IV
SHARING IN THE LIFE AND MISSION OF THE CHURCH
The Family, Within the Mystery of the Church
The Christian Family has an Ecclesial Task
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The Christian Family is truly Church
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49.
Among the fundamental tasks of the Christian family is its ecclesial task: the family is placed at the service of the building up of the Kingdom of God in history by participating in the life and mission of the Church.
In order to understand better the foundations, the contents and the characteristics of this participation, we must examine the many profound bonds linking the Church and the Christian family and establishing the family as a "Church in miniature" (Ecclesia domestica),1 in such a way that in its own way the family is a living image and historical representation of the mystery of the Church.
How the Broader Church Serves the Christian Family
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It is, above all, the Church as Mother that gives birth to, educates and builds up the Christian family, by putting into effect in its regard the saving mission which she has received from her Lord. By proclaiming the word of God, the Church reveals to the Christian family its true identity, what it is and should be according to the Lord's plan; by celebrating the sacraments, the Church enriches and strengthens the Christian family with the grace of Christ for its sanctification to the glory of the Father; by the continuous proclamation of the new commandment of love, the Church encourages and guides the Christian family to the service of love, so that it may imitate and relive the same self-giving and sacrificial love that the Lord Jesus has for the entire human race.
How the Christian Family Serves the Broader Church
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In turn, the Christian family is grafted into the mystery of the Church to such a degree as to become a sharer, in its own way, in the saving mission proper to the Church: by virtue of the sacrament, Christian married couples and parents "in their state and way of life have their own special gift among the People of God".2 For this reason they not only receive the love of Christ and become a saved community, but they are also called upon to communicate Christ's love to their brethren, thus becoming a saving community. In this way, while the Christian family is a fruit and sign of the supernatural fecundity of the Church, it stands also as a symbol, witness and participant of the Church's motherhood.3
A Specific and Original Ecclesial Role
The Christian Family has an Original & Specific Ecclesial Role
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50.
The Christian family is called upon to take part actively and responsibly in the mission of the Church in a way that is original and specific, by placing itself, in what it is and what it does as an "intimate community of life and love," at the service of the Church and of society.
Community Pattern of Family's Service to Church: Love & Life
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Since the Christian family is a community in which the relationships are renewed by Christ through faith and the sacraments, the family's sharing in the Church's mission should follow a community pattern: the spouses together as a couple, the parents and children as a family, must live their service to the Church and to the world. They must be "of one heart and soul" 4 in faith, through the shared apostolic zeal that animates them, and through their shared commitment to works of service to the ecclesial and civil communities.
four Characteristics of Love in the Family
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The Christian family also builds up the Kingdom of God in history through the everyday realities that concern and distinguish its state of life. It is thus in the love between husband and wife and between the members of the family -- a love lived out in all its extraordinary richness of values and demands: totality, oneness, fidelity and fruitfulness5 -- that the Christian family's participation in the prophetic, priestly and kingly mission of Jesus Christ and of His Church finds expression and realization. Therefore, love and life constitute the nucleus of the saving mission of the Christian family in the Church and for the Church.
The Second Vatican Council recalls this fact when it writes: "Families will share their spiritual riches generously with other families too. Thus the Christian family, which springs from marriage as a reflection of the loving covenant uniting Christ with the Church, and as a participation in that covenant will manifest to all people the Savior's living presence in the world, and the genuine nature of the Church. This the family will do by the mutual love of the spouses, by their generous fruitfulness, their solidarity and faithfulness, and by the loving way in which all the members of the family work together".6
Three Dimensions of Family Participation in the Church
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Having laid the foundation of the participation of the Christian family in the Church's mission, it is now time to illustrate its substance in reference to Jesus Christ as Prophet, Priest and King -- three aspects of a single reality -- by presenting the Christian family as
(1) a believing and evangelizing community,
(2) a community in dialogue with God, and
(3) a community at the service of man.
Three more webpages on Familiaris Consortio follow ...
END NOTES
 1.
Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, n. 11; Apostolicam Actuositatem, 11;
Pope John Paul II, Homily for the Opening of the Sixth Synod of Bishops (26 Nov 1980), n. 3.
2.
Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, n. 11.
3.
Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, n. 41.
4.
Acts 4:32.
5.
Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, n. 9.
6.
Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, n. 48.
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