The family is the first school of human values, where we learn the wise use of freedom. …
In our own day, dominated by stress and rapid technological advances, one of the most important tasks of families is to provide an education in hope. … Postponing desires does not mean denying them but simply deferring their fulfillment. When children or adolescents are not helped to realize that some things have to be waited for, they can become obsessed with satisfying their immediate needs and develop the vice of “wanting it all now.” This is a grand illusion which does not favor freedom but weakens it. …
The family is the primary setting for socialization, since it is where we first learn to relate to others, to listen and share, to be patient and show respect, to help one another and live as one. …
In the family too, we can rethink our habits of consumption and join in caring for the environment as our common home.
(Reflection from Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia.)
Sts. Louis and Zelie, you raised up a family devoted to God and each other. Help us with your intercession to help each other so that we might grow in a firm foundation of human virtue and goodness, upon which God can build the holiness he has planned for each one of us. May your prayers and example help us to learn how to be in the world but not of it, and thus to glorify God in our family lives. Amen.
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6
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And today we celebrate...