in this way it will also be the centre of your ecclesial mission. Throughout our lives Christ calls us to share in his mission, to be his witnesses, so that his word may be proclaimed to all. In celebrating this sacrament in the Lord’s name and in his person, the person of the priest cannot occupy centre stage; he is a servant, a humble instrument pointing to Christ, who offers himself in sacrifice for the salvation of the world. As Jesus teaches us, "the leader must become as one who serves" (Lk 22:26). Origen writes that "Joseph understood that Jesus was superior to him even as he submitted to him, and, knowing the superiority of his charge, he commanded him with respect and moderation. Everyone should reflect on this: frequently a lesser man is placed over people who are greater, and it happens at times that an inferior is more worthy than the one who appears to be set above him. If a person of greater dignity understands this, then he will not be puffed up with pride because of his higher rank; he will know that his inferior may well be superior to him, even as Jesus was subject to Joseph" (Homily on Saint Luke XX, 5; S.C. p. 287).
Dear brothers in the priesthood, your pastoral ministry demands many sacrifices, yet it is also a source of great joy. Trusting in your Bishops, united fraternally to the whole presbyterate and supported by the portion of the People of God commended to your care, you will be able to respond faithfully to the Lord who has called you, just as he called Joseph to watch over Mary and the Child Jesus! May you always remain faithful, dear priests, to the promises that you made to God before your Bishop and in the presence of the whole community. The Successor of Peter thanks you for your generous devotion to the service of the Church, and he urges you not to be troubled by the difficulties you encounter along the way. To the young men who are preparing to join you, and to those still discerning a priestly vocation, I hold out once more the joy that comes from giving oneself completely to the service of God and the Church. Be courageous, then, and generously say "yes" to Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters who live out your commitment in the consecrated life or in ecclesial movements, I also encourage you to look to Saint Joseph. When Mary received the visit of the angel at the Annunciation, she was already betrothed to Joseph. In addressing Mary personally, the Lord already closely associates Joseph to the mystery of the Incarnation. Joseph agreed to be part of the great events which God was beginning to bring about in the womb of his spouse. He took Mary into his home. He welcomed the mystery that was in Mary and the mystery that was Mary herself. He loved her with great respect, which is the mark of all authentic love. Joseph teaches us that it is possible to love without possessing. In contemplating Joseph, all men and women can, by God’s grace, come to experience healing from their emotional wounds, if only they embrace the plan that God has begun to bring about in those close to him, just as Joseph entered into the work of redemption through Mary and as a result of what God had already done in her. Dear brothers and sisters from the ecclesial movements, may you be attentive to those around you, and may you reveal the loving face of God to the poor, especially by your works of mercy, your human and Christian education of young people, your programmes for the advancement of women, and in so many other ways!
The spiritual contribution offered by consecrated persons is likewise significant and indispensable for the life of the Church. This call to follow Christ is a gift for the whole People of God. According to your vocation, that of imitating Christ, chaste, poor and obedient, totally consecrated to the glory of his Father and the love of his brothers and sisters, you have the mission of bearing much-needed witness before our world to the primacy of God and of eternal life (cf. Vita Consecrata, 85). By your unreserved fidelity to your commitments, you are for the Church a sapling of life, springing up to serve the coming of God’s Kingdom. At all times, and especially whenever your fidelity is put to the test, Saint Joseph reminds you of the value and meaning of your promises. The consecrated life is a radical imitation of Christ. Hence the way you live ought to show clearly what inspires you, and your actions must not conceal your deepest identity. Do not be afraid of living to the full the self-offering that you have made to God, bearing authentic witness to it wherever you find yourselves. One particular example that can encourage you to strive for holiness of life is that of Father Simon Mpeke, known as Baba Simon. All of you know how this "barefooted missionary" spent all his energies with selfless humility in the loving service of souls, heedless of the cares and sufferings involved in the material service of others.
Dear brothers and sisters, our meditation on the human and spiritual journey of Saint Joseph invites us to ponder his vocation in all its richness, and to see him as a constant model for all those who have devoted their lives to Christ in the priesthood, in the consecrated life or in the different forms of lay engagement. Joseph was caught up at every moment by the mystery of the Incarnation. Not only physically, but in his heart as well, Joseph reveals to us the secret of a humanity which dwells in the presence of mystery and is open to that mystery at every moment of everyday life. In Joseph, faith is not separated from action. His faith had a decisive effect on his actions. Paradoxically, it was by acting, by carrying out his responsibilities, that he stepped aside and left God free to act, placing no obstacles in his way. Joseph is a "just man" (Mt 1:19) because his existence is "ad-justed" to the word of God.
The life of Saint Joseph, lived in obedience to God’s word, is an eloquent sign for all the disciples of Jesus who seek the unity of the Church. His example helps us to understand that it is only by complete submission to the will of God that we become effective workers in the service of his plan to gather together all mankind into one family, one assembly, one "ecclesia". Dear friends from other Christian confessions, this quest for unity among the disciples of Christ represents a great challenge for us. It leads us first of all to be converted to the Person of Christ, to let ourselves be drawn more and more to him. In him, we are called to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father. During this year dedicated to the Apostle Paul, the great herald of Jesus Christ and the Apostle of the Nations, let us all turn towards him so as to hear and learn "the faith and truth" which are the deepest reasons for the unity of Christ’s disciples.
In conclusion, let us now turn to the spouse of Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary, "Queen of Apostles", for under this title she is invoked as Patroness of Cameroon. To her I commend the consecration which each of you has received, as well as your desire to respond ever more faithfully to your calling and to the mission entrusted to you. Finally, I invoke her intercession for your beautiful country. Amen.
Here is the address Benedict XVI delivered today upon presiding over a celebration of vespers with local clergy and with representatives of ecclesial movements and of other Christian confessions at the Basilica of Mary Queen of the Apostles.
* * *
Dear Brother Cardinals and Bishops,
Priests and Deacons,
Consecrated Brothers and Sisters,
Friends from other Christian Confessions,
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
It is a great joy to meet here to give thanks to God in this Basilica of Marie Reine des Apôtres in Mvolyé, raised on the site of the first church built by the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit who came to bring the Good News to Cameroon. Reflecting the apostolic fervour of those men whose hearts embraced the whole of your country, this place symbolically contains every portion of your land. And so, dear brothers and sisters, in deep spiritual closeness to all the Christian communities where you render service, we raise our prayer of praise this evening to the Father of lights.
In the presence of the representatives of other Christian confessions, to whom I extend my respectful and fraternal greetings, I wish to reflect on the figure of Saint Joseph, setting out from the words of Scripture offered to us in this evening’s liturgy.
Speaking to the crowd and to his disciples, Jesus declared: "You have only one Father" (Mt 23:9). There is but one fatherhood, that of God the Father, the one Creator of the world, "of all that is seen and unseen". Yet man, created in the image of God, has been granted a share in this one paternity of God (cf. Eph 3:15). Saint Joseph is a striking case of this, since he is a father, without fatherhood according to the flesh. He is not the biological father of Jesus, whose Father is God alone, and yet he lives his fatherhood fully and completely. To be a father means above all to be at the service of life and growth. Saint Joseph, in this sense, gave proof of great devotion. For the sake of Christ he experienced persecution, exile and the poverty which this entails. He had to settle far from his native town. His only reward was to be with Christ. His readiness to do all these things illustrates the words of Saint Paul: "It is Christ the Lord whom you serve" (Col 3:24).
What is important is not to be a useless servant, but rather a "faithful and wise servant". The pairing of the two adjectives is not by chance. It suggests that understanding without fidelity, and fidelity without wisdom, are insufficient. One quality alone, without the other, would not enable us to assume fully the responsibility which God entrusts to us.
Dear brother priests, you are called to live out this fatherhood in the daily tasks of your ministry. In the words of the conciliar Constitution Lumen Gentium: "As their fathers in Christ, priests should care for the faithful whom they have spiritually begotten by Baptism and instruction" (No. 28). If this is the case, how can we not continually return to the very foundation of our priesthood, the Lord Jesus Christ? Our personal relationship with Jesus is constitutive of the way we wish to live our lives. He has called us his friends because everything which he learned from the Father he has made known to us (cf. Jn 15:15). In living out this deep friendship with Christ you will discover true freedom and deep joy. The ministerial priesthood entails a profound relationship with Christ who is given to us in the Eucharist. Let the celebration of the Eucharist be truly the centre of your priestly lives; in this way it will also be the centre of your ecclesial mission. Throughout our lives Christ calls us to share in his mission, to be his witnesses, so that his word may be proclaimed to all. In celebrating this sacrament in the Lord’s name and in his person, the person of the priest cannot occupy centre stage; he is a servant, a humble instrument pointing to Christ, who offers himself in sacrifice for the salvation of the world. As Jesus teaches us, "the leader must become as one who serves" (Lk 22:26). Origen writes that "Joseph understood that Jesus was superior to him even as he submitted to him, and, knowing the superiority of his charge, he commanded him with respect and moderation. Everyone should reflect on this: frequently a lesser man is placed over people who are greater, and it happens at times that an inferior is more worthy than the one who appears to be set above him. If a person of greater dignity understands this, then he will not be puffed up with pride because of his higher rank; he will know that his inferior may well be superior to him, even as Jesus was subject to Joseph" (Homily on Saint Luke XX, 5; S.C. p. 287).
Dear brothers in the priesthood, your pastoral ministry demands many sacrifices, yet it is also a source of great joy. Trusting in your Bishops, united fraternally to the whole presbyterate and supported by the portion of the People of God commended to your care, you will be able to respond faithfully to the Lord who has called you, just as he called Joseph to watch over Mary and the Child Jesus! May you always remain faithful, dear priests, to the promises that you made to God before your Bishop and in the presence of the whole community. The Successor of Peter thanks you for your generous devotion to the service of the Church, and he urges you not to be troubled by the difficulties you encounter along the way. To the young men who are preparing to join you, and to those still discerning a priestly vocation, I hold out once more the joy that comes from giving oneself completely to the service of God and the Church. Be courageous, then, and generously say "yes" to Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters who live out your commitment in the consecrated life or in ecclesial movements, I also encourage you to look to Saint Joseph. When Mary received the visit of the angel at the Annunciation, she was already betrothed to Joseph. In addressing Mary personally, the Lord already closely associates Joseph to the mystery of the Incarnation. Joseph agreed to be part of the great events which God was beginning to bring about in the womb of his spouse. He took Mary into his home. He welcomed the mystery that was in Mary and the mystery that was Mary herself. He loved her with great respect, which is the mark of all authentic love. Joseph teaches us that it is possible to love without possessing. In contemplating Joseph, all men and women can, by God’s grace, come to experience healing from their emotional wounds, if only they embrace the plan that God has begun to bring about in those close to him, just as Joseph entered into the work of redemption through Mary and as a result of what God had already done in her. Dear brothers and sisters from the ecclesial movements, may you be attentive to those around you, and may you reveal the loving face of God to the poor, especially by your works of mercy, your human and Christian education of young people, your programmes for the advancement of women, and in so many other ways!
The spiritual contribution offered by consecrated persons is likewise significant and indispensable for the life of the Church. This call to follow Christ is a gift for the whole People of God. According to your vocation, that of imitating Christ, chaste, poor and obedient, totally consecrated to the glory of his Father and the love of his brothers and sisters, you have the mission of bearing much-needed witness before our world to the primacy of God and of eternal life (cf. Vita Consecrata, 85). By your unreserved fidelity to your commitments, you are for the Church a sapling of life, springing up to serve the coming of God’s Kingdom. At all times, and especially whenever your fidelity is put to the test, Saint Joseph reminds you of the value and meaning of your promises. The consecrated life is a radical imitation of Christ. Hence the way you live ought to show clearly what inspires you, and your actions must not conceal your deepest identity. Do not be afraid of living to the full the self-offering that you have made to God, bearing authentic witness to it wherever you find yourselves. One particular example that can encourage you to strive for holiness of life is that of Father Simon Mpeke, known as Baba Simon. All of you know how this "barefooted missionary" spent all his energies with selfless humility in the loving service of souls, heedless of the cares and sufferings involved in the material service of others.
