A Series of Catecheses on “Transmission of Faith through the Family”

#1 “The family, first and principal transmitter of the faith”

‘Marriage and the family are not in fact a chance sociological construction, the product of particular historical and financial situations…the question of the right relationship between the man and the woman is rooted in the essential core of the human being … It is the vocation to love that makes the human person an authentic image of God: man and woman come to resemble God to the extent that they become loving people’ (Benedict XVI). This vocation to love is manifest in a very special way through marriage and the family.

The Christian family, through the Sacrament of Marriage and the Baptism of the parents and the children, is a "domestic church". As the generator of children, the family becomes the first and principal institution entrusted with transmitting the saving mystery of God to them. For this reason, parents are the authentic transmitters of the faith they profess to their children. The great saints were usually born into deeply Christian families. It is a fact that in countries where faith was persecuted for a long time, it was preserved and transmitted through the ministry of the parents.

The family is not a self-sufficient or autonomous institution in transmitting the faith to its children. It needs to be in close relation with the parish and the school their children attend, especially if it is Catholic school. The parish catechesis and the religion class in the educational center complement informal family catechesis, which must also be formal at times.

In the earliest times of Christianity, the Christian family appeared as the transmitter of the parents' faith, as manifested in the practice of bringing the children to Baptism and the acceptance of this proposal by the bishop in charge of the community. The parents' witness played a decisive role, to the point that the family became the place par excellence where the Church transmitted the faith.

The recovery of a vigorous, evangelizing Church passes by way of the restoration of the family as the basic institution for transmitting the faith. Therefore, the Christian family has a special field of action today, especially with regard to other non-Christian families or those that have drawn away from religious practice. Grandparents, children and other Christian family members are also urged to transmit the faith to their relatives.

· How do we help married people to understand that the family is the first and principal transmitter of the faith?
· Are Christian families aware that the fulfillment of their mission requires on-going contact and dialogue with educators and the parish? In what ways can this dialogue, or its absence, be seen?
· How can the family proclaim Jesus Christ to their children today?

Prayer for the family:
O God, who in the Holy Family left us a perfect model of family life lived in faith and obedience to your will;

We thank you for our family. Give us the strength to remain united in love, generosity and the joy of living together.

Help us in our mission of transmitting the faith that we received from our parents. Open the hearts of our children so that the seed of faith, which they received in baptism, will grow in them.

Strengthen the faith of our young people, so they might grow in knowledge of Jesus. Increase love and faithfulness in all marriages, especially those going through times of suffering or difficulty.

O God, who has given to Christian families the honor and responsibility to transmit the faith to their children, grant us the strength to carry out this task faithfully through Jesus Christ, our Lord.