The Domestic Church

INTRODUCTION

16.  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.

17.  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

18.  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

 

19.  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

20.  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.

21.  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

22.  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.

23.  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

 

Proclaiming the Gospel to their children

 

Teaching children by example

 

Patiently instructing children to live the values of the Christian community

 

Learning about our faith as adults

 

Passing on the knowledge of our faith and tradition

 

Preparing for Sunday Eucharist with prayerful reflection of the Sunday readings

 

Providing the parental affection and support, which are the primary sources for continued
growth in faith for children and youth

Worship

 

Worshipping weekly with the parish community

 

Praying daily and doing spiritual exercises

 

Celebrating and explaining the seasons and feasts of the Church year

 

Preparing their children for the sacraments of Confirmation, Eucharist and Reconciliation

 

Ritualizing liturgical seasons, holy days, patronal feasts and anniversaries of Baptisms and Marriage in the home

 

Marking life passages in the family with special prayers, rituals and blessings—birthdays,
engagements, deaths, graduations and other accomplishments

 

Praying and sharing faith with their children and spouse

 

Blessing children in all their comings and goings, at night and before school activities

Community

 

Nurturing their children in a loving, respectful manner

 

Reinforcing and enriching parish catechetical programs

 

Participating with their children in family catechetical events

 

Engaging in various catechetical and social justice activities

 

Involving themselves in the life of the parish community

 

Accepting assistance from the faith community in nurturing faith in their children

 

Promoting, supporting, and participating in parish activities and ministries, which extend
beyond the Catholic school and catechetical programs

Service

 

Leading the domestic church in the ways of Gospel living

 

Nurturing social awareness and consciousness in their children by

 

Respecting the dignity of all persons,

 

Learning about Catholic Social Teaching

 

Explaining the reasons for diverse social and economic conditions,

 

Providing opportunities for their children to practice the principles of justice, compassion and sharing,

 

Alerting their children to situations which are contrary to Gospel values,

 

Assisting their children in studying situations of injustice and discovering the root causes of injustice.

 

Engaging in social justice ministries in the parish and civic communities

 

Living consciously according to Catholic social teaching

 

Seeking ways to contribute to the common good in our communities

 

Celebrating diversity in the community and the world

Leadership

 

Acquiring and developing parenting skills

 

Helping assess and plan effective catechesis in the school and the parish

 

Participating in sacramental preparation, parent conferences and education events

 

Making time for parish family events, prayers, retreats, and social events for families

 

Accepting parish ministries and volunteering to assist in parish catechetical programs as
catechists, aides, hospitality coordinators, etc.

 

Promoting a unified vision of catechesis in the home, school and parish

 

Enhancing partnerships between parents, catechists, schools, and parishes for the
education and catechesis of children

Stewardship

 

Offering time and talent to the parish community

 

Ensuring the best opportunities for their children to grow in the faith community

 

Participating with catechetical and school leaders to design children’s catechesis

 

Assisting with the catechesis offered by the faith community and school

 

Contributing to the financial support of the parish

 

Giving time, talent and treasure to charitable causes

Evangelization

 

Evangelizing and initiating their children in the faith

 

Engaging in parish and community ministries of care

 

Educating their children in the ways of Christian living

 

Setting family, work, entertainment and school priorities based on our faith

 

Learning about other denominations and religious traditions

 

Taking part in interfaith celebrations

 

Reaching out to neighbors and friends who are inactive or marginal in faith

 

Serving the needs of others

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARISH CHURCH AND DOMESTIC CHURCH

24.  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.

25.  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.

26.  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."

 

The Parish Church

INTRODUCTION

    1. In presenting their children for Baptism, parents seek membership for them in the life and faith of a community "united in Christ and guided by the holy Spirit in their pilgrimage towards [God’s reign], bearing a message of salvation for all of humanity. The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well" (GS 1).

ROLE OF PARISH COMMUNITY

    1. Through the sacraments of initiation, each Christian is called and empowered to live full, conscious and active faith. It is a sacred responsibility of each parishioner to grow in faith throughout the journey of a lifetime. In this way, catechesis is the responsibility of the whole community (CIC 774). In their midst and guided by the Spirit, children absorb the beliefs, the traditions and the values of the faithful. Through their daily adherence to their baptismal vocation, in assembling for Sunday Eucharist and celebrating the sacraments, practicing social justice and working for peace, the entire parish community fulfills its mission of evangelization of whole persons and cultures, thus nurturing the faith of the parish. Faith communities with an active and a vibrant faith find it easy to pass along the tradition to new members and the next generation. Parish communities, whose faith is stale or stagnant, struggle to catechize even the youngest in their midst.
    2. The whole community also exercises their catechetical responsibility by providing vision, direction and support for catechesis in the parish. Members of the parish community who possess special charisms and gifts for catechesis, furthermore, are called to serve the parish through catechetical ministries. Specific parish catechetical ministries include:

 

Pastor, parochial vicars and other clergy

 

Catechetical leaders and principals

 

Catechists, teachers, adult leaders of youth ministry and sacramental coordinators

 

Aides, volunteers, group leaders, peer ministers, etc.

 

 

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

VI. The Domestic Church


1655

Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family of Joseph and Mary. The Church is nothing other than "the family of God." From the beginning, the core of the Church was often constituted by those who had become believers "together with all [their] household."166 When they were converted, they desired that "their whole household" should also be saved.167 These families who became believers were islands of Christian life in an unbelieving world.

1656

In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica.168 It is in the bosom of the family that parents are "by word and example . . . the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children. They should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each child, fostering with special care any religious vocation."169

1657

It is here that the father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way "by the reception of the sacraments, prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, and self-denial and active charity."170 Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and "a school for human enrichment."171 Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous—even repeated—forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one's life.

1658

We must also remember the great number of single persons who, because of the particular circumstances in which they have to live—often not of their choosing—are especially close to Jesus' heart and therefore deserve the special affection and active solicitude of the Church, especially of pastors. Many remain without a human family, often due to conditions of poverty. Some live their situation in the spirit of the Beatitudes, serving God and neighbor in exemplary fashion. The doors of homes, the "domestic churches," and of the great family which is the Church must be open to all of them. "No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who ‘labor and are heavy laden.'"172

 

Some of the Church Documents cited above:

GDC       Congregation for the Clergy. General Directory for Catechesis. Washington, D.C.: USCC, 1997.

Connell, Martin, ed. The Catechetical Documents: A Parish Resource. Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications. 1996.

CCC      Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Allen, TX: Thomas More, 1994.

FAM   National Conference of Catholic Bishops. A Family Perspective in Church and Society: Tenth Anniversary Edition. Washington, D.C.: USCC, 1998.

_____. National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry. Washington, D.C.: USCC. 1987.

_____. Renewing the Vision. Washington, DC: USCC, 1997.

_____. Sons and Daughters of the Light: A National Plan for Young Adult Ministry. Washington, D.C.: USCC, 1996.

LG    Dogmatic Constitution On The Church    Lumen Gentium                             Vatican II     Proclaimed By Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964

GS    Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World    Gaudium et Spes Vatican II Proclaimed by Pope Paul VI on December 7, 1965

FC    Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio Of Pope John Paul II To The Episcopate To The Clergy And To The Faithful Of The Whole Catholic Church on The Role Of The Christian Family In The Modern World

CIC  Codex Iuris Canonici    Code of Canon Law