Forming a Community of Persons

An Initiative of Familiaris Consortio Catholic Foundation

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SERIES I

FORMING A COMMUNITY OF PERSONS

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Series I FORMING A COMMUNITY OF PERSONS

“They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.

Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need.

Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

Acts 2: 42-47 (NABRE)

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SAMPLE ONLY – INCOMPLETE CONTENTS

Introduction The Catholic Family Today

Starting a Home 2 Home Catholic Family Gathering

What is a Home 2 Home Catholic Family Gatherings? What are the Four Essential Series of the gatherings?

Home 2 Home Gathering Guide What is the purpose of the gathering guide? What does my family need to bring to every gathering? What is the structure of every Home 2 Home catholic family gathering? Why is Part II essential? What is the WORD format? What is the rule of “SACRED?” What are 5 Steps of the Home 2 Home Gatherings?

Series I: Forming a Community of Persons

Gathering One – Love as the Principal and Power of Communion Gathering Two – An Indivisible Unity of Conjugal Communion Gathering Three – An Indissoluble Communion Gathering Four – The Broader Communion of the Family Gathering Five – The Rights and role of Women Gathering Six – Women and Society Gathering Seven – Offences Against Women’s Dignity

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Gathering Eight – Men as Husbands and Fathers Gathering Nine – The Rights of Children Gathering Ten – The Elderly in the Family

Significant Themes & Pastoral Perspectives on Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio

Home 2 Home Glossary

Abbreviations & Acknowledgements

Bibliography

About Familiaris Consortio Catholic Foundation

Why is Charity Important in Nourishing the Family? How was Familiaris Consortio Catholic Foundation formed? What is the Vision of FCCF? What did Pope Saint John Paul II say about the mission of the family? What is the Mission of FCCF? What are the Initiatives of FCCF? How can I help FCCF fulfill its initiatives? How does my donation(s) specifically help? How can I give my financial support to FCCF? Is FCCF a non-profit organization? Are there other ways to support FCCF? What are the ways I can contact FCCF?

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INTRODUCTION

The Catholic Family Today There are many obstacles that hinder genuine friendships. For a catholic family to flourish, it is fundamentally important for them to have opportunities of fellowship with other catholic families. Meaning, families must somehow gather intentionally with one another and engage in a communion of love. Historically, the “narthex” area of the Church was purposed for such gatherings. The faithful would meet one another prior to mass or after mass and intentionally enter-into fellowship.

Today, such engagements can be rarely observed as families have scheduled other activities together or individually and have little to no time for fellowship. Some parishioners even avoid it if possible for a variety of reasons. Regardless, there still exists intrinsically in all families a desire to come together in communion. "The most common place families gather is the home and just like the early church they still gather around the Grace of God’s bountiful food."

The most common place families gather is the home and just like the early church they still gather around the Grace of God’s bountiful food. There are many different reasons families get together, such as; a baptism, birthday, thanksgiving holiday, Christmas, Easter, a graduation, first communion, a team victory, confirmation, an anniversary and the birth of a new baby. Yes, such times of fellowship are splendid between immediate and extended family, but what of the fellowship that occurs between the two families, who every Sunday at mass see one another and still do not know each others names? Such a reality is not far from the truth in the existing universal Church. Why is this happening? Are not all those who uphold the faith brothers and sisters? Are they not family too?

The Church is the family of God and if families in parishes begin to neglect this truth then authentic fellowship may cease to exist. Something must be done and familial charity that is

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centered on Christ is key.

Fellowship is cultivated first in the family and it begins with the virtue of charity that comes forth from husband/father and wife/mother. For it is through the primary virtue of charity do all good works stem. These works are good because they have communion with God as its ultimate end. “All good giving and every perfect gift are from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.” (Jas 1:17) Jesus declared, “No one is good but God alone.” (Lk 18:19) Knowing that God alone is good then He (Christ) is the perfect Good in which all families should strive towards. "as families gather to build one another in Christ by sharing their gifts, talents and time in charity, they are not only communing with another in love, but they are helping to do God’s work of salvation to all those they encounter."

When families gather in charity, they make possible a path for communion to take place. A communion that is only accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit and fully realized in the Catholic Church because of the sacraments bestowed upon her from Christ Jesus, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice in which they all share and long for. True communion begins in the family. For the family is known as the “domestic church” and through the family of husband, wife and offspring can the beauty, truth and goodness of the living Christ be shared. Hence, as families gather to build one another in Christ by sharing their gifts, talents and time in charity, they are not only communing with another in love, but they are helping to do God’s work of salvation to all those they encounter.

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SAMPLE ONLY – INCOMPLETE SERIES I FORMING A COMMUNITY OF PERSONS

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SAMPLE ONLY – INCOMPLETE GATHERING ONE Love as the Principle and Power of Communion

INTRODUCTION

There is no greater love than the Love of God! In society today, the word “love” has been used by man many times and in many disordered ways. The inherent need that man has for love, despite the misuse of the word, still presents an unquenchable desire in the recesses of man’s heart that can only be fulfilled by God. No person, place or thing can be equated with the Love of God. Pope Saint John Paul II declared, “Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it.” (RH, n.10) Those who participate authentically in God’s Love also participate in genuine communion with Him. Through Christ, God’s love is fully revealed, and the reality of His Love reigns in the Scriptures that are laid out in the gathering today.

