CHRISTIAN VISION OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

Fundamental Christian
Dimension of the Family
ACTIVITY:
• Name traditional Filipino family
practices.
• Name new (emerging) Filipino
family practices.
• Enumerate the positive as well
as the negative effects of the
identified practices.
• There are emerging issues and changes on the
nature of marriage and the family over the past
several years.
• Rapid social change which weakens traditional
values, moral and religious beliefs greatly affect
the basic structure or functions of marriage and
family life.
• The Filipino family is trapped between the forces
of traditional living and modern lifestyle.
• New set of values and new life-styles influence
the weakening of the life-long commitment in
marriage, that eventually cripples the stability of
family life.
• It is in this account that Unit 1 of Theology 2 will
discuss the Christian Dimension of Marriage and
Family.
• It will expound on the meaning of marriage and
the fruitfulness of family life that is blessed by
God through the sacrament of matrimony.
 What is a Family?

Society defines family as

• “A fundamental social group in
society typically consisting of one
or two parents and their
children.”
• A group of individuals related by
blood, marriage, or adoption.
• A group of usually related
individuals who live together
under common household
authority and especially who have
reciprocal duties to each other.
 Fundamental Christian
Dimensions of the Family
• 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.”
• It is a mission received from God by the
family - that the family members should
love each other, pray together and make
themselves a part of the liturgical
worship of the Church.
 Fundamental Christian
Dimensions of the Family
• 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 not only through blood but
through the intensification of their
relationship as a family.
• Through marriage, a man and a
woman, who are completely
independent of each other, bind
themselves together and create a new
life, establishing their own family.
 Fundamental Christian
Dimensions of the Family

• The 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

• The family is the pillar of the society. It is the foundation of all

social institutions and interactions.
• Social progress also depends largely on how strong the
families are because good values such as kindness, generosity,
honesty and the like are first practiced and witnessed in the
family.
• Parents must see to it that they are there to guide their kids in
order to bring them up in the spirit of Christian maturity.

 Therefore, if the family is dysfunctional and unhealthy, the

whole society, we can expect, will be dysfunctional and
unhealthy as well.
 FAMILY AS A SOCIAL
INSTITUTION
• The family is the primary unit where children learn to
socialize. It is a major unit in which socialization first
happens and a fertile ground for individuals to be
acquainted with fundamental relational skills.
• It is in the family as well, that one receives support, love
and guidance in times of distress whether emotional,
psychological, intellectual, social or even spiritual.
• As the basic unit of the society, the family provides its
members with social identity. This identity sometimes is
essential in finding opportunities in life.
ACTIVITY:

 Identifyspecific
functions of the family
in the society?
 How do Christian
families
affect/influence the
society?
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
FAMILY
 The family is a very
close and intimate
group. The setting of
most intense emotional
experiences during the
lifetime of the individual
– birth, puberty,
marriage, and death.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
FAMILY
 The family affects the
individual’s social values,
disposition, and outlook in life.
The source of the individual’s
ideals, aspirations, and basic
motivations.
 The family is also unique in
providing continuity of social
life. It is the major agent in the
transmission of culture.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

1. Regulation of Sexuality

• The 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).
• The Catholic Church teaches that sex within marriage is both a
physical and a spiritual act. It also teaches that the integrity of
human sexuality and the procreative, relational and erotic
dimensions contained therein require the right context.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

1. Regulation of Sexuality

• Theology of the Body: there

is sexual complementarity
between the husband and
the wife. It states that
―husbands and wives, while
equal in their dignity as
persons, are complementary
in their sexuality.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

1. Regulation of Sexuality:
Complementarity of Man and Woman
• First, they have to freely choose to give themselves to one
another and to receive one another. It is an act necessary as a
means for attaining the ―good of the spouses, a new identity
as husband and wife, spouses.
• Second, is to freely choose to engage in the conjugal act. This
act, unitive meaning of human sexuality, unites two persons
who are irreplaceable, non-substitutable, and non-disposable.
• Third, is to freely choose to cooperate with God and be open
to procreation, welcoming life, raise the child and educate
him/her in the love of service of God and neighbor.
• 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.
• 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.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

2. Responsible Procreation

Gen. 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.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

2. Responsible Procreation

• Marriage is a life-long covenantal relationship between a man

and a woman, characterized by human love, and open to
procreation. On this basis, the Church emphasizes a few
points:
• First, is that sexual love must be enjoyed within the Divine
parameters.
• Second, spouses should look after one another‘s well-
being.
• Third, is that a couple must procreate when possible.
• Fourth, is that a couple who procreate must fulfil their
responsibility as parents.
 CONCEPTS OF RESPONSIBLE
PROCREATION :

1. God has made parents responsible for the physical, emotional,

and spiritual needs of the children.
2. Parents will be able to fulfill their responsibility when the
number of children in a family is reasonable and manageable.
3. Parents should not reproduce carelessly, having many children
yet failing to give the care they deserve.
4. Married couples must discuss and make decisions together
regarding the regulation of birth in the family.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

3. Socialization
• The family is the most common
form of social organization. It is
the first human society. It is at
the very heart of the common
good.
• The Catechism of the Catholic
Church: the family is the original
cell of social life. It is the natural
society in which husband and
wife are called to give
themselves in love and in the
gift of life.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

3. Socialization
• The family is the community in
which, from childhood, one can
learn moral values. Family life is an
initiation into life in society (CCC
2207).
• The family provides its members
with social identity. It socializes
children, and it provides emotional
support. Love in promoting moral
values.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

4. Economic Cooperation

• Families are important for goods and services. Most

productions are geared toward families, especially for their
basic needs – food, clothing and shelter.
• If one belongs to a family, definitely, economic support is
necessary. The husband and the wife are expected to find
decent livelihood in order to provide for their children, not
only in their material needs but also things that would enrich
their emotional, psychological, intellectual and spiritual
yearnings.
• 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”.