Monday, January 30, 2017

Amoris Laetitia - Par. 183



183.  A married couple who experience the power of love know that this love is called to bind the wounds of the outcast, to foster a culture of encounter and to fight for justice.  God has given the family the job of "domesticating" the world205 and helping each person to see fellow human beings as brothers and sisters.  "An attentive look a the everyday life of today's men and women immediately shows the omnipresent need for a healthy injection of family spirit...  Not only is the organization of ordinary life increasingly thwarted by a bureaucracy completely removed from fundamental human bonds, but even social and political mores show signs of degradation".206  For their part, open and caring families find a place for the poor and build friendships with those less fortunate than themselves.  In their efforts to live according to the Gospel, they are mindful of Jesus' words:  "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me (Mt 25:40)".  In a very real way, their lives express what is asked of us all: "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invited your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and your will be blessed" (Lk 14:12-14).  You will be blessed! Here is the secret to a happy family.

205 Cf. Catechesis (16 September 2015):  L'Osservatore Romano, 17 September 2015, p.8.
206 Catechesis (7 October 2015): L'Osservatore Romano, 9 October 2015, p.8.

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