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Suggestions for families on
promoting faith at home appear in Part II: Resources for Implementation under the
Home tab. |
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The Domestic Church
INTRODUCTION
The family forms the basic societal unit from which cultures and societies develop. From
New Testament days, the Church holds the Christian family as the most basic unit of church
life, too. It "constitutes a specific revelation of and realization of ecclesial
communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church"
(FC 21; LG 11; CCC 2204). In other words, the Christian family—in all its myriad
forms—is the church at home.
The Christian family (the domestic church) is an "intimate community of persons,
bound together by blood, marriage or adoption for the whole of life" (FAM 19). The
Second Vatican Council expressed the sacramental nature of the family with the words,
"the Christian family . . . will manifest to all persons the Savior’s living
presence in the world, and the genuine nature of the Church" (GS 48). As "a
communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of Father and the Son in the Holy
Spirit" (CCC 2205) the Christian family has numerous rights, responsibilities and
duties for the common good of society.
MISSION
The Christian family has a specific vocation and mission for evangelization of the world
through Christian discipleship (CIC 781). As the domestic church, Christian families
realize their vocation and mission by embracing and living the seven essential elements of
Church life (see NWNW):
WORD: Christian message and teaching
WORSHIP: prayer, spirituality and worship
COMMUNITY: Catholic identity and Christian living
SERVICE: social teaching, social justice, social ministry
LEADERSHIP: proper to the life context of each person
STEWARDSHIP: accepting everything as gift and giving back
EVANGELIZATION: our mission to bring all to Christ
- Each household and each member of our families are called to live these elements,
according to their capacity, within the social and cultural contexts where they live and
work.
FAITH OF
THE PARENTS
- Parents hold a privileged role and responsibility in family life (CCC 2221-2230; GDC
226). Before the Christian community, parents present and name their child and ask the
Church for Baptism—the gift of faith and life of grace. In doing so, they accept the
responsibility of "training them in the practice of the faith, to bring them up to
keep God’s commandments [and to] love God and our neighbor" (RBC 39). Only after
acknowledging this responsibility do parents sign their infant child with the cross of
salvation, claiming the child for Christ (RBC 41). Through this sacrament, parents
ritually express their personal commitment to God, to the community of faith and to their
child. They can do so only because they first have faith. It is the promise of this living
tradition, of God present in the community of faith—as parish and as domestic
church—that is the foundation of hope and our ability to transmit faith from
generation to generation.
- For our children to have faith, our parents must first have faith (GDC 226). The adage,
"faith is caught, not taught," is true especially for the domestic church.
Simply put, parents teach most effectively by example. They profoundly affect the faith of
their children by attending first to their own faith and religiosity. Each parent is
obliged to live the baptismal vocation as priest, prophet and servant-ruler in the home,
in the workplace and in the marketplace. They must actively seek growth in adult faith and
in the sacrament of Marriage, deeply investing themselves in the life of the parish
community and the work for peace and justice in the world. In this way, parents model
faith for their children while deepening their own (CIC 774 §2).
PARENTS AS
PRIMARY EDUCATORS
- As the Rite of Baptism aptly indicates, children first experience God in the arms
of their parents. The home is where children first experience the sacred presence of God
as either personal and intimate or impersonal and indifferent. By watching and imitating
their parents, children learn how to love and embrace, to listen and respond, to belong,
to forgive, to pray, to reach out and to serve. Where these are lacking in the home, they
will be lacking in our children and in our Church.
- Hence, we acknowledge parents as primary educators in faith (CCC 2223). In their manner
of child rearing, parents will either cultivate faith in their children or stifle it.
Ignoring our faith, taking it for granted or relinquishing the faith as the work of
others, hurts us all, especially the children. In forming faith in the domestic church,
the essential elements of the church’s life (NWNW) provide a model of life and faith,
which parents and children need to embody. Pope Paul VI stated, "There should be
found in every family the various aspects of the entire church."
