The Family:

Foundation of the Church and Society

The family is the fundamental cell of the society

where our way of life is transferred from generation to
generation. It is in the family that children are first
formed to be good and productive citizens. The vitality
and progress of the whole society essentially depends on
the individual families that form the society. Similarly,
the family is the source of life and energy in the Church.
The Church considers the family as “the first natural
society” (CSDC, 209). Various Church documents
highlight the importance and centrality of the family in
the life of the Church. In Centessimus Annus it is written
that the “first and fundamental structure for ‘human
ecology' is the family, in which man receives his first
formative ideas about truth and goodness, and learns
what it means to love and to be loved, and thus what it
actually means to be a person” (CA,39).

A. The Family and Society

The Church teaches that the family is important both to the person and to the society in
many ways. It is in the family that human beings are called to live in communion with others
and learn the value of giving of self to others (CSDC, 212). It is also in the family that human
beings “develop their potentialities, become aware of their dignity and prepare to face their
unique and individual destiny” (CA, 39). The Church also teaches that the family provides an
“irreplaceable contribution” to the good of the society. The bond of communion which is essential
to the existence of a community is basically an extension of the personal relationship that a person
learns in the family as a “community of persons”. Thus, the family is essentially “the first human
society” (CCC, 2206). It is not only the place where human life comes to being and grow, but it is
also the place where human beings first experience interpersonal relationships. With this it can
be said that the welfare of each member of the society and of the society as a whole is closely
linked with the state of well-being of the family that make up the society.

Consequently, the Church teaches that the family

has priority over the society and the State. The Church
Children learn to love from
teaches that “the family possesses inviolable rights and
the adults who love them.
finds its legitimization in human nature and not in being recognized by the State. The family,
then, does not exist for society or the State, but society and the State exist for the family (CSDC,
214). The family exists prior to the recognition of the State and the State has the obligation to
recognize and support the well-being of the family (CCC, 2202).
Every social model that intends to serve the good of man must not overlook the centrality and
social responsibility of the family. In their relationship to the family, society and the State are
seriously obligated to observe the principle of subsidiarity. In virtue of this principle, public
authorities may not take away from the family tasks which it can accomplish well by itself or
 in free association with other families; on the other hand, these same authorities have the duty
to sustain the family, ensuring that it has all the assistance that it needs to fulfil properly its
responsibilities (CSDC, 214; FC, 45).

Because of the indispensable contributions of the family to the society, it follows that the
state has obligations to the family. First, it is important that the State acknowledges the special
contribution of the family to the state. Second, the State must support and protect the unique
character of the family, particularly a Catholic Christian family. This includes programs that
strengthen family life and relationships, respect for human life including the life of the unborn.
The State must also see to it that state policies for the families are implemented under the principle
of subsidiarity. This means that the family must be given the freedom to perform the duties that
originally belong to them. For instance, the State should not coerce families on the number of
children they will have nor take over the duty of raising their children. Instead, guided by the
principle of subsidiarity, the State must see to it that the families are given the necessary assistance
in performing their duties.

B. The Christian Family

Human beings are made for love and cannot live without love (CSDC, 223). It is in the
family that human beings first experienced to be loved and to love. The experience of being
loved unconditionally teaches human beings how to love others in return. This kind of generous
and sincere giving of self for others is the indispensable lesson that a good family, where everyone
is unconditionally recognized, accepted, and respected, can teach a person. The meaning and
value of social responsibility and solidarity is also learned first in the family. Being a member of
a family also helps human beings develop important interpersonal skills and develop capabilities
that would be necessary in facing the challenges of life. The family thereby provides an
irreplaceable contribution to the well-being of the society.

Moreover, Catholic understanding of the family is necessarily rooted on the nature and
purpose of marriage. The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is the foundation of family.
Marriage is the communion of a man and a woman ordered to the good of the spouses and the
procreation and education of offspring (CCC, 1601). Procreation, i.e. transmission of life through
the birth and nurturing of children is an important part of marriage and family life. However, it
is not the only purpose of marriage (CSDC, 218). The Catholic Church further teaches that
marriage and family life are rooted in God’s Divine will. God himself is the author of marriage
(GS, 48). The vocation of marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came
from the hand of the Creator” (CCC, 1603). God’s plan for marriage and family life has been
revealed throughout the Sacred Scripture starting with the very first chapters of the Book of
Genesis when it is written “God created man in his own image, in the divine image he created
him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. . . . This is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife and the two of them become one body” (Gen 1: 26-28; 2: 24-25). In the New
Testament the mystery of the Body of Christ, the Church, is often presented in reference to
marriage and family life. St. Paul, for instance, used the analogy of the self-sacrificing love of
Christ for the Church as the kind of relationship that must permeate the relationship between
husband and wife. Consequently, families must strive to live according to the characteristics of
a Christian family – a family of God and for God, mindful of His presence in their midst and their
mission to be instruments of God’s redeeming work to the humanity. It is also in the family that
children first experience how it is to be a disciple of Christ and the real meaning of loving a person
unconditionally. For this reason, the family is called the “domestic church”. The Catechism of
the Catholic Church states that “the Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and
realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic
church” (CCC, 2204) whose mission is to be “at the service of the building up of the Kingdom of
God in history by participating in the life and mission of the Church” (FC, 50, 64, 49; CFC, 1018).
As a “communion of persons,” the Christian family is a “miniature church” that represents the
communion of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a family of God willed and
blessed by God Himself in the sacrament of matrimony, to help realize the coming of His
Kingdom here on earth. The Catechism further states that
The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the
Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the procreation and education of children it reflects
the Father's work of creation. It is called to partake of the prayer and sacrifice of Christ. Daily
prayer and the reading of the Word of God strengthen it in charity. the Christian family has
an evangelizing and missionary task (CCC, 2205).