Dear brothers and sisters, our meditation on the human and spiritual journey of Saint Joseph invites us to ponder his vocation in all its richness, and to see him as a constant model for all those who have devoted their lives to Christ in the priesthood, in the consecrated life or in the different forms of lay engagement. Joseph was caught up at every moment by the mystery of the Incarnation. Not only physically, but in his heart as well, Joseph reveals to us the secret of a humanity which dwells in the presence of mystery and is open to that mystery at every moment of everyday life. In Joseph, faith is not separated from action. His faith had a decisive effect on his actions. Paradoxically, it was by acting, by carrying out his responsibilities, that he stepped aside and left God free to act, placing no obstacles in his way. Joseph is a "just man" (Mt 1:19) because his existence is "ad-justed" to the word of God.
The life of Saint Joseph, lived in obedience to God’s word, is an eloquent sign for all the disciples of Jesus who seek the unity of the Church. His example helps us to understand that it is only by complete submission to the will of God that we become effective workers in the service of his plan to gather together all mankind into one family, one assembly, one "ecclesia". Dear friends from other Christian confessions, this quest for unity among the disciples of Christ represents a great challenge for us. It leads us first of all to be converted to the Person of Christ, to let ourselves be drawn more and more to him. In him, we are called to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father. During this year dedicated to the Apostle Paul, the great herald of Jesus Christ and the Apostle of the Nations, let us all turn towards him so as to hear and learn "the faith and truth" which are the deepest reasons for the unity of Christ’s disciples.
In conclusion, let us now turn to the spouse of Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary, "Queen of Apostles", for under this title she is invoked as Patroness of Cameroon. To her I commend the consecration which each of you has received, as well as your desire to respond ever more faithfully to your calling and to the mission entrusted to you. Finally, I invoke her intercession for your beautiful country. Amen.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Interview With Canada's Cardinal Ouellet
Families, the Crisis and the Church in America
By Gilberto Hernández García
There is plenty of good news to share about the Christian family in the world, and this is news that the Catholic Church offers, according to the archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Marc Ouellet.
The cardinal was one of the speakers at the 6th World Meeting of Families last week in Mexico City. He spoke with ZENIT at the conference about various situations facing families today.
Q: The presence of Latin American Catholics in the United States revitalizes that Church. What is this situation like in Canada? What is the evangelizing role of Latinos in the Church in Canada?
Cardinal Ouellet: In recent years in the United States, one can see a growth in the Church's awareness of this reality; in the seminaries of the United States -- in Florida, California and in other parts -- there is concern for priests to learn Spanish and there is a good percentage of those who do, so as to be able to attend those communities who come from other areas. This is a new cultural fact indicating the weight of the Latin American community in the United States.
I don't think we can say exactly the same for Canada; but this openness is increasing, this welcome and the testimony of Latin America; in particular since Aparecida, I see a continental Church that is uniting more and that has more clarity regarding its evangelizing mission, and with the motto very clear that we have to form missionary disciples; this is an extraordinary force. The continental mission that begins with this boost given in Aparecida promises fruits, not only for Latin America, but also for the North and for all of the Church.
Q: It is a fact that there are divided families: divorced couples who have remarried, single-parent families, and other situations. What are the paths to strengthen the family institution?
Cardinal Ouellet: It seems interesting to me what the president of Mexico said in the inauguration [of the theological congress]: that the state should support and consider the family a very important patrimony. He also said that not everyone has the opportunity or the joy of having a family, with a father and a mother and children and a good education. In this case, Christians are not indifferent regarding these difficult situations.
Today, the family must be strengthened in itself, and not only strengthening it in an individual way, as a family, but in stirring up associations of families so that they have public strength, such that they are more listened to by the state, and recognized as a social subject, because not just individuals have rights. If we want to resolve long-term the problems of single-parent families and all of this, the best strategy is prevention, better said, to help families to have consistency, stability and thus we will help to diminish these particular factors and phenomena.
Q: What do you think the impact of the economic crisis will be on families? What hopes has the World Meeting of Families given in this regard?
Cardinal Ouellet: There are many families who live in difficult economic situations; a year ago when the price of gas was at $140, this was a tragedy. We have seen in various parts groups and people shouting that they could no longer buy basic needs because the price of gas made other prices shoot to the stars. The world economic crisis -- that doesn't depend only on gas now but on bad administration -- impacts the family in the basic elements of its life: food and education, because if they must invest money in food, how to do they continue to pay for education. The problems multiply.
I think the reflection of this world meeting is very rich. The influence of communication on family life and the culture in general was spoken of. It is important for those who work in this area and have a social responsibility -- it is important that they develop attitudes that are favorable to the family and not only to individual liberty like now in the culture; that they think of the family, in its stability, in its unity. To help so that they can educate children with peace and not have all of these messages that make the work of fathers and mothers in the home more complicated.
There is much that can be transmitted as good news about the Christian family in the entire world. This is the testimony of the Catholic Church. I hope that this beautiful testimony of the Catholic Church is ever more recognized because it is an extraordinary contribution to peace and civilization.
By Gilberto Hernández García
There is plenty of good news to share about the Christian family in the world, and this is news that the Catholic Church offers, according to the archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Marc Ouellet.
The cardinal was one of the speakers at the 6th World Meeting of Families last week in Mexico City. He spoke with ZENIT at the conference about various situations facing families today.
Q: The presence of Latin American Catholics in the United States revitalizes that Church. What is this situation like in Canada? What is the evangelizing role of Latinos in the Church in Canada?
Cardinal Ouellet: In recent years in the United States, one can see a growth in the Church's awareness of this reality; in the seminaries of the United States -- in Florida, California and in other parts -- there is concern for priests to learn Spanish and there is a good percentage of those who do, so as to be able to attend those communities who come from other areas. This is a new cultural fact indicating the weight of the Latin American community in the United States.
I don't think we can say exactly the same for Canada; but this openness is increasing, this welcome and the testimony of Latin America; in particular since Aparecida, I see a continental Church that is uniting more and that has more clarity regarding its evangelizing mission, and with the motto very clear that we have to form missionary disciples; this is an extraordinary force. The continental mission that begins with this boost given in Aparecida promises fruits, not only for Latin America, but also for the North and for all of the Church.
Q: It is a fact that there are divided families: divorced couples who have remarried, single-parent families, and other situations. What are the paths to strengthen the family institution?
Cardinal Ouellet: It seems interesting to me what the president of Mexico said in the inauguration [of the theological congress]: that the state should support and consider the family a very important patrimony. He also said that not everyone has the opportunity or the joy of having a family, with a father and a mother and children and a good education. In this case, Christians are not indifferent regarding these difficult situations.
Today, the family must be strengthened in itself, and not only strengthening it in an individual way, as a family, but in stirring up associations of families so that they have public strength, such that they are more listened to by the state, and recognized as a social subject, because not just individuals have rights. If we want to resolve long-term the problems of single-parent families and all of this, the best strategy is prevention, better said, to help families to have consistency, stability and thus we will help to diminish these particular factors and phenomena.
Q: What do you think the impact of the economic crisis will be on families? What hopes has the World Meeting of Families given in this regard?
Cardinal Ouellet: There are many families who live in difficult economic situations; a year ago when the price of gas was at $140, this was a tragedy. We have seen in various parts groups and people shouting that they could no longer buy basic needs because the price of gas made other prices shoot to the stars. The world economic crisis -- that doesn't depend only on gas now but on bad administration -- impacts the family in the basic elements of its life: food and education, because if they must invest money in food, how to do they continue to pay for education. The problems multiply.
I think the reflection of this world meeting is very rich. The influence of communication on family life and the culture in general was spoken of. It is important for those who work in this area and have a social responsibility -- it is important that they develop attitudes that are favorable to the family and not only to individual liberty like now in the culture; that they think of the family, in its stability, in its unity. To help so that they can educate children with peace and not have all of these messages that make the work of fathers and mothers in the home more complicated.
There is much that can be transmitted as good news about the Christian family in the entire world. This is the testimony of the Catholic Church. I hope that this beautiful testimony of the Catholic Church is ever more recognized because it is an extraordinary contribution to peace and civilization.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Papal Address to Family Meeting
"It Is in the Home Where One Learns to Truly Live"
Here is a translation of the message Benedict XVI gave via video linkup at the conclusion of Sunday's closing Mass of the 6th World Meeting of Families. The world meeting was held last week in Mexico City.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters:
I greet all of you with affection at the end of this solemn Eucharistic celebration with which the 6th World Meeting of Families is concluding in Mexico City. I give thanks to God for so many families that, without counting the cost, have gathered around the altar of the Lord.
I greet in a special way the Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, who has presided over this celebration as my legate. I want to express my affection and my gratitude to Cardinal Ennio Antonelii and to the members of the Pontifical Council for the Family, over which he presides, to the Cardinal Archbishop Primate of Mexico, Norberto Rivera Carrera, and the central commission that has been responsible for the organization of this 6th World Meeting. My recognition goes to all those who with their abnegated dedication and surrender have made its fulfillment possible.
I also greet the cardinals and bishops present in this celebration, in particular those of the Mexican episcopal conference, and the authorities of this dear nation, who generously have welcomed and made possible this important event.
The Mexican people know well that they are very close to the heart of the Pope. I think of them and I present to God the Father their joys and hopes, their projects and concerns. In Mexico, the Gospel has taken deep roots, forging its traditions and culture, and the identity of its noble people. This rich patrimony must be protected so that it continues being a spring of moral and spiritual energies to courageously and creatively face the challenges of today and so that it can be offered as a precious gift to new generations.
I have participated with joy and interest in this World Meeting, above all with my prayer, giving specific guidelines and attentively following its preparation and development. Today, through the communications media, I have spiritually made a pilgrimage to this Marian shrine, heart of Mexico and of all of America, so as to entrust all the families of the world to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
2. This World Meeting of Families has aimed to encourage Christian homes so that their members be free persons, rich in human and Gospel values, on the way toward sanctity, which is the best service that Christians can offer today's society. The Christian response to the challenges that must be confronted by families and human life in general, consists in intensifying trust in the Lord and the vigor that springs from one's faith, which is nourished by attentive listening to the Word of God. How beautiful it is to gather as a family to allow God to speak to the hearts of the members through his living and effective Word. In prayer, especially with the praying of the rosary, as was done yesterday, the family contemplates the mysteries of the life of Jesus, interiorizes the values that it meditates and feels called to incarnate them in their lives.
3. The family is an indispensable base for society and for peoples, as well as an irreplaceable good for children, worthy of coming into life as a fruit of love, of the parents' total and generous surrender. As Jesus showed in honoring the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, the family occupies a primary place in the education of the person. It is a true school of humanity and perennial values. No one has given being to himself. We have received life from others, which is developed and matured with the truths and values that we learn in relation and communion with the rest. In this sense, the family founded on the indissoluble matrimony between a man and a woman expresses this relational, filial and communitarian dimension, and is the realm where man can be born with dignity, grow and develop in an integral way (cf. Homily in the Holy Mass of the 5th World Meeting of Families, Valencia, July 9, 2006).
Nevertheless, this education task is made difficult by a deceptive concept of liberty, in which whims and the subjective impulses of the individual are exalted to the point of leaving each one locked within the prison of his own "I." The true liberty of the human being comes from having been created in the image and likeness of God, and therefore should be exercised with responsibility, always opting for the true good so that it becomes love, gift of self. For this, more than theories, the intimacy and love characteristic of the familial community are needed. It is in the home where one learns to truly live, to value life and health, liberty and peace, justice and truth, work, concord and respect.
4. Today more than ever is needed the testimony and public commitment of all the baptized to reaffirm the dignity and the unique and irreplaceable value of the family founded on the marriage of a man and a woman and open to life, as well as the [value] of human life in all its stages. Legislative and administrative measures that support families in their inalienable rights, necessary to carry forward their extraordinary mission, should also be promoted. The testimonies presented in yesterday's celebration show that today, too, the family can show itself to be firm in the love of God and renew humanity in the new millennium.