Word
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Proclaiming the Gospel to their children |
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Teaching children by example |
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Patiently instructing children to live the values of the
Christian community |
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Learning about our faith as adults |
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Passing on the knowledge of our faith and tradition |
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Preparing for Sunday Eucharist with prayerful reflection of
the Sunday readings |
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Providing the parental affection and support, which are the
primary sources for continued
growth in faith for children and youth |
Worship
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Worshipping weekly with the parish community |
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Praying daily and doing spiritual exercises |
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Celebrating and explaining the seasons and feasts of the
Church year |
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Preparing their children for the sacraments of Confirmation,
Eucharist and Reconciliation |
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Ritualizing liturgical seasons, holy days, patronal feasts
and anniversaries of Baptisms and Marriage in the home |
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Marking life passages in the family with special prayers,
rituals and blessings—birthdays,
engagements, deaths, graduations and other accomplishments |
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Praying and sharing faith with their children and spouse |
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Blessing children in all their comings and goings, at night
and before school activities |
Community
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Nurturing their children in a loving, respectful manner |
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Reinforcing and enriching parish catechetical programs |
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Participating with their children in family catechetical
events |
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Engaging in various catechetical and social justice
activities |
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Involving themselves in the life of the parish community |
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Accepting assistance from the faith community in nurturing
faith in their children |
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Promoting, supporting, and participating in parish
activities and ministries, which extend
beyond the Catholic school and catechetical programs |
Service
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Leading the domestic church in the ways of Gospel living |
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Nurturing social awareness and consciousness in their
children by
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Respecting the dignity of all persons, |
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Learning about Catholic Social Teaching |
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Explaining the reasons for diverse social and economic
conditions, |
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Providing opportunities for their children to practice the
principles of justice, compassion and sharing, |
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Alerting their children to situations which are contrary to
Gospel values, |
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Assisting their children in studying situations of injustice
and discovering the root causes of injustice. |
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Engaging in social justice ministries in the parish and
civic communities |
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Living consciously according to Catholic social teaching |
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Seeking ways to contribute to the common good in our
communities |
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Celebrating diversity in the community and the world |
Leadership
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Acquiring and developing parenting skills |
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Helping assess and plan effective catechesis in the school
and the parish |
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Participating in sacramental preparation, parent conferences
and education events |
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Making time for parish family events, prayers, retreats, and
social events for families |
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Accepting parish ministries and volunteering to assist in
parish catechetical programs as
catechists, aides, hospitality coordinators, etc. |
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Promoting a unified vision of catechesis in the home, school
and parish |
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Enhancing partnerships between parents, catechists, schools,
and parishes for the
education and catechesis of children |
Stewardship
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Offering time and talent to the parish community |
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Ensuring the best opportunities for their children to grow
in the faith community |
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Participating with catechetical and school leaders to design
children’s catechesis |
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Assisting with the catechesis offered by the faith community
and school |
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Contributing to the financial support of the parish |
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Giving time, talent and treasure to charitable causes |
Evangelization
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Evangelizing and initiating their children in the faith |
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Engaging in parish and community ministries of care |
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Educating their children in the ways of Christian living |
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Setting family, work, entertainment and school priorities
based on our faith |
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Learning about other denominations and religious traditions |
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Taking part in interfaith celebrations |
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Reaching out to neighbors and friends who are inactive or
marginal in faith |
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Serving the needs of others |
RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN PARISH CHURCH AND DOMESTIC CHURCH
Each family has a right to assistance from their parish community in nurturing faith in
the home. In turn, each family has a duty to contribute to parish life, especially in its
mission of evangelization of the world. Through faithful living of the Gospel, each
domestic church serves to build up the Body of Christ in the home, marketplace, workplace,
school and parish. Catechesis in the home and in the parish aims to assist members of each
household to faithful living of the gospel of social justice.
Whether the church at home is a nuclear family, single-parent family, blended family,
single adults, mixed religion or families without children, each household is welcome in
our parishes and expected to contribute to the community of faith. Parish leadership is
expected to be attentive and hospitable to the changing face of family life in our
Diocese, making room for each and every one. Catechetical and pastoral leaders must attend
to the various types of family systems and their concurrent catechetical needs.
Parish leadership is encouraged to assist and promote faith formation in the domestic
church in conjunction with parish catechetical programs. Guidelines for catechesis in the
domestic church appear in the following section: "The Parish Church."
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