The authentic fidelity and communion of husband and wife in the sacrament of marriage is purposefully directed towards the mystical marriage of Christ and the Church. As the Church has proclaimed, “Through the sacrament of Matrimony the spouses are enabled to represent this fidelity and witness to it. Through the sacrament, the indissolubility of marriage receives a new and deeper meaning. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.1647) The new and deeper meaning described here suggests that God’s love for man is unbreakable.

The love and communion of the family (husband, wife and offspring) are of utmost importance to the building of society. Hence, the family has been exclaimed by the Second Vatican Fathers as the “Ecclesia domestica” which translated in English is the “Domestic Church.” (LG, n.11) The catholic family is the domestic church! Thus, the Church encourages the catholic family and has declared, “(i)n our own time, in a world often alien and even

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hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith.” (CCC, 1656) Only through the Love of God can the communion between husband, wife and children emanate. Therefore, only through Christ, can love of the family find its true strength and precipice.

GATHERING GUIDE: The following readings are centered upon this theme. Each of the readings can be assigned to one of the participants who are present in the gathering. Some gathering groups have optionally read the readings twice. Once in the beginning of the gathering and another at the end of the gathering after the last participant finishes the final section called “Direction.”

In addition, participants are encouraged to re-read these readings to themselves quietly and absorb them more fully in their heart. It is appropriate that when there are no participants engaging or sharing in the “Observation, Reflection and Direction” sections of the gathering that this be done. The purpose is to better prepare the thoughts of the participant, so that, they can engage or begin sharing the “Word(s)” or “Verse(s)” that they believe the Holy Spirit has touched them with.

OPENING PRAYER

Family Prayer

God made us a family We need one another We love one another We forgive one another We work together We play together We worship together Together we use God’s word Together we grow in Christ Together we love all men Together we serve our God Together we hope for Heaven These are our hopes and ideals Help us to attain them, O God, Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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SHARING

WORD

Read the following versus from the Holy Bible.

John 2: 1-11 There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the them, “Fill the jars with water.”

So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from — although the servers who had drawn the water knew —, the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

1 John 4: 7-21 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one

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another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick- tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I

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know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

John 13: 33-35 My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 3: 16-18 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Words from Saint John Paul the Great Read the following excerpts from Pope Saint John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation “Familiaris Consortio.” The words highlighted in red are given significance in accordance with the theme of the gathering. Their definitions are taken from the Modern Catholic Dictionary which have been approved by the Catholic Church. Participants can utilize the Glossary to help them prepare for their sharing and better understand the catholic language being used. To locate the Glossary, see the Contents page.

The family, which is founded and given life by love, is a community of persons: of husband and wife, of parents and children, of relatives. Its first task is to live with fidelity the reality of communion in a constant effort to develop an authentic community of persons. The inner principle of that task, its permanent power and its final goal is love: without love the family is not a community of

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persons and, in the same way, without love the family cannot live, grow and perfect itself as a community of persons.

The love between husband and wife and, in a derivatory and broader way, the love between members of the same family-between parents and children, brothers and sisters and relatives and members of the household-is given life and sustenance by an unceasing inner dynamism leading the family to ever deeper and more intense communion, which is the foundation and soul of the community of marriage and the family. (FC, 18)

GATHERING GUIDE: After reading the above Scripture and the words from Saint John Paul the Great, those present at the gathering are encouraged to take a moment to reflect in silence and open their hearts and minds to the leading of the Holy Spirit. A participant is ready when they have been struck by a word(s) or verse(s) from the readings of Sacred Scripture and those from Pope Saint John Paul II. At this point, the ready participant can begin sharing the word(s) or verse(s) that has touched their hearts and proceed to share their Observation, Reflection and Direction.

OBSERVATION

GATHERING GUIDE: In relation to the readings of this gathering and from your own experience, describe the challenges that families are encountering today. Using the questions below to assist you in forming your thoughts you can begin expressing your Observation, begin sharing your personal Reflection, and declaring God’s Direction for you and your family. For more information see Complete Gathering Guide.

Questions that may assist in your sharing:

• What ways has the communion of persons within the family been affected in society today? • How does society define love? How does the catholic church define love? • How can you receive and share God’s love more fully with your spouse and your children? • What are the needs of the families within your parish community? What are the needs of the families that live in your neighborhood? How can you and your family embrace God’s love and answer the needs of these families.

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REFLECTION

GATHERING GUIDE: Reflect on your own personal experiences in relation to the theme of this gathering. It could be a sharing of some personal, marital, or familial experience(s) that convey a link between both the readings and the observation of that session.

For all those present at the gathering, it is suggested that the Host Family remind and encourage the norm of SACRED before participants begin to share. For more detailed information on the rule of “SACRED” please refer to the section “Starting a Home 2 Home Catholic Family Gathering.”

