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Tuesday Conference

Theology e-magazine

To make humanity united in worshipping God

Until Death Do Us Part

Our Heavenly Patron

Dear Father,
Tuesday Conference for th e season 02 begins w ith the
latest post synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis Amoris
Laetitia(AL). He w ishes the thinking of pa stor s a nd
theologians, if faithful to the Church, honest, realistic and creative,
will help us to achieve greater clarity.#2
Tuesday Conference takes its pride in putting the words of
Pope to all its readers with maximum clarity and precision. This is
the highlights of first four chapters of AL, titled Until
Death Do Us Part. The next issue will reach the remaining
chapters. Having completed reading the document in TC we will
make a general commentary on it. Let us receive AL and radiate its
message to families we encounter.

This is precisely the mystery of marriage: God makes

of the two spouses one single existence. #121
Conjugal love is the greatest form of friendship. It is
a union possessing all the traits of a good
friendship.#123

It is my hope , in reading this text, all will feel called to

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love family life, for families are not a problem; they are
first and foremost an opportunity.#7

Introduction

Many people

Amoris laetitia (Latin for The Joy of Love) is the postsynodal apostolic exhortation dated 19 March 2016, & was
released on 8 April 2016. It follows the Synods on the Family held
in 2014 and 2015. The text has an introduction and nine chapters,
comprising 325 paragraphs. The English text runs to about 250
small-format pages with almost 400 footnotes.

feel that the

An Overview

Churchs
message on
marriage and
the family
does not
clearly reflect
the preaching
and attitudes
of Jesus.#38

1. In the Light of the Word a

biblical meditation on key themes
2. The Experiences and Challenges
of Families
3. Looking to Jesus, The Vocation
of the Family
4. Love in Marriage- Reflection on
each phrase on love in 1 Cori.13:4-7
5. Love Made Fruitful
6. Some Pastoral Perspectives
7. Towards a Better Education of
Children
9. The Spirituality of Marriage
8. Accompanying, Discerning and
and the Family
Integrating Weakness

Our Approach to the text#3

not all discussions of doctrinal, moral issues need to be settled
by interventions of the magisterium.

Unity of teaching & practice is necessary , but this does not

preclude ways of interpreting some aspects of teaching

Each region can seek solutions suited to its local needs.

I do not recommend a rushed reading of the text. The greatest
benefit, will come if each part is read patiently and carefully. #7

My heart feels heavy...

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I think of the speed with which people move from one affective
relationship to another. They believe, along the lines of social networks, that
love can be connected or disconnected blocked.
We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects and the
environment:
everyone uses and throws away,
takes and breaks,
exploits and squeezes to the last drop,
Then, goodbye.

Narcissism makes people incapable of looking beyond

themselves, beyond their own desires and needs. #39
Acknowledge that at times
the way we present our
Christian beliefs has helped
contribute to todays
problematic situation. #36

We often present marriage in its

unitive meaning, is overshadowed by an
almost exclusive insistence on the duty
of procreation. #36
We need a healthy
dose of selfcriticism. #36
At times we have proposed a far too
abstract and almost artificial theological
ideal of marriage, far removed from the
concrete situations . #36
We have often been on the defensive,
wasting pastoral energy on denouncing a
decadent world. #38

Love is a single reality, but with different dimensions; at

different times, one or other dimension may emerge more
clearly.#164

We Begin from Bible...

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The Bible is full of families, births, love stories and family crises. Every home is
a lampstand.#8. For good r eason Chr ists teaching on marriage is inserted
within a dispute about divorce.#19

the word of God is not a series of abstract ideas

but rather a source of comfort
companionship for every family that experiences suffering.#22
Every family should look to the icon of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Its daily life had its share of burdens and even nightmares.#30

Our Children are ...

The Gospel goes on to remind us that children are not the property of a family,
but have their own lives to lead.#18

The presence of children is a sign of the continuity of the family throughout

salvation history, from generation to generation.#14

Family as the place where children are brought up in the faith. See the
description of the Passover celebration.

The family is thus the place where

parents become their childrens first teachers in the

faith.#16

A child deserves to be born of that love, and not by any other means, for
he or she is not something owed to one, but is a gift.#81

A great number of children are born outside of wedlockThe sexual

exploitation of children is a perverse reality all the more scandalous
when it occurs in places they ought to be most safe, in families,
schools, and Christian institutions.#45

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Violence in the family is a breeding-ground of hatred

in the most basic human relationship. #51

Sexual life in Families..

The lack of

In marriage, sex can become a source of suffering and

affordable

manipulation. It must be clearly reaffirmed that a conjugal act

imposed on ones spouse is no true act of love, and therefore
offends.#154

housing

Every form of sexual submission must be clearly rejected. This

dignified or

often leads
to the
postponement

of formal
relationships

The family
has the

includes all improper interpretations where Paul tells women

to be subject to your husbands.#156

A love that fails to grow is at risk#134

For the Woman Flock

The verbal, physical, and sexual violence that women
endure in some marriages contradicts the very nature of the
conjugal union. History is burdened by the excesses of patriarchal
cultures that considered women inferior.

right to
decent
housing.

Families
and
homes go
together.
#44

There are those who believe that many of todays problems

have arisen because of feminine emancipation. This argument,
however, is not valid, it is false, untrue, a form of male
chauvinism.#54

We must see in the womens movement the working of the

Spirit for a clearer recognition of the dignity and rights of
women.#54

Sex and gender can be distinguished but not

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separated.#56

7 Habits For Successful Marriages...

1. Show affection and concern for the other person. Love surmounts even the worst
barriers.
2. Develop the habit of giving real importance to the other person. Never downplay
what they say or think, even if you need to express your own point of view.
3. Three words need to be used. Please, Thank you, Sorry.
4.

Silences

are

oppressive,

between

husbands and wives, between parents and

children, among siblings.
5. Right words, spoken at the right time,
protect love. Take time, quality time. We
need to be sure that we heard everything

the other person has to say. #133

6. Marital problems are often confronted in haste and without the courage to have
patience and reflect, to make sacrifices and to forgive one another.#41
7. To believe that we are good simply because we feel good is a tremendous
illusion. #145

Emotional life in Families...

Desires, feelings, emotions, passions , all have an important place in married life.
They ground the most elementary psychological activity.#143
Experiencing an emotion is not, in itself, morally good or evil.#145
A family is mature when the emotional life of its members becomes a form of
sensitivity that neither stifles nor obscures great decisions and values, but perfects
and harmonizes it in the service of all.#146

We need to find...

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the right languagethat can help us reach the hearts of young people.#40
a more responsible effort to present the reasons and motivations for choosing
marriage and the family,

to help men and women better to respond to the grace that God offers them.
try not to impose rules by sheer authority.#35
We also find it hard to make room

for the consciences of the faithful.

We have been called to form
consciences, not to replace them.
#37

Life from the conception ...till we depart...

I feel it urgent to state:

If the family is the sanctuary of life, it is a horrendous contradiction when it

becomes a place where life is rejected and destroyed.

The family protects human life in all its stages, including its last. #83

Have an Open Heart

Acknowledge the gr eat var iety of fam ily situation s that can offer a
certain stability. But de facto or same-sex unions, for example, may not simply be
equated with marriage.
Marital love is not defended by presenting indissolubility as a duty, or by
repeating doctrine, but by helping it to grow ever stronger under grace.#134. As we
complete reading this issue it is high time to reflect on our commitment to families
and we leave you for the same ...
Published from Vincentian Vidyabhavan, Aluva.