DE CHAVEZ, Michaela P.
| 1NUR5 | UST | BS Nursing  Integrity of human sexuality and the procreative,
CHRISTIAN VISION OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY
FUNDAMENTAL CHRISTIAN DIMENSIONS OF THE
FAMILY
 According to the Vatican II Decree on the Apostolate of the
Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem (11), “Since the Creator
of all things has established the conjugal partnership as the
beginning and basis of human society, the family is the first
and vital cell of society.”
 Family is a social institution that binds people together.
 It is also a group of people, who support, and love each
other unconditionally.
 A family unites each other through a strong bond and
traditionally related by blood. Through marriage, a man and
a woman who are completely independent to each other,
bind themselves together and create new lives and establish
their own family.
 Having children is one of the most binding and satisfying
tasks of marriage.
 Man and the woman are given the responsibility to take care
of their children, because the future of the Church and the
society depends on them.
 Parents must be concerned as to “how they can best ensure
that their children will grow up as genuine Christians and
successful adults”.
FAMILY AS A SOCIAL INSTITUTION
 Progress of our society depends completely on how strong
the families are.
 If good values such as kindness, generosity, honesty and
the like, could be practiced in every family life, this
will result in having a tolerant, self-giving, fair and just
society as an outcome.
 Parents must see to it that they guide their children in order
to bring them up in the spirit of Christian maturity.
 If the family is dysfunctional and unhealthy, the whole
society will be dysfunctional and unhealthy as well.
 Family is the primary unit where children learn to socialize.
 It is the major unit in which socialization happens and the
children learn the fundamental relational skills.
 Family provides its members with social identity.
FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY
 Since the family is considered as the foundation of society,
it performs several important functions, such as:
 1. Regulation of sexuality. – the conjugal act in theological
term is realized in a truly human way only if it is essential
part of the love by which man and woman commit
themselves totally to one another until death.
 Extramarital sexual intercourse is unacceptable, sinful.
 No other forms of sexual pleasure should be allowed or
accepted, but only that which is within the genuine joy of
love between man and woman who are married.
 Purpose of the conjugal act is to express the mutual love
and respect of husband and wife, and to deepen their
intimacy. Its end is to unite and procreate (Gen. 4:1-2)
 Catholic Church teaches that sex within marriage is both a
physical and a spiritual act.
relational and erotic dimensions, require the right context
in which sexuality can be honored.
 Conjugal act must be considered a sacred and holy act.
 In John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” there is
sexual complementarity between the husband and the
wife.
 This complementarity enables them to ‘give” themselves
to one another and to “receive” one another and to carry
out responsibilities as spouses and parents.
 This must be freely done by the man and the woman.
 From the day they give and receive their consent in
marriage, they freely give themselves a new identity as
husband and wife, spouses.
 They commit themselves to one another throughout their
entire married life. And they must freely choose to
engage in the conjugal act.
 Marital act honors the unitive meaning of human
sexuality.
 This act is their willingness to cooperate with God and be
open to procreation, welcoming life with open arms, raise
the child and educate him/her in the love of service of
God and neighbor.
 Pope Paul VI expounded in his encyclical Humanae
Vitae, the unitive and procreative dimension of marriage,
when he said “because of its intrinsic nature, the conjugal
act, while uniting husband and wife in the most intimate
of bonds, also makes them fit to bring forth new life
according to the laws written in their very nature as male
and female.”
 Responsible Procreation
 Familiaris Consortio (No. 14) While procreation is not
the only purpose of marriage, it is one of the benefits that
can result from marriage. In Genesis 1:28, procreation in
marriage is perceived as cooperation with the God of love
and so must be exercised with responsibility, prudence,
and unselfishness.
 In begetting life, husband and wife fulfill one of the
highest dimensions of the Christian calling, which is to
become God’s co-worker and co-creator.
 Responsible cooperation with God in the order of human
sexuality cannot be reduced to the concept of fertility.
Procreation of children cannot be ignored.
 Children are a gift that God gives man and woman united
in marriage.
 Parents as co-creators with God
 Parents have the responsibility to decide on the number
of children they can care for as they cooperate with God
in this noble task (1 Timothy 3:5).
Four important things to remember:
 God has made parents responsible for the physical,
emotional, and spiritual needs of the children.