The above descriptions of the family are in line with the descriptions presented in the
Catechism for Filipino Catholics (CFC). The CFC summarized the descriptions of the nature of
the family into three: covenant relationship, domestic church, and foundation for civil society (CFC,
1012).

The family is also the place for integral education. Integral education involves the
development of the total person in all aspects. In his encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis
underscored the great contribution of families in the protection and growth of the person.
I would stress the great importance of the family, which is “the place in which life – the gift of
God – can be properly welcomed and protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed
and can develop in accordance with what constitutes authentic human growth. In the face of
the so-called culture of death, the family is the heart of the culture of life”. In the family we
first learn how to show love and respect for life; we are taught the proper use of things, order
and cleanliness, respect for the local ecosystem and care for all creatures. In the family we
receive an integral education, which enables us to grow harmoniously in personal maturity.
In the family we learn to ask without demanding, to say “thank you” as an expression of
genuine gratitude for what we have been given, to control our aggressivity and greed, and to
ask forgiveness when we have caused harm. These simple gestures of heartfelt courtesy help
to create a culture of shared life and respect for our surroundings (LS, 213).

C. Challenges to the Filipino Families

All of us dream of an ideal family. We desire a “happy family” whose members love,
accept, and trust each other all the time. But reality often provides us with something different.

The Filipino family is usually tightly-knit and includes not only those who belong to the
“nuclear family” but also those who are extended family members: grandparents, titos and titas,
cousins, in-laws, etc. But nowadays, Filipino families are beset by many challenges. During an
assembly of the synod of bishops in Rome, it was reported that Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal
Tagle and Archbishop Socrates Villegas shared the four challenges facing Filipino families
(Lozada, 2015).
 1. Separation due to migration
Cardinal Tagle shared that many married couples in the Philippines choose to “separate”
mainly because of economic reason. They choose to leave the country and look for better paying
jobs abroad as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to better provide for the needs of their families.
This is a sad reality in the Philippines. Archbishop Villegas also shared that aside from economic
reason, another major factor for Filipinos opting to leave their family and work abroad is the
“romanticized notion of the West as the land of opportunity”. This increasing number of OFWs
is the cause of rising number of children in the Philippines with absentee parents.

This reality of separation due to migration proves to be really challenging first of all to the
children of OFWs who have to bear the sorrows, pains, and other effects of separation from their
parents and to the couples themselves who have to live not only away from each other but above
all away from their children. To the Church, the challenge is to provide pastoral care both to
those who are abroad and to those who were left behind.

2. Poverty
The number of poor families in the Philippines remains high. According to Cardinal
Tagle, economic factors impact the Filipino families more than anything else. Aside from not
being able to provide the basic necessities for their family, many parents are forced to spend more
time to earn more money which leads to lesser time with their children.

3. Irregular relationships and Divorce

Archbishop Villegas used the term irregular relationships to refer to couples who are in
live-in arrangements, de facto separation from spouses and other partnerships outside the
sacrament of marriage. They too must be helped and guided according to the ideals of our
Christian faith.

The Catholic Church maintains its opposition against divorce and upholds the
indissolubility of marriage. However, although divorce is not legally allowed in the Philippines,
it is not uncommon to meet couples who have separated and opted to live with different partners
either through annulment, legal separation or simply through mutual extrajudicial agreement.
This reality also gives rise to other challenges such as being single parents, unmarried couples
with children, and blended families. Blended families happen when separated people live
together as couples and bring their children from previous relationships. These are different from
the traditional understanding of a family with two parents and their children and they provide
new challenges not only to the members of the family but also to the Church who must devise
new ways to provide proper pastoral care to members of the Church who are in these situations.

