We Are Family

Today begins the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops being held in Rome. The theme is: “Jesus Christ reveals the mystery and vocation of the family.”  The Assembly will use a “Preparatory Document” providing a basic catechesis on the Gospel of the Family.  That document is based on answers to nine questions posed to the world's bishops about the current state of pastoral care for marriages and families.  Remember the questionnaire?

Consider this February 14 message from Pope Francis: “This important meeting will involve all the People of God – bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, and lay faithful of the particular Churches of the entire world – all of whom are actively participating in preparations for the meeting through practical suggestions and the crucial support of prayer.

Such support on your part, dear families, is especially significant and more necessary than ever. This Synodal Assembly is dedicated in a special way to you, to your vocation and mission in the Church and in society; to the challenges of marriage, of family life, of the education of children; and the role of the family in the life of the Church. I ask you, therefore, to pray intensely to the Holy Spirit, so that the Spirit may illumine the Synodal Fathers and guide them in their important task.”

Indeed, our prayers will be necessary as the bishops play upon the Assembly chessboard, especially as they deal with family matters and the Church.   Whatever they decide will be especially relevant to Christ the King.  After all, we have that simplistic yet wonderful “Family: Become What You Are"  statue in the circular flower garden at our back entrance.  

We wait to see what the Assembly decides, and how it will determine what “Jesus revealed.” Will the participants play it safe and castle their Kings, or will they play aggressively with gambits and risky positions on the diagonal?  Will play be slow and deliberate, or otherwise [apologies for use of references to the game of chess]?

When it’s all over, we can reflect once again on what families are, what they should be, and if the bishops got it right (according to Jesus).

Deacon David Pierce