 Parents will be able to fulfill their responsibility when the
number of children in a family is reasonable and
manageable.
 Parents should not reproduce carelessly, having many
children yet failing to give the care they deserve.
 Married couples must discuss and make decisions
together regarding the regulation of birth in the family.
 Socialization
 Family is the original cell of social life.
 Family is the community in which, from childhood, one
can learn moral values, begin to honor God. And make
good use of freedom.
 Family life is an initiation into life in society (CCC 2207).
 Family is the cradle of life and love where they are born
and grow.
 Family has a crucial role in society by being a model of
love for their children.
 ECONOMIC COOPERATION
 Economic Cooperation According to Pope Francis in
“The Joy of the Gospel” (220) “responsible citizenship
is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral
obligation”.
POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION OF FAMILY TO THE SOCIETY
 Family is the bedrock of society.
 Man as father should be a living model of patience and
kindness.
 Husband-wife relationship should reflect the love of Jesus
for His church.
 Woman must portray the exemplar of being the refuge,
comfort and teacher that children are entitled to have.
 According to Pope Benedict XVI, the love between a
married couple can be fully understood in the light of the
love of the crucified Christ ( Deus Caritas Est 2 ).
 Marriage becomes the image of the relationship of God
and his people. God’s way of loving becomes the
measure of human love. ( Deus Caritas Est 11)
 Major keys to happiness in marriage:
 One of the major keys to happiness in marriage is
“Mutual Respect”. It is a sign of true conjugal love.
 To put down one’s spouse is to degrade him/her as a
person.
 Fidelity” The greatest gift a father could give to his
children is to love and to be faithful to his wife. This may
also be his way of showing respect to his wife’s dignity as
a person and to the family as a whole.
 Family must live according to the teachings of the church
and should take steps to ensure that laws and institutions
of the state are supporting and safeguarding the rights
and duties of the family.
 According to Familiaris Consortio (FC 45) “Both the state
and society must defend the family and respect its
identity and its autonomy as a way of fulfilling the
requirements of the principle of subsidiarity”.
 Family must promote marriage as sacred, which is
exclusive for a man and a woman as ordained by God in
the story of creation.
 Parents must show love to their children by spending
quality time with them, educating them and see them
mature to be good Christian so that they can carry out the
mission of Christ when their turn comes to pass on the
gospel to their own families.
 Spouses must love each other according to Christ’s
pattern of love which is kind, patient, cherishing and
nourishing each other.
 Conjugal love is the greatest blessing that they could
have for each other. Spouses must love each other
according to Christ’s pattern of love which is kind, patient,
cherishing and nourishing each other.
 Family as a domestic church
 Family is an important gift that God has endowed man
and the whole of humanity.
 It is a community of grace.
 Catechism of the Catholic Church expounded on the
importance of family as a Church.
 In our own time, in a world often estranged and even
hostile to faith, there is a tendency to shatter our belief
that families are of primary importance as centers of
living, and involved in the mission of Jesus Christ.
 Family is a place of encounter with Christ within the
community especially when members are actively
participating in the mission of Christ entrusted to the
Church.
 Every family member should be involved in different
community programs that reach out to those who are in
need of care, whether material or spiritual (AL 86).
 Second Vatican Council calls the family the “Ecclesia
Domestica”.
 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 their children in the vocation
which is proper to each child, fostering with special care
any religious vocation.
 Family is called the domestic church because it lives out
the familial and communal nature of the church as the
family of God.
 Families are expected to be bearers of the Gospel in their
community.
 They should be witnesses as domestic churches.
 Christian family participates in the threefold mission of
Jesus Christ, the prophetic, priestly, and kingly mission.
 Family must be a believing and evangelizing community.
 Its members must actively participate in the liturgical and
sacramental celebration of the church.
 Parents can participate in the family ministry together
with their children who can also involve themselves in
Youth Ministry, practicing the Gospel values.
 Family must be the place where the Gospel is transmitted
and from which the Gospel radiates.
 Strength of the family’s mission can be nourished and
sustained by constant prayers to God, frequently
receiving the Eucharist and observance of the Sacrament
of Reconciliation.
 Parents and their children must be the salt of the world
and leaven in the midst of humanity.