4. Same-sex marriage
In many places of the world, family is no longer understood as limited only to
heterosexual married couples with children. To some, the term family may now include couples
with the same sex who live together as married persons. Same-sex marriage is now one of the
major issues in many countries of the world including the Philippines. The Catholic Church does
not celebrate nor recognize same sex marriages. The Church acknowledges that the “number of
men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible” and advocates
that they be “accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity” (CCC, 2358). However, the
Church also maintains that marriage must only be between a man and a woman and homosexual
acts are “intrinsically disordered”.
Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,
tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered’. They are
contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed
from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be
approved (CCC, 2357).

Aside from the four listed above, the cases of domestic violence that happen among many
Filipino families is another challenge that we must face as Filipinos and as members of the
Church. We must denounce any form of violence and abuse but most specially if it happens
within the family and perpetrated by family members themselves. It is a challenge to all of us to
promote means to prevent all forms of violence in the home.

The Catechism for Filipino Catholics provides three important reminders/suggestions to

Filipino families (CFC, 1027).
1. Communicate. The Church teaches that “parents and children alike must learn how to
communicate with one another openly and deeply, in a loving, forgiving, mutually supporting
atmosphere that is honest and truthful”. Family members must also exert extra effort to prioritize
family time such as family dinners, family days, and the like that would help them build
relationship and provide ample time for dialogue.
2. Admit mistakes and forgive. The Church teaches that “parents as well as children must
be willing to admit errors, since: a) no one is perfect or sinless; b) loving forgiveness is what Christ
asks of all; and c) truth and a proper sense of right and wrong are the only bases for genuine
forgiveness and interpersonal relationships”.
3. Be Christian witnesses. The Church urges the whole family to “look beyond itself and
strive to offer Christian witness of the Gospel values of justice and protection of human rights to
the wider Philippine community of town, province, region, and nation”. Families must also be
witnesses of love, joy and intimacy both in good times and bad times and be signs of God’s love
in the world.

Finally, Christian families must put God in their center and find time to pray and worship
together for “the family that prays together stays together”.
 The Youth:
The Future and Present of the Church

The Catholic Church in the Philippines declared the

year 2019 as the year of the youth. This is part of the
preparation for the celebration of the 500th year of
Christianity in the Philippines. It is a year-long celebration
with the theme “Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved,
Gifted, Empowered” (CBCP, 2018). In the same year, Pope
Francis published his encyclical addressed to the youth
entitled Christus Vivit (CV). In this encyclical, the pope
emphasized that the youth have indispensable roles and
responsibilities to the Church not simply because they are
the future of the Church but because they are also the
present of the Church.

A. The Youth as Beloved

Christ is alive and He wants you to be alive! He is in you, he is with you and he never
abandons you (CV, 1, 2). These are the first words of Pope Francis in Christus Vivit. The young
people are beloved by God. Pope Francis stressed how much God loves the young people. He
explains it by providing three “great truths” for the young:
1. God is love. Pope Francis wrote: “The very first truth I would tell each of you is this:
“God loves you”. It makes no difference whether you have already heard it or not. I want to
remind you of it. God loves you. Never doubt this, whatever may happen to you in life. At every
moment, you are infinitely loved” (CV, 112).
2. Christ saves you. You are priceless in the eyes of God. “Christ, out of love, sacrificed
himself completely in order to save you. His outstretched arms on the cross are the most telling
sign that he is a friend who is willing to stop at nothing” (CV, 118).
3. He is alive. Christ lives in our midst and is one with us in all our experiences. “Alive,
he can be present in your life at every moment, to fill it with light and to take away all sorrow
and solitude. Even if all others depart, he will remain, as he promised: ‘I am with you always, to
the end of the age’ (Mt 28:20). He fills your life with his unseen presence; wherever you go, he
will be waiting there for you. Because he did not only come in the past, but he comes to you today
and every day, inviting you to set out towards ever new horizons (CV, 125).

B. The Youth as Gifted

As members of the Church and followers of Christ,
the young people continuously receive countless blessings The world offers you
from God. Through the sacraments, the Church becomes comfort, but you were not
God’s instrument in sanctifying the youth enabling them made for comfort. You were
with God’s graces. The gifts of the Holy Spirit inflame the made for greatness. - Pope
youth with faith, courage, and passion that guide their Benedict XVI
strength, skills, creativity, dedication, and enthusiasm that
eventually provide new life and fervor to the Church. Youth volunteers, missionaries and church
workers are gifted members of the Church who are themselves treasures of the Church for to
them belongs not only the future but also the present of the Church.

C. The Youth as Empowered

The CBCP considers the youth of today as the indispensable and dynamic force in our
present efforts for the continuous renewal of the Church.