5. I want to express my closeness and assure my prayers for all families that give a testimony of fidelity in especially difficult circumstances. I encourage numerous families that, living sometimes in the midst of contradictions and incomprehension, give an example of generosity and trust in God, expressing my desire that needed help is not lacking for them. I think also of the families that suffer poverty, illness, marginalization or emigration. And very especially of the Christian families that are persecuted because of their faith. The Pope is very close to all of you and he accompanies you in your efforts of every day.
6. Before concluding this meeting, it pleases me to announce that that 7th World Meeting of Families will take place, God willing, in Italy, in the city of Milan, in 2012, with the theme, "Family, Work and Celebration." I sincerely thank Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Milan, for his hospitality in accepting this important commitment.
I entrust all the families of the world to the protection of the Most Holy Virgin, so highly venerated in the noble Mexican land in her image from Guadalupe. To her, who always reminds us that our happiness is in doing the will of Christ (cf. John 2:5), I say now:
Most Holy Mother of Guadalupe
who has shown your love and tenderness
to the peoples of the American continent,
shower with joy and hope all the peoples
and all the families of the world.
To you, who goes before [us] and guides our journey in the faith
toward the eternal homeland,
we entrust the joys, the projects,
the concerns and the desires of every family.
Oh Mary,
to you we turn, trusting in your motherly tenderness;
do not ignore the petitions we direct to you
for the families of all the world
in this crucial period of history.
Instead, gather all of us in your maternal heart
and accompany us in our journey to the celestial home.
Here is a translation of the message Benedict XVI gave via video linkup at the conclusion of Sunday's closing Mass of the 6th World Meeting of Families. The world meeting was held last week in Mexico City.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters:
I greet all of you with affection at the end of this solemn Eucharistic celebration with which the 6th World Meeting of Families is concluding in Mexico City. I give thanks to God for so many families that, without counting the cost, have gathered around the altar of the Lord.
I greet in a special way the Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, who has presided over this celebration as my legate. I want to express my affection and my gratitude to Cardinal Ennio Antonelii and to the members of the Pontifical Council for the Family, over which he presides, to the Cardinal Archbishop Primate of Mexico, Norberto Rivera Carrera, and the central commission that has been responsible for the organization of this 6th World Meeting. My recognition goes to all those who with their abnegated dedication and surrender have made its fulfillment possible.
I also greet the cardinals and bishops present in this celebration, in particular those of the Mexican episcopal conference, and the authorities of this dear nation, who generously have welcomed and made possible this important event.
The Mexican people know well that they are very close to the heart of the Pope. I think of them and I present to God the Father their joys and hopes, their projects and concerns. In Mexico, the Gospel has taken deep roots, forging its traditions and culture, and the identity of its noble people. This rich patrimony must be protected so that it continues being a spring of moral and spiritual energies to courageously and creatively face the challenges of today and so that it can be offered as a precious gift to new generations.
I have participated with joy and interest in this World Meeting, above all with my prayer, giving specific guidelines and attentively following its preparation and development. Today, through the communications media, I have spiritually made a pilgrimage to this Marian shrine, heart of Mexico and of all of America, so as to entrust all the families of the world to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
2. This World Meeting of Families has aimed to encourage Christian homes so that their members be free persons, rich in human and Gospel values, on the way toward sanctity, which is the best service that Christians can offer today's society. The Christian response to the challenges that must be confronted by families and human life in general, consists in intensifying trust in the Lord and the vigor that springs from one's faith, which is nourished by attentive listening to the Word of God. How beautiful it is to gather as a family to allow God to speak to the hearts of the members through his living and effective Word. In prayer, especially with the praying of the rosary, as was done yesterday, the family contemplates the mysteries of the life of Jesus, interiorizes the values that it meditates and feels called to incarnate them in their lives.
3. The family is an indispensable base for society and for peoples, as well as an irreplaceable good for children, worthy of coming into life as a fruit of love, of the parents' total and generous surrender. As Jesus showed in honoring the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, the family occupies a primary place in the education of the person. It is a true school of humanity and perennial values. No one has given being to himself. We have received life from others, which is developed and matured with the truths and values that we learn in relation and communion with the rest. In this sense, the family founded on the indissoluble matrimony between a man and a woman expresses this relational, filial and communitarian dimension, and is the realm where man can be born with dignity, grow and develop in an integral way (cf. Homily in the Holy Mass of the 5th World Meeting of Families, Valencia, July 9, 2006).
Nevertheless, this education task is made difficult by a deceptive concept of liberty, in which whims and the subjective impulses of the individual are exalted to the point of leaving each one locked within the prison of his own "I." The true liberty of the human being comes from having been created in the image and likeness of God, and therefore should be exercised with responsibility, always opting for the true good so that it becomes love, gift of self. For this, more than theories, the intimacy and love characteristic of the familial community are needed. It is in the home where one learns to truly live, to value life and health, liberty and peace, justice and truth, work, concord and respect.
4. Today more than ever is needed the testimony and public commitment of all the baptized to reaffirm the dignity and the unique and irreplaceable value of the family founded on the marriage of a man and a woman and open to life, as well as the [value] of human life in all its stages. Legislative and administrative measures that support families in their inalienable rights, necessary to carry forward their extraordinary mission, should also be promoted. The testimonies presented in yesterday's celebration show that today, too, the family can show itself to be firm in the love of God and renew humanity in the new millennium.
5. I want to express my closeness and assure my prayers for all families that give a testimony of fidelity in especially difficult circumstances. I encourage numerous families that, living sometimes in the midst of contradictions and incomprehension, give an example of generosity and trust in God, expressing my desire that needed help is not lacking for them. I think also of the families that suffer poverty, illness, marginalization or emigration. And very especially of the Christian families that are persecuted because of their faith. The Pope is very close to all of you and he accompanies you in your efforts of every day.
6. Before concluding this meeting, it pleases me to announce that that 7th World Meeting of Families will take place, God willing, in Italy, in the city of Milan, in 2012, with the theme, "Family, Work and Celebration." I sincerely thank Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Milan, for his hospitality in accepting this important commitment.
I entrust all the families of the world to the protection of the Most Holy Virgin, so highly venerated in the noble Mexican land in her image from Guadalupe. To her, who always reminds us that our happiness is in doing the will of Christ (cf. John 2:5), I say now:
Most Holy Mother of Guadalupe
who has shown your love and tenderness
to the peoples of the American continent,
shower with joy and hope all the peoples
and all the families of the world.
To you, who goes before [us] and guides our journey in the faith
toward the eternal homeland,
we entrust the joys, the projects,
the concerns and the desires of every family.
Oh Mary,
to you we turn, trusting in your motherly tenderness;
do not ignore the petitions we direct to you
for the families of all the world
in this crucial period of history.
Instead, gather all of us in your maternal heart
and accompany us in our journey to the celestial home.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Address on African Perspective of Family
"A Matter of Considerable Importance and Urgency"
Here is the text of the address given today by Dr. Germina N. Ssemogerere, economics professor at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, at the 6th World Meeting of Families, under way in Mexico.
* * *
"The Educative Vocation of the Family: An African Perspective, with particular reference to Uganda"[1]
The Family, Teacher of Human and Christian Values
1.0 Introduction
The topic we are addressing, "The Educative vocation of the Family", which refers to the special devotion of the family to the education of the children, is a matter of considerable importance and urgency, to both the Church and society, all over the world. This topic is of considerable importance in our time on account of the interplay of the unprecedented social, economic and political forces from, not only the local, but also from the international environment as well, that impact on the family. In the process, such forces, sometimes threaten the family's very survival; and impede it from achieving its goals: the most critical of which is that of producing and raising healthy, properly informed, well adjusted and responsible citizens, who are accountable to society; and, ultimately, accountable to God.[3]
This presentation highlights two principal propositions.
First, it is suggested that a well-prepared-for marriage, followed by a viable, informed and morally disciplined family, is a good investment for the proper upbringing and education of children. Second, it is suggested that for the family's educative mission to be properly continued beyond the home, notably in school: it is necessary that there be an appropriate philosophical, constitutional and institutional foundation for moral education; and for an effective participatory role by the family in the education system.
Given the presence of negative environmental forces, this strategy calls for vigilance and a constructive engagement of the family, the political authorities, and other key stakeholders, in particular the Religious and cultural leaders, as well as professionals among the Civil Society.
It is observed that, in this regard, there is, in principle, much common ground between the Church's position and African culture; although certain practices permissible in African culture, notably polygamy in marriage, may be unacceptable to Church teaching. From both, the Church's position and African culture, environmental forces impacting negatively on the family, undermine its role and, consequently, affect the children's education and formation.
The present concerns.
Our attention ought to be drawn to the current state of affairs regarding issues affecting the family today, as witnessed by the rising numbers, including among the elite and affluent classes: of: same-sex marriages; co-habitation; sterilized families; un-socialized children; as well as of voluntary and/or State-enforced abortions; and abandonment of so called unwanted children etc.
The plight of the traditional family is well captured in the Apostolic Exhortation, "Familiaris Consortio" (On the Family)[4] by the late Pope John Paul II, in these words:
The family in the modern world, as much as and perhaps more than any other institution, has been beset by the many profound and rapid changes that have affected society and culture.
According to Pope John Paul II, families are reacting differently to these dramatic changes. In the Exhortation, he describes three ways in which families react to these changes.
First, His Holiness says:
Many families are living this situation in fidelity (i.e., faithfully) to those values that constitute the foundation of the institution of the family.
Second, he refers to:
Others (who) have become uncertain and bewildered over their role and even doubtful and almost unaware of the ultimate meaning and truth of conjugal and family life. (Underlining added).
There is also a third category, the Pontiff added, of families:
... who are hindered by various situations of injustice in the realization of their fundamental rights (to which the family is otherwise entitled). (Underlining added).
The Pope's findings are well taken; and they are a major basis for the conclusions reached and the recommendations made of a strategy of empowerment i.e., moral and intellectual, as well as economic and political empowerment for the Catholic Lay Movement and institutions.
Section 2.0 is a presentation on the family as an institution of universal relevance and its educative role, with particular reference to the position of the Church and the African situation. Section 3.0 presents the family's five-fold role. Section 4.0 discusses the family's educative mission; and presents the position taken on by the Church as well as its place in African culture. Section 5 examines the principles and legal framework underlying Uganda's Education system with a view: first, of gauging opportunities currently available for a positive family educative role; and, second, determining prospects for improvement or corrective measures, on the basis of which suggestions for improvement are made in section 6.
This presentation is based mainly on official documents and data; and on relevant literature, as well as personal knowledge and experience.
2.0 The Institution of the Family and its Educative Role.
The family has always been a well established and entrenched institution in society all over the world; and so has its critical role in the education or ‘socialization" of the children.
2.1 The family in Africa.
In Africa, the family is a central institution in kinship[5], whereby one's place in society is established: partly on the basis of one's identity by family and lineage; and partly on the basis of the contribution made to society in terms of values and various activities.
The importance of the traditional family in Africa is further reflected, by the care and solemnity associated with the entire process leading to, and culminating in the execution of the marriage covenant; by the exacting moral code of conduct expected of the married people, more so if they are parents with children; by the elevated status society traditionally accords to them, and by the love and respect even highly placed adults give to their parents.
In some African cultures, the special love and respect given to parents by their grown-up children, even by the Royalty, is demonstrated, by their public behaviour and official conduct. The Kabaka (King) of Buganda, for instance, is, according to Buganda culture, expected to seek and take, seriously, counsel from her mother (the Queen-Mother) when making important decisions. And the Queen-Mother in the Kingdom of Swaziland commands similar, if not greater loyalty from the King, and authority in the Kingdom, than her counterpart in Buganda.