SACRED is an acronym for:

“S” KEEP secret “A” NO advising “C” Christ-centered “R” Real Reflection “E” Encouraging Encounters “D” NO Disturbing

DIRECTION

GATHERING GUIDE: The direction of the participant sharing is what God is enlightening that person to do in-order to enrich their personal relationship with God, their spouse, their children and those others whom they encounter throughout life. The direction should foster meaning, intimacy and virtue in the life of the person sharing.

CLOSING PRAYER

GATHERING GUIDE: After the last participant finishes sharing, the gathering participants can close with the suggested prayer below. If a properly ordained priest or deacon is present and is in full communion with the Church and the faculties of their office preserved, it is encouraged that a blessing be given to all those present (including the children and those caring for them during the WORD sharing.

The Anima Christi Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, be my sanctification. Ánima Christi, sanctífica me. Body of Christ, be my salvation. Corpus Christi, salva me. Blood of Christ, fill all my veins. Sanguis Christi, inébria me.

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Water of Christ’s side, wash out my stains. Aqua láteris Christi, lava me. Passion of Christ, my comfort be. Pássio Christi, confórta me. O good Jesus, listen to me. O bone Iesu, exáudi me. In Thy wounds I fain would hide, Intra tua vúlnera abscónde me. N’er to be parted from Thy side, Ne permíttas me separári a te. Guard me, should the foe assail me. Ab hoste malígno defénde me. Call me when my life shall fail me. In hora mortis meæ voca me. Bid me come to Thee above, Et iube me veníre ad te, With Thy saints to sing Thy love, ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te World without end. Amen. in sæcula sæculórum. Amen

Familial Ritual Project

As a family, come up with of list of at least 3 different rituals that have to do with conversing with one another as a family. Try to be as specific as possible and do them. For example:

Our Conversing Familial Rituals 1. Taking a walk after Sunday lunch and talking about challenges experienced during the last week. 2. Going out for breakfast on a Saturday once a month and talking about plans for the future of one another. 3. Spend 2 evenings, in the Spring or Summer, looking up at the stars on a clear night and talking about God together.

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SAMPLE ONLY – INCOMPLETE GATHERING THREE An Indissoluble Communion

INTRODUCTION

The word “fidelity” is rooted in the Latin word that means faithful. In society today, husbands and wives are challenged to live-up to their marital vows of faithfulness than ever before in history. Pornography is but one of the temptations that attempt to separate the hearts, minds and bodies of spouses from one another. Spouses suffer when unforgiveness settles in their hearts. When expectations are not fulfilled, pain seems to seep into the marriage and rot the mind and heart from knowing and embracing one’s spouse.

The Church has declared, “By its very nature conjugal love requires the inviolable fidelity of the spouses. This is the consequence of the gift of themselves which they make to each other. Love seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an arrangement until further notice.” (CCC, 1646) Therefore, love must be understood not as a feeling but a commitment to seek the good of the other. In the case of spouses, fidelity is directed towards selflessness and self-giving. Marriage is thus an institution between one man and one woman in which love is mutually and faithfully exercised between the spouses until death separates them.

OPENING PRAYER

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Family Prayer

SHARING

WORD

Read the following passages from the Holy Bible.

Ephesians 5: 21-24 Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.

Revelation 3: 14-22

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“To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write this: The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the source of God’s creation, says this: I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot.

So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.

I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne. ‘Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

2 Corinthians 1: 18-22 “As God is faithful, our word to you is not ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, Silvanus and Timothy and me, was not ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ but ‘yes’ has been in him. For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him; therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.

But the one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God; he has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.”

Matthew 19: 6-9

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So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss [her]?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”

Words from Saint John Paul the Great Read the following excerpt from Pope Saint John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation “Familiaris Consortio.” Confer to Glossary for words in red.

Being rooted in the personal and total self-giving of the couple, and being required by the good of the children, the indissolubility of marriage finds its ultimate truth in the plan that God has manifested in His revelation: He wills and He communicates the indissolubility of marriage as a fruit, a sign and a requirement of the absolutely faithful love that God has for man and that the Lord Jesus has for the Church. Christ renews the first plan that the Creator inscribed in the hearts of man and woman, and in the celebration of the sacrament of matrimony offers a “new heart”: thus the couples are not only able to overcome “hardness of heart,” but also and above all they are able to share the full and definitive love of Christ, the new and eternal Covenant made flesh. …The gift of the sacrament is at the same time a vocation and commandment for the Christian spouses, that they may remain faithful to each other forever, beyond every trial and difficulty, in generous obedience to the holy will of the Lord… (FC, 20)

OBSERVATION

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expressing your Observation, begin sharing your personal Reflection, and declaring God’s Direction for you and your family. For more information see Complete Gathering Guide.

Questions that may assist in your sharing:

• How can you and your spouse preserve and develop the value of indissolubility in your marriage? • How can you and your spouse renew your fidelity to one another daily? • Who can assist you and your spouse when you are faced with challenges of fidelity? • Are there situations you put yourself in or persons you encounter currently in your life that are tempting you to be unfaithful to your spouse? Are you tempted in body, mind and heart? • What are ways you can strengthen your love and fidelity for your spouse?

