Dear Family of St Luke,<\/p>\n
Over the next several articles, I will be giving you, insights into Pope Francis\u2019 recent book \u201cThe Joy of Love\u201d (On love in the
\nfamily). I just recently finished the book and highly recommend that you take some time to read this book from Pope
\nFrancis. This book is a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation from the Synod on the Family. Pope Francis has a very easy
\nstyle of writing making it an easy read with key information for all Christians who are married or considering marriage. He
\nfocuses on how to grow our relationship with our spouse and our responsibilities as Christian parents. My hope is that
\nthrough my articles you will become interested in diving into this book. These articles will clearly not cover all the key
\npoints that you will get by reading the book, but rather give you enough to spark your interest.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis says that his goal in writing this exhortation is to offer \u201chelp and encouragement to families in their daily
\ncommitment and challenges\u201d. All of us who are married for any length of time know that marriage though a vocation that
\ncan give us great joy and blessing can also be a challenge. That is why; Jesus created the sacrament of marriage providing
\nmany graces to give us the strength we need to weather the storms of life. Marriage also teaches us what love is all about.
\nPope Francis goes on to say \u201cThe ability of human couples to beget life is the path along which the history of salvation
\nprogresses. Seen this way, the couple\u2019s fruitful relationship becomes an image for understanding and describing the mystery
\nof God himself. The triune God is a communion of love (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and the family is its living reflection.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe family is the first place where parents become their children\u2019s first teachers in the faith.\u201d As we raise our children, we
\nknow they are like sponges in those early years often picking up everything, often things we wish they would not. There
\nearly years is the time to begin to teach our children about the love of Christ for them. When we bring them to Mass on a
\nregular basis to thank and ask Jesus for His guidance, it can make a tremendous difference in our children\u2019s lives. Pope
\nFrancis talks about all the accounts in the Bible where Jesus talks about children and the family and the importance He
\ngives to us even learning from our children on how we can grow closer to the Lord. Have we ever realized they can teach us
\nabout trust and love of God as we reveal God to them?<\/p>\n
Pope Francis is also not afraid to talk about the challenges to family life. He speaks of \u201cthe tensions created by an overly
\nindividualistic culture, caught up with possessions and pleasures, leading to intolerance and hostility in families.\u201d In this
\nculture, we find an unwillingness to give more completely of oneself for others leading to a breaking down of the family.
\nWhen we see the permanence and indissolubility of marriage as gift rather than a burden, it challenges us to look for God\u2019s
\ngrace and help in keeping our focus on how we work with God\u2019s grace to grow in love for our spouse. \u201cThrough His church,
\nChrist bestows on marriage and the family the grace necessary to bear witness to the love of God and to live the life of
\ncommunion.\u201d As we work from God\u2019s grace, we stop working out of our wants and needs but work for the good of our
\nspouse and family though it may mean sacrifice.<\/p>\n
Clearly, marriage and parenting is a vocation not just a part time job or occupation. Through this vocation filled with
\nchallenges it is important to begin to understand what God intended for marriage and those who are called to this vocation.
\nIt is through spending time with Pope Francis\u2019 book and the Bible that we begin to understand how this vocation can lead
\nus to holiness as was intended.<\/p>\n
Join me next month as we open the pages a little more.<\/p>\n
You remain in my daily prayer as we journey together towards God\u2019s kingdom.<\/p>\n
Deacon Pete<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Family of St Luke, Over the next several articles, I will be giving you, insights into Pope Francis\u2019 recent book \u201cThe Joy of Love\u201d (On love in the family). I just recently finished the book and highly recommend that …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archived-fathers-reflections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":732,"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions\/732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchofstlukes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}