2.2 The Church's position on the family.
2.2.1 Historical global perspective.
There is much in common between the Church and African culture on the position and role of the family in society. The Church has always had a strong and supportive position on matters affecting the family. In his book , Jesus of Nazareth (2006), which he developed over many decades, Jozeph Ratzinger, now His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, stresses the Church's historical position on the family in these words:
From her very inception, the Church that emerged and continues to emerge, has attached fundamental importance to defending the family as the core of all social order...[6]
A recent evidence of the importance of the Church's support and defence for the family, was the convening of The 1980 Vatican Synod on the Family, with the findings and recommendations of the synod culminating in a comprehensive Apostolic Exhortation on the subject, (viz., Familiaris Consortio), by Pope John Paul II[7] in 1981. In the Exhortation, His Holiness, describes the family as divinely ordained; and says:
According to the plan of God, marriage is the foundation of the wider community of the family, since the very institution of marriage and conjugal love are ordained to the procreation and education of children, in whom they find their crowning.[8]
Consequently, His Holiness goes on in the Exhortation, to point out what is required to establish and maintain, in good standing, a viable mutually supporting family community, based on love and the recognition of the rights and responsibilities of the respective members of this community i.e., of the husband, the wife and the children.
2.2.2 Focus on Africa.
Following the Second Vatican Council, the Church has paid particular attention to Africa; and to the family in Africa. On the occasion of the first visit by a reigning Pope in modern times, Pope Paul VI inaugurated, in 1969, in Kampala, Uganda: the first Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), which has since become the forum for common concert for the Church on the continent.
In 1989, His Holiness Pope John Paul II convoked the first Synod (Council) of the African Episcopal Conference which discussed issues related to the challenges of evangelization; and the family was one such issue. Six years after the African Synod, Pope John Paul II issued a post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, The Church in Africa (Ecclesia in Africa), based on the proceedings of the 1989 African Synod.[9]
On the importance of the family, the Holy Father points out in the Exhortation:
By its very nature, marriage, which has the special mission of perpetuating humanity, transcends the couple. In the same way, by its nature, the family extends beyond the individual household: it is oriented towards society.[10]
His Holiness continues and quotes from the Exhortation on the Family Familiaris Consortio (1991):
"The family has vital and organic links with society, since it is its foundation and nourishes it continuously through its role of service to life: it is from the family that citizens come to birth and it is from family that they find the first school of the social virtues that are the animating principles of the existence and development of society itself. Thus, far from being closed on itself, the family is by nature and vocation open to other families and society, and undertakes its social role."[11]
As a necessary step before recommending inculcation of aspects of African culture into Catholic Teaching on the family, Pope John Paul II finds there is a good deal of harmony between the two. He observes in The Church in Africa:
(Africa) is endowed with a wealth of cultural values and priceless human qualities which it can offer to the Churches and to humanity as a whole.[12] (Underlining added).
The Pope then concludes on a note of hope: agreeing with the African Synod: on inculcation of "positive" African cultural values. And he envisages: prospects for the transformation of the African family through the inspiration of the Gospel; and, consequently, such transformation contributing towards world-wide spiritual revival and the development of a more fraternal society.[13]
2.3 Necessary conditions for marriage and family: the African perspective.
As indicated above: in both the Church's Teaching and African culture: the family is an institution of utmost importance, with a critical role to play. Recognition of this role the family plays and, generally, of its significance, is also demonstrated by the process leading to the formation of the family itself.
First, the Church and African culture, probably without exception, prescribe a cautious approach, characterized by care and seriousness of purpose, in respect of the process leading to marriage. And, second, subsequently when marriage is contracted, the couple's status in society is instantly enhanced and, together as a family, the couple receive social protection and privileges.
Especially for its own protection and as a deterrent against temptations of abuse of status: notably guarding against permissiveness and incest, marriage is under the watchful control of cultural taboos, with enforceable sanctions. In this respect, for instance, some cultures have strict prohibitions against physical contact within the family in its extended form, between a male member and his daughter-in-law, or mother-in-law.
In conclusion it may be said that the process leading to and culminating in marriage and, in addition, that the observation of a strict, cultural moral code of conduct governing marriage and family, are essential conditions for establishing the family institution as a fountain of honour and virtue in society.
2.3.1 Preparation for marriage: a serious project.
For both the Church and African culture, in normal peace time circumstances, marriage is not an abrupt or surprise affair: it is a serious project calling for due and deliberate preparations.
Courtship, in African culture, is positively encouraged only between confirmed adults - and adults with approved credentials for starting and managing family life[14]. Ample time is therefore normally provided for the necessary preliminary introductory encounters and information exchange; and, thereafter, for courtship, before formal engagement and, finally, marriage. Throughout this process certain key members of one's extended family, on both sides, play their part and provide their wise judgement and counsel before the final choice and commitment is freely made: ideally by the two candidates themselves; and each one by himself or herself.
This cautious approach to marriage is, in principle,[15] in line with the Church's own position, where, normally a specified period is set aside to ensure that the intending couple qualify and fully appreciate and accept the challenges ahead of them; in particular the necessary conditions and full implications of the Sacrament of Matrimony. For this purpose the Church demands a standard minimum four-week requirement and the public announcements of the marriage bans before marriage is consecrated.[16]
The harmony on this principle of due preparation and verification, between the Church and African traditional practice, is demonstrated by the absence of any serious and open protests or representations against the Church's position; and also by the ready compliance with this four-week preparatory period, by intending African couples who would have qualified for marriage under the traditional system.
2.3.2 Marriage as a life-long devotion of morally disciplined spouses under a code of conduct.
Apart from the issue of polygamy, which, in any case, has never been a necessary nor universal African condition, there appears to be much common ground, at the conceptual level, on marriage between African culture and the Church's position.
Marriage-for-life devotion is respected even under childlessness and after bereavement.
Marriage-for-life devotion is respected, encouraged and supported in African culture almost in the same sense as in Christianity.
Divorce or official separation after due process is, under normal circumstances, unacceptable; it is only permissible after serious investigation, by representatives of both the husband's and wife's families; and when attempts at mediation have proved pointless.
On the other hand, life-long marriage devotion is treasured and positively encouraged and supported in African culture. For instance, even in the unfortunate situation of childlessness, or the death of a spouse, African culture accords due status, respect and honour to the bereaved husband or wife.
In the case of childlessness, the dread of loneliness and feelings of self-pity would, in many situations be mitigated, if not completely overcome, by customary incorporation[17] from the husband's or wife's extended family; and even from society at large: from close friends and acquaintances. In addition to incorporation, the African extended family system, along with its liberal policy on succession and inheritance, reduces childlessness to an issue of little consequence during one's life-time; and even after death.
Life-long marriage devotion, after the death of one's spouse, is supported in various other ways: for example by the policy of guaranteed solidarity and humanitarian support; as well as of security of residence etc., to the widow or widower. At the same time the widow or widower is given a continuing opportunity to remain in productive active life, contributing, in some modest ways, to both family and society. This policy contrasts sharply with the modern practice of committing such people to the relatively impersonal life in old people's homes - a contrast Pope John Paul II captures in the Exhortation as follows:
There are cultures which manifest a unique veneration and great love for the elderly: far from being outcasts from the family or merely being tolerated as a useless burden, they continue to be present and to take an active and responsible part in family life, though having to respect the autonomy of the new family; above all they carry out the important mission of being a witness to the past and a source of wisdom for the young and for the future.[18]
The Pope brings out the cultural contrast when he laments:
Other cultures, however, especially in the wake of disordered industrialized and urban development, have both in the past and the present, set the elderly aside in unacceptable ways. This causes acute suffering to them and spiritually impoverishes many families.[19]
True, in the African situation, when the wife is perceived to be barren, there would likely be an inclination for the husband taking on another wife. This would, ordinarily, be permissible; and sometimes the original wife would help in the effort to secure a suitable additional wife. However, even then, the situation that emerges would not, by itself, be ground for divorce of, or official separation with, the original wife; or for stripping her of her rights and privileges.
Consequently, according to African culture: even after the death of one or both partners, marriage, with its marital obligations, social status and taboos, remains actively recognized and respected, most specifically by the surviving spouse, the children and the extended family.
Positive implications for value-laden education.
A well-prepared-for marriage and a morally-disciplined, child-friendly family environment, as prescribed above, places the family, strategically, on high moral ground to inculcate norms and values in the education of their children.
Unfortunately, the current situation in many African countries militates against such elaborate pre-marriage processes and exacting marital norms as indicated above. First and foremost, many African countries are far from stable with disastrous consequences affecting the family institution. War and various forms of conflict, have become a common feature in Africa: not only leading to broken-up families but also denying intending couples the opportunity for proper preparation for marriage itself.
In addition, proper preparation for marriage and the observance, thereafter, of the prescribed moral code of conduct, are adversely affected by "friendly fire" from the advocacy campaigns for, and the demonstration effect of, modern permissiveness, currently sweeping much of the affluent rich nations, and impacting aggressively and ceaselessly on the hapless endangered African society, at electronic speed, via print media, radio, television and the internet.
3.0 The five-fold role of the family.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica[20], the traditional family, as it has been known all over the world, our cultural diversity notwithstanding, serves five principal functions, including the educative role. The family caters for:
Emotional or psychic security, which is very much needed in these exacting and hard times of stress;Conjugal or sexual satisfaction;Procreation, whereby society's future is promoted;The education or socialization of children whereby parents pass on knowledge to their children, and inculcate values (notably, cultural and religious values) in them. andPhysical security through joint efforts whereby, for instance, needed assets in the form residence and other property can be acquired.
These functions, in particular the first four functions, though separately analyzed, are so inter-connected and inter-related that they may be treated as components of a single continuous process of mutually reinforcing activities. Here again, with the notable exception of the issue of polygamy, the continuity and inter-relationship of the various marriage and family functions, beginning as they do in the conjugal communion, are well appreciated in both the Church's teaching[21] and African culture.
Positive or negative influences.
A positive or negative influence on any one of the above functions has a resultant impact on another, if not on all the rest.
A well disposed, loving couple tends to be psychologically secure and, in turn, highly motivated to carefully attend to the requisites for proper child bearing and upbringing. At the same time, the success of a child at school and, later, in his or her profession, has the likely effect of, not only bringing joy and pride to the rest of the family; it is also likely to strengthen the family bond and enhance the family status in society. On the other hand undermining family life is likely to have a negative impact on the upbringing and quality of children; just as a child-turned-criminal or tyrant would be a source of discomfort, or even misery, to both family and society.
Negative environmental influences and negative influences inherent in the family.
While environmental forces may rightly be blamed for the family's failure to deliver on its established functions, or even for failure for family life to be entered into at all, it is sometimes the case that such failure may also be due to inherent weaknesses of the family itself; and notably, of the parents in question.
Studies of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, for instance, sometimes attribute the virtue-deficit in both of these leaders, as well as their authoritarian and tyrannical rule, largely to the character of their fathers. Hitler's father, for instance, had little regard for Hitler's mother; who was his third wife. And Stalin's father freely beat his wife; even in the presence of their young child.[22] Hitler and Stalin are not isolated cases of leaders whose insensitivity to the feelings of other people and whose disregard for universal human rights is probably best traced to problems in their upbringing and their parents' conduct; or the lack of it.
Protecting and promoting the family functions.
These family functions are, therefore, of fundamental importance; and not only to the individual members of the family, including the children, but also to society as a whole: the eventual destination of the children.
4.0 The Educative Role of the Family
Educating children, especially inculcating in them norms and values, is at the core of parental responsibilities. The parents are, under normal circumstances, well placed to do so, as they would themselves already have assimilated such norms and values from religion and culture, as well as from practical experience.
The educative role of the family is not a matter of choice or privilege: it is mandatory. The parents bring children into this world: they, therefore, have the primary responsibility to prepare them to live a meaningful and responsible life; and to do so in accordance with morally acceptable norms and values they themselves believe in..
4.1 The Church's position on the educative role of the family.
The Church's position on the primacy of the educative role of the family, is well articulated in the Apostolic Exhortation as follows:
The task of giving education is rooted in the primary vocation of married couples to participate in God's creative activity: by begetting in love and for love a new person who has within himself or herself the vocation for growth and development, parents, by that very fact, take on the task of helping that person effectively to live a fully human life.[23]
The Pope augments his statement by quoting from the conclusions of Vatican II, thus:
"since parents have conferred life on their children, they have a most solemn obligation to educate their offspring. Hence parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it."[24]
The Second Vatican Council added:
"it devolves on parents to create a family atmosphere so animated with love and reverence for God and others that a well-rounded personal and social development will be fostered among the children. Hence the family is the first school of those social virtues every society needs"[25]
It is appreciated that not all education can be carried out directly by the parents and at home; yet the parental educative role has, nevertheless to be continued. In those events, the Church's position emphasizes the right of the family to have a say in the choice of school for the children.
