FOCUS Conversion of society through the family

PUBLIC DOMAIN FRA ANGELICO & FILIPPO LIPPI. NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON. . (C.1440/1460) ADORATION OF THE MAGI

Conversion of society THROUGH THE FAMILY

At Christmastime, we contemplate the story of a family. The Word became flesh in a family and so it is the family that God has chosen to be the bulwark of the Truth Incarnate. The mystery of the Incarnation gives the ultimate mission to all families: to welcome and nourish the Truth of God.

Even at this time of great crisis of faith and the family, this is the never-failing reason for us to take heart: just as Christian faith and civilisation, its fruit, were nourished in the family, they are to be restored through the family.

No doubt, many Catholic parents today, countering the mounting threats to life and the family, may feel that our daily reality resembles more the persecution of the Holy Innocents than the scene of the Nativity. The attack on children’s innocence and their eternal salvation can seem as devastating as the senseless massacre of the infants of Judea. But just as Herod killed the innocents in order to destroy God, today’s attacks on the innocence of children are targeted at the Truth of God which illuminates their immortal souls.

Sex education in schools corrupts children and grooms them for the contraception and abortion industry. It also perverts the understanding of education as it is entrusted to the family, because of its inseparability from the procreation of children, the first end of marriage. Parents who wish to fulfil their mission as primary educators would never want such “education” to enter the bosom of their family. Therefore, by such programmes, made compulsory outside of the family, parents’ trust in educational institutions is abused and their children are alienated from them.

Parents are not for the most part theological scholars – and they never have been. However, countless ordinary Catholic parents can confidently say that the commandment “Honour thy Father and thy Mother”, reaffirmed in the Gospel, establishes for all time that parents are the primary educators and protectors of their children. Today, this truth

REST DURING THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT (1423).GENTILE DA FABRIANO. THE UFFIZI GALLERY, FLORENCE. PUBLIC DOMAIN

is roundly contradicted and parents can easily feel overwhelmed by the powerful forces ranged against them. In this situation, fathers, in particular, the natural protectors of families, can look to St Joseph. During the flight into Egypt, everything seemed to depend on him – God Incarnate, His holy Mother and the salvation of all mankind. With divine assistance he saved all that was entrusted to him.

In the FOCUS section of this issue of Calx Mariae, we consider the power of the family to renew society. We have included some of the talks from our recent online conference “Fathers’ call to Bishops: help us to defend our children’s purity” to address the terrible and widescale corruption of children by the introduction of compulsory sex education in all schools in Britain, including Catholic schools.

However, the hope for this fallen world comes from God, the Truth Incarnate. To rebuild our Christian civilisation we must learn to know and love our Catholic faith anew. This is why Voice of the Family has launched an entire online video catechism course for children and families, Our Lady of the Rosary Family Catechism, so they can put on the armour of God and take a stand against the deceits of evil as St Paul urges us to do (cf. Eph. 6:11).

The call to the family to be the agent of evangelisation and the conversion of society may find our families in different places. Some of us may be unprepared, as the shepherds were, asleep in the field when Christ was born. Some, like the three kings, may have made great preparations and journeyed for a long time with gifts for the Saviour. Some may be physically near but close their doors to Christ because they have no room for Him. And others may prefer to keep feasting in the palace of Herod, and risk being intoxicated by the world and becoming persecutors of the family themselves. As in every age, we have to choose how we will respond to the Truth Incarnate that dwells among us.

And when we contemplate how the Truth became flesh in a family, let us not think only of the peace of the Newborn Child in the manger, with beasts and kings alike on their knees in adoration. With the Holy Family, let us also prepare ourselves for the arduous flight across the desert, the fight for the life of Truth and the Infant Body of our Church.