Today’s youth face many challenges and

difficulties. Being a youth has never been easy in the past For you, O Lord, are my
and for sure it is equally if not more difficult nowadays. hope, my trust, O Lord, from
Struggles and trials are always part of Christian life but my youth (Psalm 71:5).
most especially of the life of the youth. But don’t despair.
You are not alone in the midst of all your challenges. Christ promised “I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Mt. 28:20). He is present in your life now. Your youthful enthusiasm
coupled with humility to seek for support will “lead you to discover your strengths and
capabilities to live meaningful lives . . . mature individuals, fully aware of being persons called
by God, capable of discerning decisions that positively impact your lives and those of others”
(CBCP, 2018).

During the World Youth Day 2019 celebration in Panama City, Pope Francis emphasized
that God has sown in the heart of the youth a dream for themselves and for the Church and like
Mary they must keep on saying “yes” to this dream. He also highlighted the message that the
youth are the “now” of the Church and of humanity. He said that the young people are never
“too young to be involved in dreaming about and working for the future”. The work for
tomorrow starts today and the youth have the most
important role. His last words to those who attended the The young Catholics are not
WYD 2019 and to all the youth in the world were “We simply the “church of
are on a journey” . . . Keep walking, keep living the faith tomorrow,” but they are the
and sharing it”. . . . “you are not the tomorrow, you are “church of the present”.
not the ‘meantime’, you are the Now of God”.

D. The Youth as Missionaries

All members of the Church are called to be missionaries. But the youth have a special role
in the missionary work. Their dynamism brings life to the missionary work of the Church. The
Church suggests some role models for the youth. First and foremost of these role models is Jesus
himself. Very often, people forget that Jesus was once a youth himself. But the young people can
look at Jesus as one of them and contemplate on the life of the “young Jesus as presented in the
Gospels, for he was truly one of you, and shares many of the features of your young hearts” (CV,
31). Aside from Jesus, the Bible also presents other young people who could be role models for
the youth of today. Some of them are Joseph (cf. Gen 37), Samuel (cf. 1 Sam. 3), King David (cf. 1
Sam 16), Solomon (cf. 1 Kg. 3), Ruth (cf. Ruth 1), the young boy during the multiplication of bread
(John 6) and the Blessed Virgin Mary who at her young age bravely accepted God’s will in her
life. In their young age they accepted the mission given to them by God. There are also many
young saints in the Church who could serve as inspirations to the youth. Some of them are St.
Pedro Calungsod, St. Sebastian, St. Francis of Assis, St. Joan of Arc, and St. Dominic Savio.

The young people are being encouraged to discern on their own vocation. The word
“vocation” comes from the Latin word “vocare” which means “to call”. Our vocation is our
response to God’s calling to us. This is our way of
responding to the plan of God in our life. In the Catholic Be who God meant you to be
church there are different equally important types of and you will set the world on
vocation: the vocation to the priesthood, the religious life, fire! - St. Catherine of Siena
or as a lay person either as married or single. The CBCP
(2018) wrote
“We pray that your discernment, choices and actions will lead you to a purposeful life—
whether in the ordained ministry, consecrated life, marriage and family, or the single state—
with the Spirit of the Risen Christ directing your steps in making and leaving a marked
difference in the world and society [cf. Mt 28:19-20]”.

Pope Francis encourages the youth “to discover who you are and develop your own way
of being holy, whatever others may say or think” (CV, 162). It is expected that most young people
will choose the vocation of the lay people (as married or single persons). As lay people, the youth
have a lot to contribute in the missionary work of the Church. To all the young people, the Lord
is saying: “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to
Lay vocation “involves living in
whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I
the midst of society and the world
command you, you shall speak” (Jer. 1:7). The lay
in order to bring the Gospel
vocation is an important vocation. It must be
everywhere, to work for the
emphasized though that lay vocation is not just going
growth of peace, harmony,
to the church on Sundays or participating in the
justice, human rights and mercy,
different sacraments and liturgies of the Church as
and thus for the extension of
lectors, lay ministers, catechists, and the like. It is above
God’s kingdom in this world” (CV,
all becoming instruments of God’s peace, love, and
168).
justice in this world. Pope Francis explains that lay
vocation
. . . . is directed above all to charity within the family and to social and political charity.
It is a concrete and faith-based commitment to the building of a new society. It
involves living in the midst of society and the world in order to bring the Gospel
everywhere, to work for the growth of peace, harmony, justice, human rights and
mercy, and thus for the extension of God’s kingdom in this world (CV, 168).

Some “concrete and faith-based” actions that young people can do may include being
involved in movements or groups who visit and help poor communities, visiting sick people,
helping victims of different abuses and calamities, joining programs that help other people
improve their own lives, becoming the inspiration and source of faith unity and love within their
family and community, becoming an advocate against discrimination and bullying, and many
more.