REFLECTION

SACRED is an acronym for:

“S” KEEP secret “A” NO advising “C” Christ-centered “R” Real Reflection “E” Encouraging Encounters “D” NO Disturbing

DIRECTION

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CLOSING PRAYER

Come, Holy Spirit Veni, Sancte Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit, come! Veni, Sancte Spíritus, And from your celestial home et emítte cælitus Shed a ray of light divine! lucis tuæ rádium. Come, Father of the poor! Veni, pater páuperum, Come, source of all our store! veni, dator múnerum, Come, within our bosoms shine. veni, lumen córdium. You, of comforters the best; Consolátor óptime, You, the soul’s most welcome guest; dulcis hospes ánimæ, Sweet refreshment here below; dulce refrigérium. In our labor, rest most sweet; In labóre réquies, Grateful coolness in the heat; in æstu tempéries, Solace in the midst of woe. in fletu solácium. O most blessed Light divine, O lux beatíssima, Shine within these hearts of yours, reple cordis íntima And our inmost being fill! tuórum fidélium. Where you are not, we have naught, Sine tuo númine, Nothing good in deed or thought, nihil est in hómine Nothing free from taint of ill. nihil est innóxium. Heal our wounds, our strength renew; Lava quod est sórdidum, On our dryness pour your dew; riga quod est áridum, Wash the stains of guilt away: sana quod est sáucium. Bend the stubborn heart and will; Flecte quod est rígidum, Melt the frozen, warm the chill; fove quod est frígidum, Guide the steps that go astray. rege quod est dévium.

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On the faithful, who adore Da tuis fidélibus, And confess you, evermore in te confidéntibus, In your sevenfold gift descend: sacrum septenárium. Give them virtue’s sure reward; Da virtútis méritum, Give them your salvation, Lord; da salútis éxitum, Give them joys that never end. da perénne gáudium.

Amen Amen.

Familial Ritual Project III

As a family, come up with of list of at least 3 different rituals that have to do with playing with one another as a family. Try to be as specific as possible and do them. For example: Our Playing Familial Rituals 1. Set a time in the day or evening when everyone is home and play a board game together for at least an hour. This can be done weekly or bi-weekly. 2. If you have little children, play hide-and-go-seek, duck-duck-goose, or a game that your children would enjoy at least once a week for 1 hour. 3. Go out once a month as family and enjoy a game of bowling, mini-golf or the like. Make a familial ritual savings jar and commit to setting aside some monies every paycheck.

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SAMPLE ONLY – INCOMPLETE GATHERING SEVEN Offenses Against Women’s Dignity

INTRODUCTION

All women deserve the utmost dignity and respect. They are human beings and are not to ever be used or discriminated. Women are persons created in the “image” and “likeness” of God and are called toward a unique purpose. Sadly, throughout history women have been victim to the mentality that they are to fulfill some selfish pleasure for men. Such mentalities have emerged into cultures that accept slavery, pornography, prostitution, and a variety of employment, educational and income discrimination as a norm. Moreover, the purposeful communion of life and love of many women have been affected significantly by these erroneous attitudes of society. The result are widows, women who have been separated or divorced from their husbands, wives who could not conceive or do not want to conceive a child, and women who are unmarried and who are single mothers raising their child(ren) on their own. Many women who have endured such physical, emotional and spiritual blunts from society deserve to be encouraged and advocated for by society. Women who exemplify virtuous acts of love and kindness should not be unnoticed. In fact, they should be honored for their bravery to safeguard what God has entrusted to her.

Pope John Paul II declared, “The moral and spiritual strength of a woman is joined to her awareness that God entrusts the human being to her in a special way. Of course, God entrusts every human being to each and every other human being. But this entrusting concerns women in a special way - precisely by reason of their femininity - and this in a particular way determines their vocation. …A woman is strong because of her awareness of this entrusting, strong because of the fact

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that God ‘entrusts the human being to her’, always and in every way, even in the situations of social discrimination in which she may find herself. This awareness and this fundamental vocation speak to women of the dignity which they receive from God himself, and this makes them ‘strong’ and strengthens their vocation.” (MD, n.30)

The future of society would do well to safeguard and nourish the moral and spiritual “strength” that is inherent in all women. Her fruitfulness is her gift from God. Even if a woman is not willed by God to bring about new life into the world, she remains perfectly capable of sharing her spiritual fruitfulness in the lives entrusted around her. Parishes would do well to celebrate the gift of femininity given by God. A great way to celebrate women is to have mass offered for all women in the parish at least once a month. Specific women (young, old, married or not) of the parish should be appreciated after mass. Maybe a certain act of virtue noticed by a fellow parishioner in them would merit this honor.

A hospitality team that is comprised of mostly men should be encouraged to host such an event. Fittingly, these men have experienced for themselves the love of Christ through these women being honored. Moreover, these events could tie into a feast of a woman saint in the Catholic Church. Women like St. Monica, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross and St. Zellie Martin. A litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary could be read to end the celebration. The most important thing is that the parish encourage and nourish the women of that parish towards a deeper and authentic moral and spiritual life.

OPENING PRAYER

Family Prayer

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SHARING

WORD

Read the following passages from the Holy Bible.

Genesis 3: 8-17 When they heard the sound of the LORD God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

The LORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you? He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.” Then God asked: Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat? The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.” The

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LORD God then asked the woman: What is this you have done? The woman answered, “The snake tricked me, so I ate it.”

Then the LORD God said to the snake: Because you have done this, cursed are you among all the animals, tame or wild; On your belly you shall crawl, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel.

To the woman he said: I will intensify your toil in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.

To the man he said: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you! In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life.

1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.

Psalm 139: 13-16 You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know. My bones are not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me unformed; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.

1 John 4: 7-9 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not

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know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.

Matthew 25: 31-40 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’

And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

John 4: 7-15 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

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[The woman] said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Matthew 15: 21-28 Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Words from Saint John Paul the Great Read the following excerpt from Pope Saint John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation “Familiaris Consortio.” Confer to Glossary for words in red.

“…the Christian message about the dignity of women is contradicted by that persistent mentality which considers the human being not as a person but as a thing, as an object of trade, at the service of selfish interest and mere pleasure: the first victims of this mentality are women. (FC, 24)

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OBSERVATION

Questions that may assist in your sharing:

• What are the challenges that mothers, wives, young adolescent women, teenage daughters and young girls face in living a virtuous life? • What are ways women in the family can be encouraged towards an authentic moral and spiritual life? • Explain ways you as a spouse, mother or father, daughter or son can oppose and prevent the evil effects of slavery, pornography, prostitution, employment, educational and income discrimination in your daily life? • How can you and your family encourage and support widows, women who have been separated or divorced their husbands, wives who could not conceive or do not want to conceive a child, and women who are unmarried and who are single mothers raising their child(ren) on their own? What moral and spiritual support can you give them?

REFLECTION

SACRED is an acronym for:

“S” KEEP secret

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“A” NO advising “C” Christ-centered “R” Real Reflection “E” Encouraging Encounters “D” NO Disturbing

DIRECTION

CLOSING PRAYER

Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary Litaniae Beatae Virgin Mariae

Lord, have mercy on us. Kyrie, eleison. R. Christ, have mercy on us. R. Christe, eleison.

Lord, have mercy on us. Kyrie, eleison. Christ, hear us. Christe, audi nos. R. Christ, graciously hear us. R. Christe, exaudi nos.

God the Father of heaven, Pater de caelis, Deus, R. have mercy on us. R. miserere nobis.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Fili, Redemptor mundi, Deus, R. have mercy on us. R. miserere nobis.

God the Holy Spirit, Spiritus Sancte Deus, R. have mercy on us. R. miserere nobis.

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Holy Trinity, one God, Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus, R. have mercy on us. R. miserere nobis.

Holy Mary, Sancta Maria, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Holy Mother of God, Sancta Dei Genetrix, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Holy Virgin of virgins, Sancta Virgo virginum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother of Christ, Mater Christi, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother of the Church, Mater Ecclesiae, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother of divine grace, Mater Divinae gratiae, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother most pure, Mater purissima, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother most chaste, Mater castissima, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother inviolate, Mater inviolata, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother undefiled, Mater intemerata, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

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Mother most amiable, Mater amabilis, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother most admirable, Mater admirabilis, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother of good counsel, Mater boni Consilii, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother of our Creator, Mater Creatoris, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mother of our Savior, Mater Salvatoris, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Virgin most prudent, Virgo prudentissima, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Virgin most venerable, Virgo veneranda, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Virgin most renowned, Virgo praedicanda, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Virgin most powerful, Virgo potens, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Virgin most merciful, Virgo clemens, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Virgin most faithful, Virgo fidelis, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

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Mirror of justice, Speculum iustitiae, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Seat of wisdom, Sedes sapientiae, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Cause of our joy, Causa nostrae laetitiae, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Spiritual vessel, Vas spirituale, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Vessel of honor, Vas honorabile, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Singular vessel of devotion, Vas insigne devotionis, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Mystical rose, Rosa mystica, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Tower of David, Turris Davidica, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Tower of ivory, Turris eburnea, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

House of gold, Domus aurea, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Ark of the covenant, Foederis arca, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

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Gate of heaven, Ianua caeli, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Morning star, Stella matutina, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Health of the sick, Salus infirmorum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Refuge of sinners, Refugium peccatorum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Comforter of the afflicted, Consolatrix afflictorum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Help of Christians, Auxilium Christianorum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of Angels, Regina Angelorum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of Patriarchs, Regina Patriarcharum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of Prophets, Regina Prophetarum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of Apostles, Regina Apostolorum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of Martyrs, Regina Martyrum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

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Queen of Confessors, Regina Confessorum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of Virgins, Regina Virginum, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of all Saints, Regina Sanctorum omnium, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen conceived without original sin, Regina sine labe originali concepta, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen assumed into heaven, Regina in caelum assumpta, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of the most holy Rosary, Regina Sacratissimi Rosarii, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of the family, Regina familiae, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Queen of Peace, Regina pacis, R. pray for us. R. ora pro nobis.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, the world, R. parce nobis, Domine. R. spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, the world, R. exaudi nos, Domine. R. graciously hear us, O Lord.

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Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, the world, R. miserere nobis. R. have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, V. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genetrix, R. That we may be made worthy of the R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus promises of Christ. Christi.

Let us pray Oremus Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord God, Concede nos famulos tuos, quaesumus, that we Thy servants, may enjoy lasting Domine Deus, perpetua mentis et health of mind and body, and by the corporis sanitate gaudere: et gloriosa glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, beatae Mariae semper Virginis ever Virgin, be delivered from present intercessione, a praesenti liberari tristitia, sorrow and enter into the joy of eternal et aeterna perfrui laetitia. Per Christum happiness. Through Christ our Lord. Dominum nostrum. R. Amen. R. Amen.

Advent Season Tempore Adventus:

V. The angel of the Lord declared unto V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae, Mary; R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto. R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray Oremus O God, Thou hast willed that at the Deus, qui de beatae Mariae Virginis utero message of an angel Thy Word should Verbum tuum, Angelo nuntiante, carnem take flesh in the womb of the Blessed suscipere voluisti: praesta supplicibus Virgin Mary; grant to Thy suppliant tuis; ut, qui vere eam Genetricem Dei people, that we, who believe her to be credimus, eius apud te intercessionibus truly the Mother of God, may be helped adiuvemur. Per Christum Dominum by her intercession with Thee. Through nostrum. R. Amen.

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Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

Christmas Season Tempore Nativitatis:

V. After giving birth, O Virgin, thou V. Post partum, Virgo, inviolata remained a virgin. permansisti, R. Mother of God, intercede for us. R. Dei Genetrix, intercede pro nobis.

Let us pray Oremus O God, by the fruitful virginity of Blessed Deus, qui salutis aeternae, beatae Mariae Mary, Thou hast bestowed upon the virginitate fecunda, humano generi human race the rewards of eternal praemia praestitisti: tribue, quaesumus; salvation; grant, we beseech Thee, that ut ipsam pro nobis intercedere we may feel the power of her sentiamus, per quam meruimus Filius intercession, through whom we have tuum auctorem vitae suscipere. Qui been made worthy to receive the Author tecum vivit et regnat in saecula of life, Thy Son. Who with Thee lives and saeculorum. reigns forever. R. Amen. R. Amen.

Easter Season Tempore Paschali:

V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia. alleluia. R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia. R. Because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.

Let us pray Oremus O God, who by the Resurrection of Thy Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, granted joy to Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum the whole world: grant we beg Thee, that laetificare dignatus es: praesta, through the intercession of the Virgin quaesumus: ut, per eius Genetricem

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Mary, His Mother, we may lay hold of Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus the joys of eternal life. Through the same gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Christ our Lord. Dominum nostrum. R. Amen. R. Amen.

Familial Ritual Project VII

As a family, pray the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary for 7 consecutive days. At the end of each prayer contemplate on one of the qualities of the Blessed mother described within the litany. When the family has completed praying the litany for a week celebrate together the gift of wifehood and motherhood. Take the mother of the family out to her favorite restaurant. If this cannot be done find a meaningful way to express your appreciation for your wife and mother of your child(ren).

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SAMPLE ONLY – INCOMPLETE HOME 2 HOME GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY FOR SERIES I

The following definitions have been taken from the Modern Catholic Dictionary by Father John A. Hardon, S.J.

BEING. Whatever in any way is, whether it exists or is possible, whether in the mind, in the imagination, or in a statement. Philosophically being is the real, and corresponds to essence or thing. Its opposite is the unreal and finally that which implies an inner contradiction.

CHILD or CHILDREN. Those who have reached the age of discretion but are not yet adolescents, and for whom there are special provisions in ecclesiastical law. In general, children are those from the age of seven, when the sacraments of penance and the eucharist are to be received, to the age of fourteen, when abstinence is to be observed. Children may also receive the sacrament of anointing and should be confirmed.

CHURCH. The faithful of the whole world. This broad definition can be understood in various senses all derived from the Scriptures, notably as the community of believers, the kingdom of God, and the Mystical Body of Christ.

As the community of believers, the Church is the assembly (ekklesia) of all who believe in Jesus Christ; or the fellowship (koinonia) of all who are bound together by their common love for the Savior. As the kingdom (basileia), it is the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies about the reign of the Messiah. And as the Mystical Body it is the communion of all those made holy by the grace of Christ. He is their invisible head and they are his visible members. These include the faithful on earth, those in purgatory who are not yet fully purified, and the saints in heaven. Since the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church has been defined as a union of human beings who are united by the profession of the same Christian faith, and by participation of and in the same sacraments under the direction of their lawful pastors, especially of the one

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representative of Christ on earth, the Bishop of Rome. Each element in this definition is meant to exclude all others from actual and vital membership in the Catholic Church, namely apostates and heretics who do not profess the same Christian faith, non-Christians who do not receive the same sacraments, and schismatics who are not submissive to the Church's lawful pastors under the Bishop of Rome.

