Journey and Partnership of Family

Prayer-Soldier · Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 6:17 pm Post subject: Journey and Partnership of Family

Journey and Partnership of Family

Scripture:

Children, hear the judgment of your father, and so do that you may be saved. For God has made the father honorable to the children: and seeking the judgment of the mothers, has confirmed it upon the children. He that loves God, shall obtain pardon for his sins by prayer, and shall refrain himself from them, and shall be heard in the prayer of days. And he that honors his mother is as one that lays up a treasure. He that honors his father shall have joy in his own children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard.

Son, support the old age of your father, and grieve him not in his life; and if his understanding fail, have patience with him, and despise him not when you are in your strength: for the relieving of the father shall not be forgotten.
(Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14)

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the depths of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the Lord has forgiven you, so do you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as it behooves in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter towards them. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to indignation, lest they be discouraged.
(Colossians 3:12-21)

And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell you. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him. Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod: That it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have I called my son.

But when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, Saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the child. Who arose, and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his father, he was afraid to go thither: and being warned in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee. And coming he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was said by prophets: That he shall be called a Nazarene.
(Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23)

Reflection:

He made us male and female. ( cf. Genesis 1:27-28 ) God created us so that a man and woman may join together in matrimony and share blessings, not as two, but as one flesh. (cf. Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6, Mark 10:6-9) It is from this design by which a man and a woman come together and join in the sacrament of matrimony through which a new generation may be brought forth. Outside of this design, without the foundation of love and the power and care of God, souls wither and fall to the darkness.

The family is the unit of society through which generations are born, taught, and prepared to perform the responsibilities by which new generations are brought forth. From the love of two, the baton of knowledge and what shall come from it is passed to the offspring. Each generation carries the responsibility to prepare the next. What one generation teaches or fails to teach their children will influence how the generation is prepared to take on the responsibilities of what God asks of them.

The family is not meant to be a place for the struggle of power, for if male and female, joined in the sacrament of matrimony, are to become one flesh as Jesus spoke, then, they must be partnered with a bond which enables them to work together and for one another; the bond of love. The love of which Jesus speaks may take many forms, but those forms yield the submission of personal desires to the needs and for the blessings of another. It is the submission between husband and wife by which the strength of family is nurtured, and it is a similar love by which children are taught and encouraged to prepare for the vocations to which God calls them. It is through the suppression of selfishness by which we are able to encourage one another to live as God calls us and to share the peace which God desires for us.

As both a church and a society, our goal must be to enable, strengthen, and encourage loving families, for as we build families filled with love, we set the foundations for communities. As we build communities of loving families, we set the foundations for righteous nations. As we build righteous nations, we build the world which God desires of us. To the contrary, as we enable conditions by which families are divided and robbed of love, we sow the seeds of darkness and the ruin of souls.

Let us, then, reflect upon the design of God, and ask ourselves, how may we enable and support the bonds of family? Let us reflect upon what we may do to assist those who struggle? Let us ask the Holy Spirit to guide us to the vocation to which God calls us so we may help fulfill the responsibilities of our generation for the blessings of the next. Let us reflect on how we may share the blessings and grace of God so that as we share love within the world, His will shall be done. (cf. Matthew 22:36-40)

Questions for further reflection:

In what ways have we learned from our parents and what honor do we give to their teaching?

In what ways do we nurture the bonds of love within and external to the family?

In what ways do we seek to protect the foundation of our families?

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier