373 THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY IS A MINIATURE CHURCH

YOUCAT Lesson 373

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

373  How should a family live its faith together?

A Christian family should be a miniature church.  All Christian family members are invited to strengthen one another in faith and to outdo one another in their zeal for God.  They should pray for and with each other and collaborate in works of charity.  [2226-2227]

Kristie and John Racanelli having their daughter Sarah baptized into the family of God.  Sarah is my twice great niece. ….. 373

Parents stand in for their children with their own faith, have them baptized, and serve as their models of faith.  That means that the parents should make it possible for their children to experience how valuable and beneficial it is to live in the familiar presence of the loving God.  At some time, however, the parents, too, will learn from their children’s faith and hear how God speaks through them, because the faith of young people is often accompanied by greater devotion and generosity and “because the Lord often reveals to a younger person what is better” (St. Benedict of Nursia, “Rule”, chapter 3, 3)

“The younger ones should therefore honor the older ones, and the older ones should love the younger ones.”  St. Benedict of Nursia (ca. 480-547)

“Love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.  Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord.”  Romans 12:10

 [2226-2227]

III. THE DUTIES OF FAMILY MEMBERS

The duties of parents

2226 Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God. (Compare Lumen Gentium 11.)³⁵ The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the catechesis of children and parents. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

2227 Children in turn contribute to the growth in holiness of their parents. (Compare Gaudium et Spes 48 § 4.)³⁶ Each and everyone should be generous and tireless in forgiving one another for offenses, quarrels, injustices, and neglect. Mutual affection suggests this. The charity of Christ demands it. (Compare Matthew 18:21-22; Luke 17:4.)³⁷ --CCC