At the Second Vatican Council this concept of the Church was recognized as the objective reality that identifies the fullness of the Roman Catholic Church. But it was qualified subjectively so as to somehow include all who are baptized and profess their faith in Jesus Christ. They are the People of God, whom he has chosen to be his own and on whom he bestows the special graces of his providence. (Etym. Greek kyriakon, church; from kyriakos, belonging to the Lord.)

COMMUNITY. A group of persons who share the same beliefs, live together under authority, and co-operate in pursuing common interests for the benefit of others besides their own members. The degree of common belief, living, and activity determines the intensity of the community and its distinctive identity as a human society. (Etym. Latin communitas, community, common possession; association; congregation, parish; generality.)

COMMUNION. In Christian parlance the most sacred expression for any one of different forms of togetherness. As communion between God and the human soul in the divine indwelling; between Christ and the recipient of the Eucharist in Holy Communion; among all who belong to the Mystical Body in heaven, purgatory, and on earth in the Communion of Saints; and among those who belong to the Catholic Church as a communion of the faithful. (Etym. Latin communio, sharing unity, association; participation.)

CONJUGAL COMMUNION or CONJUGAL LOVE. The affection of husband and wife that should be both unitive and, unless virginal, procreative. It is unitive for the married spouses and procreative from them, as potential parents of the offspring God may wish to give them. (Etym. Latin conjugalis; from conjux, husband, wife; from conjungere, to join, unite in marriage.

COVENANT or BIBLICAL COVENANT. In the Old Testament an agreement between God and Israel in which God promised protection to the Chosen People in return for exclusive loyalty. “If you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations will be my

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very own” (Exodus 19:5). Moses presented Yahweh's offer to his people, who promptly “answered as one, ‘All that Yahweh has said we will do.’” The compact was sealed (Exodus 19:8). Many years later Jeremiah prophesied that a new covenant would be offered. “Deep within them,” Yahweh promised, “I will plant my law, writing it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Ezekiel foresaw that God would “make a covenant of peace with them, an eternal covenant” (Ezekiel 37:26). Its universal character was foreshadowed by Isaiah, to whom it was revealed by Yahweh, “so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). In the New Testament, when Paul was explaining to the Corinthians the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, he repeated Christ's words: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me” (I Corinthians 11:25). This master idea of the New Testament is reinforced in the Letter to the Hebrews: “It follows that it is a greater covenant for which Jesus has become our guarantee” (Hebrews 7:22). Christ himself is the new covenant between God and his people. (Etym. Latin convenire, to agree, to come together.)

CULTURE. The personality of a society. As understood in Catholic social philosophy, it is the totality of a people's traditions (what they believe), attitudes (what they desire), customs (what they do) and institutions (how they live). A culture has roots that go back even centuries and may be far removed from where persons now live. Cultures differ even as individuals differ, since culture is nothing else than the divinely intended distinctiveness of a people, even as individuality is the divinely intended uniqueness of each person. But like individuals, societies have not only their own inherent characteristics but their own separate history of decisions and experiences, which further distinguish one culture from another so that no two are fully the same.

DIGNITY. The excellence that deserves recognition and praise in a person or thing. Highest in dignity is God, whose superiority over all creation is the basis for adoration. (Etym. Latin dignitas, dignity, worthiness, worth.)

EDUCTION. In the philosophy of nature the actualization of a form, whether substantial or accidental, out of a subject in which it had been potentially. distinguished from infusion, whereby a human soul is specially created and united with the body.

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ELDERLY or ELDERS. The older men in a community acting as a governing body (I Samuel 16:4). The Sanhedrin, for instance, was made up of elders (Exodus 3:16). They were mentioned in Matthew as joining the chief priests in challenging Jesus during his ministry (Matthew 27:12). The traditional system carried over into Christian communities. The Apostles appointed elders to take charge of each church (Acts 14:23). According to the Council of Trent, the elders mentioned by St. James as administrators of the sacrament of anointing (James 5:14) "does not refer to the older men nor to the more influential men in the community, but to the bishops or the priests duly ordained by the bishops through the laying on of hands of the presbyterate" (Denzinger 1697).

FAMILY. A group of persons who are related by marriage or blood and who typically include a father, mother, and children. A family is a natural society whose right to existence and support is provided by the divine law. According to the Second Vatican Council, “the family is the foundation of society” (The Church in the Modern World, II, 52). In addition to the natural family, the Church recognizes also the supernatural family of the diocese and of a religious community, whose members are to co-operate for the upbuilding of the Body of Christ (Decree on the Bishops’ Pastoral Office, 34; and Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 43). (Etym. Latin familia, a family, the members of a household; from famulus, a servant, attendant.)

