Worship, Sacraments And Liturgy Study Guide

Deborah Gretzinger

THY 513 Worship, Sacraments & Liturgy

Module 8 Essay 4

August 20, 2017

“The inherent baptismal dignity and covenantal nature of marriage and family life” In his apostolic exhortation, Familiaris Consortio, Pope St. John Paul II echoed the teachings of the Second Vatican Council by reminding the world that the well-being of the Church and society are intimately connected to family life because family life introduces one to a community of love. However, these teachings go back further than Vatican II. The covenantal nature of family life and community of love begins with God because He is the author of marriage (Gaudium et Spes 48, Gn 1-2). This nature is reiterated in the Ten Commandments: love God above all things and

“The teaching of the Church about the family is found in the Catechism in the third “pillar” or part, which speaks about how we live “in Christ,” that is, about how what God has revealed in Jesus and given to us in Baptism should be put into practice in our lives by seeking to do what is good and avoid what is evil” (Levada). Thus in the first of the three-fold dignity, as “priest,” all men and women consecrated for the royal priesthood through Baptism are entrusted to make spiritual sacrifices in everything they do but also act as witnesses to Christ throughout the world as evangelizers (Apostolicam Actuositatem 3). And although Scripture tells us that there is no greater sacrifice than to lay down one’s life for a friend (Jn 15:13), most married couples and families are not called to this extreme form of sacrifice. However, they are called to make small intentional spiritual sacrifices (as mentioned in 1 Peter 2:5 and the Catechism) for each other and for any children in the family. By modeling sacrifices like fasting or praying a rosary for a specific intention or starting each hour of the day with prayer and offering up the work done during that hour for a specific intention, giving time devoted to TV or games on iPhones or iPads to visiting the elderly, making Mass a priority on weekends rather

This nature has transcended time and can be found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament as well as the writings of poets and popes alike. Through their extensive writings, both the Council Fathers of Vatican II and Pope St. John Paul II continue to remind the faithful how the covenantal nature of family life serves to illuminate communal relationships that we are called to actualize in society at large which in turn provides the means by which the faithful are able to live out their threefold baptismal dignity of priest, prophet and king. And although marriage is under attack in the 21st century, the fact remains that Catholic Christian marriages have “vital and organic links with society” (Familiaris Consortio 42) and “a power and commitment to live their vocation as lay people and therefore to ‘seek the kingdom of Gody engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God (Familiaris Consortio