The Church's teaching on the role of the family in the education of children is reflected, in teaching and in practice, by the Church in Africa.[26] In their publication, Education Policy 1997 the Catholics Bishops in Uganda, were categorical in this regard, on their adherence to the conclusions of the Second Vatican Council. For instance on the issue of parental duty beyond home, the Bishops' Conference quoted the Council directly:
"As for Catholic parents, the Council calls to mind their duty to entrust their children to Catholic schools, when and where this is possible; to support such schools to the extent of their ability; and to work along with them for the welfare of their children."[27]
4.2 The African perspective on the family role on education
African perception and practice, regarding the family and its role in the education of children, is well preserved in oral history, proverbs, personal and place names, as well as in researched work. In principle, it does not depart materially from the position of the Church. The African family's right and responsibility to raise children; in particular to inculcate norms and values in their education, is unquestionable. It is also the family's responsibility, where this is possible, to arrange or recommend for apprenticeship for further value-laden education, as among nobles etc., or for the acquisition of skills in various fields by identifying appropriate authorities, institutions and experts.
Philip Curtin & others are correct when they recapitulate the education system in the African society as follows:
Education takes place in all societies as part of socialization. In pre-colonial Africa, general education began at home as soon as a child learned his (or her) own language. Education beyond that might be quite informal but apprenticeship at home or in a workshop of a crafts-worker was essential for learning technical skills.[28]
Thus, the inculcation of cultural norms and values in the African society takes place mainly at home, early in the child's life, under "general education" or "socialization"[29]. Unfortunately, it is this formative phase in the African child's life, along with the earlier one from inception to birth, which suffer the brunt of the impact of the negative forces from the environment, when the family role is disrupted, distorted or even completely eliminated.
4.3 The necessary conditions for a positive role by the family in the Education of children.
From the above discussion the conclusion can be drawn as to the conditions that are necessary for the family to play a positive role in the education of children:
(a) First and foremost, the family itself must be viable, and morally and intellectually formed within the culture, in order to be properly equipped for the mission; and
(b) Second, the country's education system must be based on a philosophical and legal foundation:
(i) which caters for the quality of education (i.e., in terms of values, norms and skills) which the family agrees with and supports; and
(ii) which also caters for effective participation by the family.
It follows, therefore, that a strategy for protecting and consolidating the family's role in education must be directed towards the fulfillment of the above conditions.
5.0 Protecting and Promoting the Family Role in Education in Uganda.
After considerable sustained constructive engagement, and, on occasions, actual confrontation, involving representatives of the family, the Church, the Laity and the political leadership in the country, an Education Policy, generally acceptable to all, is currently in place.
On the basis of the conclusions in 4.3 above, Uganda can be credited for its positive strategy for preserving and promoting the family role in Education. This strategy should be supported and improved upon.
5.1 Promoting intellectual, professional and moral formation for the family.
The family in Uganda is well placed to benefit, in its formation and empowerment, from the wide-ranging, formal and informal, educational programmes, provided by the State, as well as the private sector: and the Church, which takes particular interest in spiritual and moral formation; which programmes are freely accessible by many, including adults. The laity (and clergy) can and do take advantage of them.
Uganda is pursuing a liberal education policy, directed at expanding opportunities for learning at all levels throughout the country; and at the same time encouraging private sector initiatives in this field.
The Catholic Church has always played, and continues to play, a lead role in providing formal and informal education in the country, paying particular attention to spiritual and moral formation. Currently, the Church's efforts in Education are based on its Education Policy 1997, agreed on by the Uganda Episcopal Conference, which is in line with the conclusions of the Second Vatican Council.
This policy is conducted under the aegis of the National Catholic Secretariat; and caters for various initiatives in the field of education: from the National and Diocesan levels, down to the Parish level, where it focuses on the "natural community"[30] at the grassroots (akabondo).[31]
However, given the limitations of the natural community and the growing ethnic heterogeneity and social-economic complexity of the African, and indeed of the Ugandan society, it seems to be necessary and urgent to develop and/or strengthen, in addition, a strategy directed at the people in their new and growing social and professional formations, including Lawyers, Medical Doctors, the Academia, and the Political elite, as well as members of the Security Agencies.
5.2 Value-laden quality education
The formal education in schools and higher institutions of learning, is, particularly in respect of inculcation of norms and values, an extension, or delegated responsibility, of the family's role in the education of children. The family has, therefore the right and obligation, to pass judgement as to the moral worth of the education system in place and to influence it.
The family may pass such judgement on the basis of the imputed reputation of the system; and also on the basis of the stipulated principles, set out in the country's Constitution governing Education policy; as well as on the basis of the Education law in place.
5.2.1 Moral values underscored in the Constitution and provision for religious influence in the education system.
The Constitution of Uganda (as amended, 2006) commits the country to democratic principles; to fundamental and other human rights; to recognition of the dignity of women; and to Educational Objectives, one of which is the role of Religion.
5.2.2 Religion in denominational schools.
The Constitutional provision on the role of Religion in Education accommodates the Church's position in support of denominational schools, as set out by the Second Vatican Council, and as quoted above by the Uganda Episcopal Conference in their Education Policy 1997.[32] The Uganda position, as given in the Constitution provides for the legitimacy of denominational, as well as other non-governmental, schools:
Individuals, religious bodies, and other non-governmental organizations shall be free to found and operate educational institutions if they comply with the general educational policy of the country and maintain national standards. (Underlining added).[33]
5.2.3 Religion in grant-aided Schools.
Besides legitimizing denominational schools, and thereby indirectly encouraging emphasis on the inculcation of religious values, the Education Policy also commits Government to the institutionalization of public support, under a scheme of guaranteed grants, to privately founded schools, many of which were founded by Religious bodies, more so by the Catholic Church. Understandably, the Government does have a role to play in the management of such grant-aided schools; but also the Founding bodies do have a significant role.[34]
Besides providing for Religious bodies to establish and manage their own educational institutions, the Uganda Education Policy, as provided for in the current Education Act, specifies that religious studies shall be part of the curriculum. Section 4, subsection (4) of the Education Act states:
Religious studies shall form part of the curriculum in primary and post-primary schools.[35]
5.3 Effective family participation.
At the level of policy, the role and participation of the family in the education of children is provided for in the Education Policy, where it is stated:
Provision of education and training to the child shall be a joint responsibility of the State, the parent or guardian And other stakeholders.[36]
It is assumed here that the burden of responsibility conferred on the family in the Education Act, logically also confers on it the right to have a say in the matter i.e., the education of the child in terms of content, quality and administration. In practice, parents are normally represented on the Boards of Governors or Management Committees of the relevant institutions.
6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations
6.1 Conclusion.
From the foregoing, conclusions may be drawn as follows.
6.1,1 The educative vocation of the family.
The family has a critical role to play in the education of children:
- that this role is well entrenched in Church Teaching and various cultures, African culture included; and
- that the execution of this role is largely determined by the constitutional and institutional framework in place and by the state of the family itself, which, in turn, may be affected by positive or negative influences from the environment.
6.1.2 The state of the family today.
The state of the family today is a matter of concern mainly due to the many negative influences from the rapidly changing socio-economic environment, with the effect that: while some families remain steadfast and undeterred in their role; others are losing confidence in the execution of their role; or are being rendered totally incapacitated and unable to do anything.
6.1.3 The Church's position.
The Church presents us with a theological foundation, in the Apostolic Exhortation on the Family, Familiaris Consortio, as a guide for appropriate policy and practice on matters related to the family and its role in education. It is important to note that in this Exhortation, and in a subsequent one on The Church in Africa, Ecclesia in Africa, His Holiness the Pope, points out the compatibility, in many respects, between Catholic Teaching and various cultures, African culture included.
6.1.4 The African situation: the Uganda case.
The constitutional and institutional framework of a country is a good and practical reference as to the extent to which the family's role in education, as set forth by the Church e.g., in her education policy, is accommodated; and as to what strategies may be designed or improved upon for the purpose. In this regard, using Uganda as representative example, it may be concluded that a standard democratic constitution, with an entrenched Bill of Rights, provides a reasonable framework for the purpose.
6.1.5 Vigilance and constructive engagements necessary.
The Church and Laity must not take things for granted: they must be vigilant and participate in constructive engagement with the State authorities:
- First, to ensure that a proper constitutional and institutional framework is in place; and
- Second, to counter any negative influences from the domestic and international environment.
6.2 Recommendation.
Taking the Uganda case as a representative example, the Church and the Laity must be commended for the effective role they have so far played to secure a hospitable constitutional and institutional order; and to counter negative influences directed against the integrity of the family and its positive role in education. However, in order to maintain and improve on the achievements so far made, the following are necessary.
First and foremost, it is necessary to safeguard and enhance the morally based traditional family by encouraging the devout; by building confidence among those in doubt; and by removing or overcoming institutional impediments to family life as it has all along been promoted by both the Church and culture.
Second it is necessary to evolve a strategy for greater effectiveness, overall, by the Church and Laity in public affairs; and more specifically in matters related to the family and education
The following recommendations are made towards achieving the above objectives.
Promoting active participation by Catholics in matters of public interest; Greater empowerment, in terms of spiritual, moral and intellectual enrichment, and capacity building for both the clergy and laity, through appropriate training; and through membership and establishment, at the local and the international level, of Catholic-friendly Professional Associations e.g., for Medical Doctors, Judges and Lawyers, University Academics and Teachers, as well as for Political leaders and Leaders in the Business Community; Greater participation in, and/or establishment of, institutions, e.g., Foundations, which are directed at influencing public policy; More systematic mobilization, at the local and international level, for practical support, for Catholic institutions and Catholic-inspired programmes.
--- --- ---
[1] The interpretations and opinions expressed in this paper, unless otherwise stated, are solely those of the writer; and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Church or any organization.
[2] Dr. Germina N, Ssemogerere is a Graduate of Duke University, N.C., USA. She is currently Assoc. Professor, Faculty of Economics & Management (FEMA), Makerere University, Kampala Uganda.
[3] There is no denial about God's reality in the African society. God is present in Africa under various terms e.g., as the creator ("Katonda" ) among the Baganda; the Great Potter ("Kibumba") among the Basoga; the Great Fixer ("Ruhanga" ) among the Banyoro and Batooro.
[4] John Paul II (November 28, 1981) Familiaris Consortio - Apostolic Exhortation (www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii). For a summary, see: Catholicism - The 1980 Vatican Synod on Family And Familiaris Consortio, (file////192.168.0.1)
[5] See: Diop, Cheikh Anra (1959) The Culture Unity of Black Africa (Chicago: Third World Press).esp. pp.34-41. See also Diop's other work: Civilization or Barbarism.
[6] Ratzinger, Jozeph, Pope Benedict XVI (2006) Jesus of Nazareth (Random House, N.Y.: Doubleday).
[7] John Paul II (November 28, 1981) Familiaris Consortio - Apostolic Exhortation. For a fair summary, see: Catholicism - The 1980 Vatican Synod on Family And Familiaris Consortio, (file////192.168.0.1)
[8] Familiaris Consortio, ibid. para.14.
[9] Pope Paul II (1995) The Church in Africa: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation (Yaounde, Cameroon; published by Daughters of St. Paul: Nairobi , Kenya).
[10] Ibid. paragraph 85, p.66.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid. paragraph 42, p.33.
[13] Ibid. paragraphs 42 & 43, p. 33.
[14] Some ethnic groups e.g., the Baganda depended on an a discreet intelligence exchange system involving senior and close members of the extended family of the boy and girl in question to reach an informed judgement in this regard. Others e.g., the Gikuyu in Kenya, subjected boys and girls to a taxing process culminating in "initiation" as a sine qua non for marriage.