FATHERHOOD or FATHER. Theologically, a father is the principal one who produces of his own substance another person like himself. There is, consequently, a Father within the Trinity, who begets God the Son. But the triune God is himself spoken of as a Father, with respect to the rational beings whom he made to share in his own possession of knowledge and love. Among human beings a father is the male parent of his own children and, ultimately, the ancestor of all his progeny. In Church usage the term is applied to the early spokesmen and defenders of Christianity, bishops who attend regional and especially ecumenical councils, and priests in general or specific priests in their role as confessors or spiritual counselors of the faithful.

FIDELITY or LOYALTY. Constancy in allegiance to God or the things of God; steadfastness in fidelity to a person or cause, organization or enterprise. Implicit in loyalty is strong affection based on firm conviction that the object of one's fidelity deserves the allegiance. (Etym. Latin legalis, of or belonging to the law, legal.)

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FORGIVENESS. Pardon or remission of an offense. The Catholic Church believes that sins forgiven are actually removed from the soul (John 20) and not merely covered over by the merits of Christ. Only God can forgive sins, since he alone can restore sanctifying grace to a person who has sinned gravely and thereby lost the state of grace. God forgives sins to the truly repentant either immediately through an act of perfect contrition or mediately through a sacrament. The sacraments primarily directed to the forgiveness of sins are baptism and penance, and secondarily, under certain conditions, also the sacrament of anointing.

FRUIT or FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Supernatural works that, according to St. Paul, manifest the presence of the Holy Spirit. The one who performs them recognizes God’s presence by the happiness he experiences, and others the divine presence by witnessing these good works (Galatians 5:22-23). They are, in other words, identifiable effects of the Holy Spirit. In the Vulgate text they are: charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity.

GIFT or GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The seven forms of supernatural initiative conferred with the reception of sanctifying grace. They are in the nature of supernatural reflexes, or reactive instincts, that spontaneously answer to the divine impulses of grace almost without reflection but always with full consent. The gifts are wisdom (sapientia), understanding (intellectus), knowledge (scientia), fortitude or courage (fortitudo), counsel (consilium), piety or love (pietas), and fear of the Lord (timor Domini).

GOOD. In general, whatever is suitable or befitting someone or something. Practically, however, it is that which all things tend toward or desire. The good is the desirable, and therefore the object of the natural (or supernatural) needs or tendencies of a being.

HUSBAND. A man joined to a woman in lawful marriage. His responsibilities toward his wife are expressed in the nuptial prayer, which the priest invokes during the wedding Mass: "May the husband put his trust in her and recognize that she is his equal and the heir with him in the life of grace. May he always honor her and love her as Christ loves His Bride, the Church."

INDISSOLUBILITY. The permanence of marriage which cannot be dissolved either by the withdrawal of consent of the married partners or by civil authorities. Christian marriage is

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absolutely indissoluble, as defined by the Council of Trent, condemning anyone who says, "The Church errs when she has inculcated and continues to inculcate in accord with evangelical and apostolic teaching, that the bond of marriage cannot be dissolved by reason of adultery on the part of one spouse, and that both parties, even the innocent one who gave no reason for adultery, cannot contract a new marriage while the other spouse is alive; and that both the man who marries another wife after dismissing an adulterous one commits adultery and the wife who marries another husband after dismissing an adulterous one commits adultery" (Denzinger 1807)

INDIVISIBLE OR INDISSOLUBLE MARRIAGE. Christian marriage, between two baptized persons who enter into a valid contract and consummate their marriage by natural intercourse, cannot be dissolved by any human power, whether civil or ecclesiastical.

SAMPLE ONLY – INCOMPLETE

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SAMPLE ONLY – INCOMPLETE

Bibliography

Catechism of the Catholic Church: With Modifications from the Editio Typica. Second Edition. New York: Doubleday, 1997.

Hardon, John A. The Modern Catholic Dictionary. Second Printing. Bardstown, Kentucky: Eternal Life, 2001.

John Paul II, Pope. Familiaris Consortio: On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World. Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, November 22, 1981.

John Paul II, Pope. Letter to the Elderly. Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, October 1, 1999.

John Paul II, Pope. Letter to Women. Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, June 29, 1995.

John Paul II, Pope. Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body. Trans. Grzegorz Ignatik. Boston, MA: Pauline Books & Media, 2006. Kindle.

John Paul II, Pope. Mulieris Dignitatem: On the Dignity and Vocation of Women. Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, August 15, 1988.

John Paul II, Pope. Redemptor Hominis: The Redeemer of Man. Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, March 4, 1979.

Leo XIII, Pope. Arcanum: On Christian Marriage. Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, February 10, 1880.

Power, Robert J. Jesus, Make me Worthy: A Prayer-Book for the Young Boy and Girl. Kansas City, MO: Angelus Press, 2014.

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Second Vatican Council. Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, December 7, 1965.

Second Vatican Council. Lumen Gentium: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, November 21, 1964.

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What are the ways I can contact FCCF? Familiaris Consortio Catholic Foundation can be contacted…

By Mail: 2637 Sunset Maple Drive Tipp City, Ohio 45371 USA

By Email: [email protected]

By Phone: (1) 567 686-2424 (USA)

Please visit our website at… www.fccatholicfoundation.org (Available for viewing by December 2019)