[15] It is here stressed that acknowledging the principle behind the initiation process does not necessarily mean wholesale approval of the specific activities carried out under it; nor a failure to see the need for modification and improvement. On the Initiation process among the Gikuyu from a cultural perspective, see: Kenyatta, Jomo, Facing Mount Kenya (with an Introduction by B. Malinowski); (New York: Vintage Books)
[16] The latest formal reaffirmation of this position by Kampala Archdiocese was reached in their Synod in 2006, and conveyed " to the general public, under the theme, "Okweteratekera Obufumbo, in the Archdiocesan publication: Obutume bw'Omukatuliki Mu Ssaza Ly'e Kampala.
[17] African customary incorporation, as used here, differs from legal adoption. Customary incorporation by itself, unlike legal adoption, is neither necessarily a condition nor an occasion or opportunity for severance or alienation of the biological relations that prevailed before. In its broadest sense, customary incorporation may even be applied to accommodate people from outside one's ethnic group. The biographies of the Uganda Martyrs tell us, for instance, of officials in the Kabaka's Palace i.e., in the mainstream of Buganda politics, whose origin would be traced to tribes outside Buganda. For example, the Martyr, St. Donozio Ssebuggwawo and her mother Nsonga, originally from Busoga, were incorporated into the family of Ssebuggwawo, at the time a noble in the Kingdom and a brother of the then Katikkiro (Prime Minister) who belonged to the Musu ( edible rat ) clan.
[18] Familiaris Consortio, paragraph. 27.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Encyclopaedia Britanica,15th ed.; 1943-1973 (Chicago/London/Toronto/Genecva/Sydney/Tokyo/Manila/Seoul/Johannesburg: William Benton Publisher and Helen Hemingway Benton Publisher) no.7 pp.155-173, esp. pp. 155-166.
[21] Familiaris Consortio; ibid paragraphs 18-27.
[22] For a comprehensive study of these leaders see, Bullock, Alan (1l992) Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives (New York: Alfred A. Knoff). Note, however, that the author does not himself completely attribute Hitler's and Stalin's unacceptable conduct in public office to the wrongs in family upbringing... Opinions on this do differ as the author reveals; but we are persuaded to believe that such bad behaviour by the two men could not, but have had a negative ;impact on the psychological and moral formation of their children.
[23] Familiaris Consortio; ibid paragraph 36.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Ibid.
[26] See, for example: The Uganda Episcopal Conference (1997) Education Policy 1997 (Kampala , Uganda: Makerere University).
[27] The Education Policy:1997 ibid.
[28] Curtin, Philip & others eds.(First published 1978, 10th impression 1992) African History (Longman and New York: Longman Inc.) p. 532.
[29] "Socialization" as "general education": see, Encyclopaedia Britannica in fn. 14 above.
[30] This "natural community", focused on in Uganda, is a neighbourhood community based on geographical contiguity and Administrative convenience.
[31] See, for example: Obutume bw'Omukatuliki mu Ssaza ly'e Kampala: Okunnyikiza Obukristu Mu Bulamu Bwaffe (Grassroot Evangelization); (Kampala Archdiocese: Marianum Press, Kisubi), 2006.
[32] Op. cit
[33] The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (as amended,2006) op. cit.: National Objectives and Directive Principles of Policy, XVIII (iii).
[34] The Uganda Government, , The Education (Pre-Primary, Primary and Post Primary) Act, 2008: sections 7 and 8.
[35] The Education Act; ibid. section 4 (4).
[36] The Education Act; ibid. Section 1( i ).
Here is the text of the address given today by Dr. Germina N. Ssemogerere, economics professor at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, at the 6th World Meeting of Families, under way in Mexico.
* * *
"The Educative Vocation of the Family: An African Perspective, with particular reference to Uganda"[1]
The Family, Teacher of Human and Christian Values
1.0 Introduction
The topic we are addressing, "The Educative vocation of the Family", which refers to the special devotion of the family to the education of the children, is a matter of considerable importance and urgency, to both the Church and society, all over the world. This topic is of considerable importance in our time on account of the interplay of the unprecedented social, economic and political forces from, not only the local, but also from the international environment as well, that impact on the family. In the process, such forces, sometimes threaten the family's very survival; and impede it from achieving its goals: the most critical of which is that of producing and raising healthy, properly informed, well adjusted and responsible citizens, who are accountable to society; and, ultimately, accountable to God.[3]
This presentation highlights two principal propositions.
First, it is suggested that a well-prepared-for marriage, followed by a viable, informed and morally disciplined family, is a good investment for the proper upbringing and education of children. Second, it is suggested that for the family's educative mission to be properly continued beyond the home, notably in school: it is necessary that there be an appropriate philosophical, constitutional and institutional foundation for moral education; and for an effective participatory role by the family in the education system.
Given the presence of negative environmental forces, this strategy calls for vigilance and a constructive engagement of the family, the political authorities, and other key stakeholders, in particular the Religious and cultural leaders, as well as professionals among the Civil Society.
It is observed that, in this regard, there is, in principle, much common ground between the Church's position and African culture; although certain practices permissible in African culture, notably polygamy in marriage, may be unacceptable to Church teaching. From both, the Church's position and African culture, environmental forces impacting negatively on the family, undermine its role and, consequently, affect the children's education and formation.
The present concerns.
Our attention ought to be drawn to the current state of affairs regarding issues affecting the family today, as witnessed by the rising numbers, including among the elite and affluent classes: of: same-sex marriages; co-habitation; sterilized families; un-socialized children; as well as of voluntary and/or State-enforced abortions; and abandonment of so called unwanted children etc.
The plight of the traditional family is well captured in the Apostolic Exhortation, "Familiaris Consortio" (On the Family)[4] by the late Pope John Paul II, in these words:
The family in the modern world, as much as and perhaps more than any other institution, has been beset by the many profound and rapid changes that have affected society and culture.
According to Pope John Paul II, families are reacting differently to these dramatic changes. In the Exhortation, he describes three ways in which families react to these changes.
First, His Holiness says:
Many families are living this situation in fidelity (i.e., faithfully) to those values that constitute the foundation of the institution of the family.
Second, he refers to:
Others (who) have become uncertain and bewildered over their role and even doubtful and almost unaware of the ultimate meaning and truth of conjugal and family life. (Underlining added).
There is also a third category, the Pontiff added, of families:
... who are hindered by various situations of injustice in the realization of their fundamental rights (to which the family is otherwise entitled). (Underlining added).
The Pope's findings are well taken; and they are a major basis for the conclusions reached and the recommendations made of a strategy of empowerment i.e., moral and intellectual, as well as economic and political empowerment for the Catholic Lay Movement and institutions.
Section 2.0 is a presentation on the family as an institution of universal relevance and its educative role, with particular reference to the position of the Church and the African situation. Section 3.0 presents the family's five-fold role. Section 4.0 discusses the family's educative mission; and presents the position taken on by the Church as well as its place in African culture. Section 5 examines the principles and legal framework underlying Uganda's Education system with a view: first, of gauging opportunities currently available for a positive family educative role; and, second, determining prospects for improvement or corrective measures, on the basis of which suggestions for improvement are made in section 6.
This presentation is based mainly on official documents and data; and on relevant literature, as well as personal knowledge and experience.
2.0 The Institution of the Family and its Educative Role.
The family has always been a well established and entrenched institution in society all over the world; and so has its critical role in the education or ‘socialization" of the children.
2.1 The family in Africa.
In Africa, the family is a central institution in kinship[5], whereby one's place in society is established: partly on the basis of one's identity by family and lineage; and partly on the basis of the contribution made to society in terms of values and various activities.
The importance of the traditional family in Africa is further reflected, by the care and solemnity associated with the entire process leading to, and culminating in the execution of the marriage covenant; by the exacting moral code of conduct expected of the married people, more so if they are parents with children; by the elevated status society traditionally accords to them, and by the love and respect even highly placed adults give to their parents.
In some African cultures, the special love and respect given to parents by their grown-up children, even by the Royalty, is demonstrated, by their public behaviour and official conduct. The Kabaka (King) of Buganda, for instance, is, according to Buganda culture, expected to seek and take, seriously, counsel from her mother (the Queen-Mother) when making important decisions. And the Queen-Mother in the Kingdom of Swaziland commands similar, if not greater loyalty from the King, and authority in the Kingdom, than her counterpart in Buganda.
2.2 The Church's position on the family.
2.2.1 Historical global perspective.
There is much in common between the Church and African culture on the position and role of the family in society. The Church has always had a strong and supportive position on matters affecting the family. In his book , Jesus of Nazareth (2006), which he developed over many decades, Jozeph Ratzinger, now His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, stresses the Church's historical position on the family in these words:
From her very inception, the Church that emerged and continues to emerge, has attached fundamental importance to defending the family as the core of all social order...[6]
A recent evidence of the importance of the Church's support and defence for the family, was the convening of The 1980 Vatican Synod on the Family, with the findings and recommendations of the synod culminating in a comprehensive Apostolic Exhortation on the subject, (viz., Familiaris Consortio), by Pope John Paul II[7] in 1981. In the Exhortation, His Holiness, describes the family as divinely ordained; and says:
According to the plan of God, marriage is the foundation of the wider community of the family, since the very institution of marriage and conjugal love are ordained to the procreation and education of children, in whom they find their crowning.[8]
Consequently, His Holiness goes on in the Exhortation, to point out what is required to establish and maintain, in good standing, a viable mutually supporting family community, based on love and the recognition of the rights and responsibilities of the respective members of this community i.e., of the husband, the wife and the children.
2.2.2 Focus on Africa.
Following the Second Vatican Council, the Church has paid particular attention to Africa; and to the family in Africa. On the occasion of the first visit by a reigning Pope in modern times, Pope Paul VI inaugurated, in 1969, in Kampala, Uganda: the first Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), which has since become the forum for common concert for the Church on the continent.
In 1989, His Holiness Pope John Paul II convoked the first Synod (Council) of the African Episcopal Conference which discussed issues related to the challenges of evangelization; and the family was one such issue. Six years after the African Synod, Pope John Paul II issued a post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, The Church in Africa (Ecclesia in Africa), based on the proceedings of the 1989 African Synod.[9]
On the importance of the family, the Holy Father points out in the Exhortation:
By its very nature, marriage, which has the special mission of perpetuating humanity, transcends the couple. In the same way, by its nature, the family extends beyond the individual household: it is oriented towards society.[10]
His Holiness continues and quotes from the Exhortation on the Family Familiaris Consortio (1991):
"The family has vital and organic links with society, since it is its foundation and nourishes it continuously through its role of service to life: it is from the family that citizens come to birth and it is from family that they find the first school of the social virtues that are the animating principles of the existence and development of society itself. Thus, far from being closed on itself, the family is by nature and vocation open to other families and society, and undertakes its social role."[11]
As a necessary step before recommending inculcation of aspects of African culture into Catholic Teaching on the family, Pope John Paul II finds there is a good deal of harmony between the two. He observes in The Church in Africa:
(Africa) is endowed with a wealth of cultural values and priceless human qualities which it can offer to the Churches and to humanity as a whole.[12] (Underlining added).
The Pope then concludes on a note of hope: agreeing with the African Synod: on inculcation of "positive" African cultural values. And he envisages: prospects for the transformation of the African family through the inspiration of the Gospel; and, consequently, such transformation contributing towards world-wide spiritual revival and the development of a more fraternal society.[13]
2.3 Necessary conditions for marriage and family: the African perspective.
As indicated above: in both the Church's Teaching and African culture: the family is an institution of utmost importance, with a critical role to play. Recognition of this role the family plays and, generally, of its significance, is also demonstrated by the process leading to the formation of the family itself.
First, the Church and African culture, probably without exception, prescribe a cautious approach, characterized by care and seriousness of purpose, in respect of the process leading to marriage. And, second, subsequently when marriage is contracted, the couple's status in society is instantly enhanced and, together as a family, the couple receive social protection and privileges.
Especially for its own protection and as a deterrent against temptations of abuse of status: notably guarding against permissiveness and incest, marriage is under the watchful control of cultural taboos, with enforceable sanctions. In this respect, for instance, some cultures have strict prohibitions against physical contact within the family in its extended form, between a male member and his daughter-in-law, or mother-in-law.
In conclusion it may be said that the process leading to and culminating in marriage and, in addition, that the observation of a strict, cultural moral code of conduct governing marriage and family, are essential conditions for establishing the family institution as a fountain of honour and virtue in society.
2.3.1 Preparation for marriage: a serious project.
For both the Church and African culture, in normal peace time circumstances, marriage is not an abrupt or surprise affair: it is a serious project calling for due and deliberate preparations.
Courtship, in African culture, is positively encouraged only between confirmed adults - and adults with approved credentials for starting and managing family life[14]. Ample time is therefore normally provided for the necessary preliminary introductory encounters and information exchange; and, thereafter, for courtship, before formal engagement and, finally, marriage. Throughout this process certain key members of one's extended family, on both sides, play their part and provide their wise judgement and counsel before the final choice and commitment is freely made: ideally by the two candidates themselves; and each one by himself or herself.
This cautious approach to marriage is, in principle,[15] in line with the Church's own position, where, normally a specified period is set aside to ensure that the intending couple qualify and fully appreciate and accept the challenges ahead of them; in particular the necessary conditions and full implications of the Sacrament of Matrimony. For this purpose the Church demands a standard minimum four-week requirement and the public announcements of the marriage bans before marriage is consecrated.[16]
The harmony on this principle of due preparation and verification, between the Church and African traditional practice, is demonstrated by the absence of any serious and open protests or representations against the Church's position; and also by the ready compliance with this four-week preparatory period, by intending African couples who would have qualified for marriage under the traditional system.
2.3.2 Marriage as a life-long devotion of morally disciplined spouses under a code of conduct.
Apart from the issue of polygamy, which, in any case, has never been a necessary nor universal African condition, there appears to be much common ground, at the conceptual level, on marriage between African culture and the Church's position.
Marriage-for-life devotion is respected even under childlessness and after bereavement.
Marriage-for-life devotion is respected, encouraged and supported in African culture almost in the same sense as in Christianity.
Divorce or official separation after due process is, under normal circumstances, unacceptable; it is only permissible after serious investigation, by representatives of both the husband's and wife's families; and when attempts at mediation have proved pointless.
On the other hand, life-long marriage devotion is treasured and positively encouraged and supported in African culture. For instance, even in the unfortunate situation of childlessness, or the death of a spouse, African culture accords due status, respect and honour to the bereaved husband or wife.
In the case of childlessness, the dread of loneliness and feelings of self-pity would, in many situations be mitigated, if not completely overcome, by customary incorporation[17] from the husband's or wife's extended family; and even from society at large: from close friends and acquaintances. In addition to incorporation, the African extended family system, along with its liberal policy on succession and inheritance, reduces childlessness to an issue of little consequence during one's life-time; and even after death.
Life-long marriage devotion, after the death of one's spouse, is supported in various other ways: for example by the policy of guaranteed solidarity and humanitarian support; as well as of security of residence etc., to the widow or widower. At the same time the widow or widower is given a continuing opportunity to remain in productive active life, contributing, in some modest ways, to both family and society. This policy contrasts sharply with the modern practice of committing such people to the relatively impersonal life in old people's homes - a contrast Pope John Paul II captures in the Exhortation as follows:
There are cultures which manifest a unique veneration and great love for the elderly: far from being outcasts from the family or merely being tolerated as a useless burden, they continue to be present and to take an active and responsible part in family life, though having to respect the autonomy of the new family; above all they carry out the important mission of being a witness to the past and a source of wisdom for the young and for the future.[18]
The Pope brings out the cultural contrast when he laments:
Other cultures, however, especially in the wake of disordered industrialized and urban development, have both in the past and the present, set the elderly aside in unacceptable ways. This causes acute suffering to them and spiritually impoverishes many families.[19]
True, in the African situation, when the wife is perceived to be barren, there would likely be an inclination for the husband taking on another wife. This would, ordinarily, be permissible; and sometimes the original wife would help in the effort to secure a suitable additional wife. However, even then, the situation that emerges would not, by itself, be ground for divorce of, or official separation with, the original wife; or for stripping her of her rights and privileges.
Consequently, according to African culture: even after the death of one or both partners, marriage, with its marital obligations, social status and taboos, remains actively recognized and respected, most specifically by the surviving spouse, the children and the extended family.
Positive implications for value-laden education.
A well-prepared-for marriage and a morally-disciplined, child-friendly family environment, as prescribed above, places the family, strategically, on high moral ground to inculcate norms and values in the education of their children.
Unfortunately, the current situation in many African countries militates against such elaborate pre-marriage processes and exacting marital norms as indicated above. First and foremost, many African countries are far from stable with disastrous consequences affecting the family institution. War and various forms of conflict, have become a common feature in Africa: not only leading to broken-up families but also denying intending couples the opportunity for proper preparation for marriage itself.
In addition, proper preparation for marriage and the observance, thereafter, of the prescribed moral code of conduct, are adversely affected by "friendly fire" from the advocacy campaigns for, and the demonstration effect of, modern permissiveness, currently sweeping much of the affluent rich nations, and impacting aggressively and ceaselessly on the hapless endangered African society, at electronic speed, via print media, radio, television and the internet.
3.0 The five-fold role of the family.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica[20], the traditional family, as it has been known all over the world, our cultural diversity notwithstanding, serves five principal functions, including the educative role. The family caters for:
Emotional or psychic security, which is very much needed in these exacting and hard times of stress;Conjugal or sexual satisfaction;Procreation, whereby society's future is promoted;The education or socialization of children whereby parents pass on knowledge to their children, and inculcate values (notably, cultural and religious values) in them. andPhysical security through joint efforts whereby, for instance, needed assets in the form residence and other property can be acquired.
These functions, in particular the first four functions, though separately analyzed, are so inter-connected and inter-related that they may be treated as components of a single continuous process of mutually reinforcing activities. Here again, with the notable exception of the issue of polygamy, the continuity and inter-relationship of the various marriage and family functions, beginning as they do in the conjugal communion, are well appreciated in both the Church's teaching[21] and African culture.
Positive or negative influences.
A positive or negative influence on any one of the above functions has a resultant impact on another, if not on all the rest.
A well disposed, loving couple tends to be psychologically secure and, in turn, highly motivated to carefully attend to the requisites for proper child bearing and upbringing. At the same time, the success of a child at school and, later, in his or her profession, has the likely effect of, not only bringing joy and pride to the rest of the family; it is also likely to strengthen the family bond and enhance the family status in society. On the other hand undermining family life is likely to have a negative impact on the upbringing and quality of children; just as a child-turned-criminal or tyrant would be a source of discomfort, or even misery, to both family and society.
Negative environmental influences and negative influences inherent in the family.
While environmental forces may rightly be blamed for the family's failure to deliver on its established functions, or even for failure for family life to be entered into at all, it is sometimes the case that such failure may also be due to inherent weaknesses of the family itself; and notably, of the parents in question.
Studies of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, for instance, sometimes attribute the virtue-deficit in both of these leaders, as well as their authoritarian and tyrannical rule, largely to the character of their fathers. Hitler's father, for instance, had little regard for Hitler's mother; who was his third wife. And Stalin's father freely beat his wife; even in the presence of their young child.[22] Hitler and Stalin are not isolated cases of leaders whose insensitivity to the feelings of other people and whose disregard for universal human rights is probably best traced to problems in their upbringing and their parents' conduct; or the lack of it.
Protecting and promoting the family functions.
These family functions are, therefore, of fundamental importance; and not only to the individual members of the family, including the children, but also to society as a whole: the eventual destination of the children.
4.0 The Educative Role of the Family
Educating children, especially inculcating in them norms and values, is at the core of parental responsibilities. The parents are, under normal circumstances, well placed to do so, as they would themselves already have assimilated such norms and values from religion and culture, as well as from practical experience.
The educative role of the family is not a matter of choice or privilege: it is mandatory. The parents bring children into this world: they, therefore, have the primary responsibility to prepare them to live a meaningful and responsible life; and to do so in accordance with morally acceptable norms and values they themselves believe in..
4.1 The Church's position on the educative role of the family.
The Church's position on the primacy of the educative role of the family, is well articulated in the Apostolic Exhortation as follows:
The task of giving education is rooted in the primary vocation of married couples to participate in God's creative activity: by begetting in love and for love a new person who has within himself or herself the vocation for growth and development, parents, by that very fact, take on the task of helping that person effectively to live a fully human life.[23]
The Pope augments his statement by quoting from the conclusions of Vatican II, thus:
"since parents have conferred life on their children, they have a most solemn obligation to educate their offspring. Hence parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it."[24]
The Second Vatican Council added:
"it devolves on parents to create a family atmosphere so animated with love and reverence for God and others that a well-rounded personal and social development will be fostered among the children. Hence the family is the first school of those social virtues every society needs"[25]
It is appreciated that not all education can be carried out directly by the parents and at home; yet the parental educative role has, nevertheless to be continued. In those events, the Church's position emphasizes the right of the family to have a say in the choice of school for the children.
The Church's teaching on the role of the family in the education of children is reflected, in teaching and in practice, by the Church in Africa.[26] In their publication, Education Policy 1997 the Catholics Bishops in Uganda, were categorical in this regard, on their adherence to the conclusions of the Second Vatican Council. For instance on the issue of parental duty beyond home, the Bishops' Conference quoted the Council directly:
"As for Catholic parents, the Council calls to mind their duty to entrust their children to Catholic schools, when and where this is possible; to support such schools to the extent of their ability; and to work along with them for the welfare of their children."[27]
4.2 The African perspective on the family role on education
African perception and practice, regarding the family and its role in the education of children, is well preserved in oral history, proverbs, personal and place names, as well as in researched work. In principle, it does not depart materially from the position of the Church. The African family's right and responsibility to raise children; in particular to inculcate norms and values in their education, is unquestionable. It is also the family's responsibility, where this is possible, to arrange or recommend for apprenticeship for further value-laden education, as among nobles etc., or for the acquisition of skills in various fields by identifying appropriate authorities, institutions and experts.
Philip Curtin & others are correct when they recapitulate the education system in the African society as follows:
Education takes place in all societies as part of socialization. In pre-colonial Africa, general education began at home as soon as a child learned his (or her) own language. Education beyond that might be quite informal but apprenticeship at home or in a workshop of a crafts-worker was essential for learning technical skills.[28]
Thus, the inculcation of cultural norms and values in the African society takes place mainly at home, early in the child's life, under "general education" or "socialization"[29]. Unfortunately, it is this formative phase in the African child's life, along with the earlier one from inception to birth, which suffer the brunt of the impact of the negative forces from the environment, when the family role is disrupted, distorted or even completely eliminated.
4.3 The necessary conditions for a positive role by the family in the Education of children.
From the above discussion the conclusion can be drawn as to the conditions that are necessary for the family to play a positive role in the education of children:
(a) First and foremost, the family itself must be viable, and morally and intellectually formed within the culture, in order to be properly equipped for the mission; and
(b) Second, the country's education system must be based on a philosophical and legal foundation:
(i) which caters for the quality of education (i.e., in terms of values, norms and skills) which the family agrees with and supports; and
(ii) which also caters for effective participation by the family.
It follows, therefore, that a strategy for protecting and consolidating the family's role in education must be directed towards the fulfillment of the above conditions.
5.0 Protecting and Promoting the Family Role in Education in Uganda.
After considerable sustained constructive engagement, and, on occasions, actual confrontation, involving representatives of the family, the Church, the Laity and the political leadership in the country, an Education Policy, generally acceptable to all, is currently in place.
On the basis of the conclusions in 4.3 above, Uganda can be credited for its positive strategy for preserving and promoting the family role in Education. This strategy should be supported and improved upon.
5.1 Promoting intellectual, professional and moral formation for the family.
The family in Uganda is well placed to benefit, in its formation and empowerment, from the wide-ranging, formal and informal, educational programmes, provided by the State, as well as the private sector: and the Church, which takes particular interest in spiritual and moral formation; which programmes are freely accessible by many, including adults. The laity (and clergy) can and do take advantage of them.
Uganda is pursuing a liberal education policy, directed at expanding opportunities for learning at all levels throughout the country; and at the same time encouraging private sector initiatives in this field.
The Catholic Church has always played, and continues to play, a lead role in providing formal and informal education in the country, paying particular attention to spiritual and moral formation. Currently, the Church's efforts in Education are based on its Education Policy 1997, agreed on by the Uganda Episcopal Conference, which is in line with the conclusions of the Second Vatican Council.
This policy is conducted under the aegis of the National Catholic Secretariat; and caters for various initiatives in the field of education: from the National and Diocesan levels, down to the Parish level, where it focuses on the "natural community"[30] at the grassroots (akabondo).[31]
However, given the limitations of the natural community and the growing ethnic heterogeneity and social-economic complexity of the African, and indeed of the Ugandan society, it seems to be necessary and urgent to develop and/or strengthen, in addition, a strategy directed at the people in their new and growing social and professional formations, including Lawyers, Medical Doctors, the Academia, and the Political elite, as well as members of the Security Agencies.
5.2 Value-laden quality education
The formal education in schools and higher institutions of learning, is, particularly in respect of inculcation of norms and values, an extension, or delegated responsibility, of the family's role in the education of children. The family has, therefore the right and obligation, to pass judgement as to the moral worth of the education system in place and to influence it.
The family may pass such judgement on the basis of the imputed reputation of the system; and also on the basis of the stipulated principles, set out in the country's Constitution governing Education policy; as well as on the basis of the Education law in place.
5.2.1 Moral values underscored in the Constitution and provision for religious influence in the education system.
The Constitution of Uganda (as amended, 2006) commits the country to democratic principles; to fundamental and other human rights; to recognition of the dignity of women; and to Educational Objectives, one of which is the role of Religion.
5.2.2 Religion in denominational schools.
The Constitutional provision on the role of Religion in Education accommodates the Church's position in support of denominational schools, as set out by the Second Vatican Council, and as quoted above by the Uganda Episcopal Conference in their Education Policy 1997.[32] The Uganda position, as given in the Constitution provides for the legitimacy of denominational, as well as other non-governmental, schools:
Individuals, religious bodies, and other non-governmental organizations shall be free to found and operate educational institutions if they comply with the general educational policy of the country and maintain national standards. (Underlining added).[33]
5.2.3 Religion in grant-aided Schools.
Besides legitimizing denominational schools, and thereby indirectly encouraging emphasis on the inculcation of religious values, the Education Policy also commits Government to the institutionalization of public support, under a scheme of guaranteed grants, to privately founded schools, many of which were founded by Religious bodies, more so by the Catholic Church. Understandably, the Government does have a role to play in the management of such grant-aided schools; but also the Founding bodies do have a significant role.[34]
Besides providing for Religious bodies to establish and manage their own educational institutions, the Uganda Education Policy, as provided for in the current Education Act, specifies that religious studies shall be part of the curriculum. Section 4, subsection (4) of the Education Act states:
Religious studies shall form part of the curriculum in primary and post-primary schools.[35]
5.3 Effective family participation.
At the level of policy, the role and participation of the family in the education of children is provided for in the Education Policy, where it is stated:
Provision of education and training to the child shall be a joint responsibility of the State, the parent or guardian And other stakeholders.[36]
It is assumed here that the burden of responsibility conferred on the family in the Education Act, logically also confers on it the right to have a say in the matter i.e., the education of the child in terms of content, quality and administration. In practice, parents are normally represented on the Boards of Governors or Management Committees of the relevant institutions.
6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations
6.1 Conclusion.
From the foregoing, conclusions may be drawn as follows.
6.1,1 The educative vocation of the family.
The family has a critical role to play in the education of children:
- that this role is well entrenched in Church Teaching and various cultures, African culture included; and
- that the execution of this role is largely determined by the constitutional and institutional framework in place and by the state of the family itself, which, in turn, may be affected by positive or negative influences from the environment.
6.1.2 The state of the family today.
The state of the family today is a matter of concern mainly due to the many negative influences from the rapidly changing socio-economic environment, with the effect that: while some families remain steadfast and undeterred in their role; others are losing confidence in the execution of their role; or are being rendered totally incapacitated and unable to do anything.
6.1.3 The Church's position.
The Church presents us with a theological foundation, in the Apostolic Exhortation on the Family, Familiaris Consortio, as a guide for appropriate policy and practice on matters related to the family and its role in education. It is important to note that in this Exhortation, and in a subsequent one on The Church in Africa, Ecclesia in Africa, His Holiness the Pope, points out the compatibility, in many respects, between Catholic Teaching and various cultures, African culture included.
6.1.4 The African situation: the Uganda case.
The constitutional and institutional framework of a country is a good and practical reference as to the extent to which the family's role in education, as set forth by the Church e.g., in her education policy, is accommodated; and as to what strategies may be designed or improved upon for the purpose. In this regard, using Uganda as representative example, it may be concluded that a standard democratic constitution, with an entrenched Bill of Rights, provides a reasonable framework for the purpose.
6.1.5 Vigilance and constructive engagements necessary.
The Church and Laity must not take things for granted: they must be vigilant and participate in constructive engagement with the State authorities:
- First, to ensure that a proper constitutional and institutional framework is in place; and
- Second, to counter any negative influences from the domestic and international environment.
6.2 Recommendation.
Taking the Uganda case as a representative example, the Church and the Laity must be commended for the effective role they have so far played to secure a hospitable constitutional and institutional order; and to counter negative influences directed against the integrity of the family and its positive role in education. However, in order to maintain and improve on the achievements so far made, the following are necessary.
First and foremost, it is necessary to safeguard and enhance the morally based traditional family by encouraging the devout; by building confidence among those in doubt; and by removing or overcoming institutional impediments to family life as it has all along been promoted by both the Church and culture.
Second it is necessary to evolve a strategy for greater effectiveness, overall, by the Church and Laity in public affairs; and more specifically in matters related to the family and education
The following recommendations are made towards achieving the above objectives.
Promoting active participation by Catholics in matters of public interest; Greater empowerment, in terms of spiritual, moral and intellectual enrichment, and capacity building for both the clergy and laity, through appropriate training; and through membership and establishment, at the local and the international level, of Catholic-friendly Professional Associations e.g., for Medical Doctors, Judges and Lawyers, University Academics and Teachers, as well as for Political leaders and Leaders in the Business Community; Greater participation in, and/or establishment of, institutions, e.g., Foundations, which are directed at influencing public policy; More systematic mobilization, at the local and international level, for practical support, for Catholic institutions and Catholic-inspired programmes.
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[1] The interpretations and opinions expressed in this paper, unless otherwise stated, are solely those of the writer; and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Church or any organization.
[2] Dr. Germina N, Ssemogerere is a Graduate of Duke University, N.C., USA. She is currently Assoc. Professor, Faculty of Economics & Management (FEMA), Makerere University, Kampala Uganda.
[3] There is no denial about God's reality in the African society. God is present in Africa under various terms e.g., as the creator ("Katonda" ) among the Baganda; the Great Potter ("Kibumba") among the Basoga; the Great Fixer ("Ruhanga" ) among the Banyoro and Batooro.
[4] John Paul II (November 28, 1981) Familiaris Consortio - Apostolic Exhortation (www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii). For a summary, see: Catholicism - The 1980 Vatican Synod on Family And Familiaris Consortio, (file////192.168.0.1)
[5] See: Diop, Cheikh Anra (1959) The Culture Unity of Black Africa (Chicago: Third World Press).esp. pp.34-41. See also Diop's other work: Civilization or Barbarism.
[6] Ratzinger, Jozeph, Pope Benedict XVI (2006) Jesus of Nazareth (Random House, N.Y.: Doubleday).
[7] John Paul II (November 28, 1981) Familiaris Consortio - Apostolic Exhortation. For a fair summary, see: Catholicism - The 1980 Vatican Synod on Family And Familiaris Consortio, (file////192.168.0.1)
[8] Familiaris Consortio, ibid. para.14.
[9] Pope Paul II (1995) The Church in Africa: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation (Yaounde, Cameroon; published by Daughters of St. Paul: Nairobi , Kenya).
[10] Ibid. paragraph 85, p.66.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid. paragraph 42, p.33.
[13] Ibid. paragraphs 42 & 43, p. 33.
[14] Some ethnic groups e.g., the Baganda depended on an a discreet intelligence exchange system involving senior and close members of the extended family of the boy and girl in question to reach an informed judgement in this regard. Others e.g., the Gikuyu in Kenya, subjected boys and girls to a taxing process culminating in "initiation" as a sine qua non for marriage.
[15] It is here stressed that acknowledging the principle behind the initiation process does not necessarily mean wholesale approval of the specific activities carried out under it; nor a failure to see the need for modification and improvement. On the Initiation process among the Gikuyu from a cultural perspective, see: Kenyatta, Jomo, Facing Mount Kenya (with an Introduction by B. Malinowski); (New York: Vintage Books)
[16] The latest formal reaffirmation of this position by Kampala Archdiocese was reached in their Synod in 2006, and conveyed " to the general public, under the theme, "Okweteratekera Obufumbo, in the Archdiocesan publication: Obutume bw'Omukatuliki Mu Ssaza Ly'e Kampala.
[17] African customary incorporation, as used here, differs from legal adoption. Customary incorporation by itself, unlike legal adoption, is neither necessarily a condition nor an occasion or opportunity for severance or alienation of the biological relations that prevailed before. In its broadest sense, customary incorporation may even be applied to accommodate people from outside one's ethnic group. The biographies of the Uganda Martyrs tell us, for instance, of officials in the Kabaka's Palace i.e., in the mainstream of Buganda politics, whose origin would be traced to tribes outside Buganda. For example, the Martyr, St. Donozio Ssebuggwawo and her mother Nsonga, originally from Busoga, were incorporated into the family of Ssebuggwawo, at the time a noble in the Kingdom and a brother of the then Katikkiro (Prime Minister) who belonged to the Musu ( edible rat ) clan.
[18] Familiaris Consortio, paragraph. 27.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Encyclopaedia Britanica,15th ed.; 1943-1973 (Chicago/London/Toronto/Genecva/Sydney/Tokyo/Manila/Seoul/Johannesburg: William Benton Publisher and Helen Hemingway Benton Publisher) no.7 pp.155-173, esp. pp. 155-166.
[21] Familiaris Consortio; ibid paragraphs 18-27.
[22] For a comprehensive study of these leaders see, Bullock, Alan (1l992) Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives (New York: Alfred A. Knoff). Note, however, that the author does not himself completely attribute Hitler's and Stalin's unacceptable conduct in public office to the wrongs in family upbringing... Opinions on this do differ as the author reveals; but we are persuaded to believe that such bad behaviour by the two men could not, but have had a negative ;impact on the psychological and moral formation of their children.
[23] Familiaris Consortio; ibid paragraph 36.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Ibid.
[26] See, for example: The Uganda Episcopal Conference (1997) Education Policy 1997 (Kampala , Uganda: Makerere University).
[27] The Education Policy:1997 ibid.
[28] Curtin, Philip & others eds.(First published 1978, 10th impression 1992) African History (Longman and New York: Longman Inc.) p. 532.
[29] "Socialization" as "general education": see, Encyclopaedia Britannica in fn. 14 above.
[30] This "natural community", focused on in Uganda, is a neighbourhood community based on geographical contiguity and Administrative convenience.
[31] See, for example: Obutume bw'Omukatuliki mu Ssaza ly'e Kampala: Okunnyikiza Obukristu Mu Bulamu Bwaffe (Grassroot Evangelization); (Kampala Archdiocese: Marianum Press, Kisubi), 2006.
[32] Op. cit
[33] The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (as amended,2006) op. cit.: National Objectives and Directive Principles of Policy, XVIII (iii).
[34] The Uganda Government, , The Education (Pre-Primary, Primary and Post Primary) Act, 2008: sections 7 and 8.
[35] The Education Act; ibid. section 4 (4).
[36] The Education Act; ibid. Section 1( i ).
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