1 The Family’s Role in the New Evangelization: The Theology of the Body, St. John Paul II, and Pope Francis National Association of Family Life Ministers Conference The Catholic University of America John S. Grabowski, Ph.D.
2 An Unexpected Invitation
3 Four Tasks Reflections on the SynodChallenging a faulty narrative on Pope Francis vs. St. John Paul II A look at Amoris laetitia & its engagement of the ToB and treatment of marriage ministry An assessment of the “big picture” in the last four major pontificates
4 “A Synodal Church” 50th Anniversary Celebration Oct. 19, 2015“A Church that is synodal at every level” Synod means: “walking together -- laity, pastors, the bishop of Rome -- is an easy concept to express in words, but is not so easy to put into practice.” Part of promoting “a healthy decentralization” in the Church
5 The Ordinary Synod Methodology:“adopt parrhesia, pastoral zeal and doctrinal wisdom, frankness, and always keep before our eyes the good of the Church, of families” not political or parliamentary discussion, but discernment cum Petro et sub Petro “the only method of the Synod is to open up to the Holy Spirit with apostolic courage, with evangelical humility and confident, trusting prayer”
6 The Ordinary Synod And circuli minoresAlternating General Assembly Sessions
7 The Ordinary Synod Part I: “scrutinizing the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel” (GS, no. 4). “Lights and shadows”--cultural, anthropological, social, and developmental. Part II: “The Family in the Plan of God”—the family’s role in “the divine pedagogy.” Part III: Mission of the Family Today Challenging issues: improving the Church’s pastoral response to the divorced and civilly remarried, same-sex attracted persons, and wounded . Other issues: the family’s role in evangelization, the factors and persons which help to form the family, the gift of children, and the challenges and blessings of raising them. Final relatio much improved (over IL), but not perfect.
8 The Ordinary Synod Search for pastoral practices which affirmed both truth of Church teaching and reality of God’s mercy Orthodoxy & accompaniment not opposed or in competition Differences of opinion, but overall “a mature Christian conversation” But underlying commitment to doctrine and Catholic moral teaching
9 Challenging a Faulty NarrativeSt. John Paul II = “the Pope of the Family” Unlike Pope Francis? The false narrative about this pope among some pundits and the media Among the first major acts of JP II’s pontificate was to call the 1980 Synod on Family which produced Familiaris consortio Gave catecheses over first 5 years of his pontificate which form the ToB
10 Pope Francis & the FamilyNot interested? 2 Synods Fulfilled Benedict XVI’s commitment to the World Meeting of Families - Philadelphia, September 22-27” : “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive” Gave almost year long catechesis on family in his weekly audiences Culminated in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia
11 Pope Francis & the Family: A Consistent ThemeMarriage and the family as a sign of faith and love (Lumen fidei, no. 52) The crisis of family impacted by individualism & consumerism (Evangelii gaudium, no, 66) Family as domestic Church (Address to the National Convocation of the Renewal of the Spirit, June 1, 2014) Family with a mother and father a non-negotiable good not to be altered by ideology (C.D.F. , Humanum Conference, November 17, 2014). The complementarity of male and female (C.D.F. , Humanum Conference, November 17, 2014). The family as the heart of a “culture of life.” (Laudato si, no. 213)
12 Pope Francis: the Voice of a Pastor
13 Amoris laetita: Assessing the Document as a WholePresenting the Fullness and Beauty of Church Teaching : “In order to avoid all misunderstanding, I would point out that in no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur: ‘ A lukewarm attitude, any kind of relativism, or an undue reticence in proposing that ideal, would be a lack of fidelity to the Gospel and also of love on the part of the Church for young people themselves. To show understanding in the face of exceptional situations never implies dimming the light of the fuller ideal, or proposing less than what Jesus offers to the human being. “ ( Amoris laetitia, no. 307—i.e., chapter 8)
14 Amoris laetita: Assessing the Document as a Whole--Petrine Ministry in a Synodal KeyUnprecedented engagement of the synod documents: Relatio synodi 51x Relatio finalis 84x Over 3x longer than Familiaris consortio
15 Amoris laetita: Some Key PointsThe Call for a New Pastoral Tone: “Yet we have often been on the defensive, wasting pastoral energy on denouncing a decadent world without being proactive in proposing ways of finding true happiness. Many people feel that the Church’s message on marriage and the family does not clearly reflect the preaching and attitudes of Jesus, who set forth a demanding ideal yet never failed to show compassion and closeness to the frailty of individuals like the Samaritan woman or the woman caught in adultery.” (Amoris laetitia, no. 38) “ . . .the Church must be particularly concerned to offer understanding, comfort and acceptance, rather than imposing straightaway a set of rules that only lead people to feel judged and abandoned by the very Mother called to show them God’s mercy. Rather than offering the healing power of grace and the light of the Gospel message, some would ‘indoctrinate’ that message, turning it into ‘dead stones to be hurled at others’” (Amoris laetitia, no. 49).
16 Amoris laetita: Some Key PointsThe Merciful Gaze of Jesus: “Our teaching on marriage and the family cannot fail to be inspired and transformed by this message of love and tenderness; otherwise, it becomes nothing more than the defense of a dry and lifeless doctrine” (Amoris laetitia, no. 59). Must begin, like Synod fathers, with “the gaze of Jesus” (cf. AL, no. 60) “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy.” (Misericordiae vultus, no. 1) Mercy is “the beating heart of the gospel” (Misericordiae vultus, no. 12)
17 Amoris laetita: Some Key PointsAn Unexpected Commentary: 1 Corinthians 13 a beautiful and challenging exegetical meditation “the beating heart of the document” illumines the whole of family life And the Christian life lived in any state
18 Amoris laetita & the ToB: A Deep EngagementTreatment of erotic love (nos ) = a synthesis with the nuptial meaning of the body as its heart : “Sexuality is not a means of gratification or entertainment; it is an interpersonal language wherein the other is taken seriously, in his or her sacred and inviolable dignity. As such, “the human heart comes to participate, so to speak, in another kind of spontaneity”. In this context, the erotic appears as a specifically human manifestation of sexuality. It enables us to discover “the nuptial meaning of the body and the authentic dignity of the gift”. In his catecheses on the theology of the body, Saint John Paul II taught that sexual differentiation not only is “a source of fruitfulness and procreation”, but also possesses “the capacity of expressing love: that love precisely in which the human person becomes a gift”. (Amoris laetitia, no. 151) Not a “one off”
19 Amoris laetita & the ToB: A Deep EngagementMutual Submission (Mulieris dignitatem, no. 24 and the ToB): “Every form of sexual submission must be clearly rejected. This includes all improper interpretations of the passage in the Letter to the Ephesians where Paul tells women to ‘be subject to your husbands’ (Eph 5:22) As Saint John Paul II wisely observed: ‘Love excludes every kind of subjection whereby the wife might become a servant or a slave of the husband… The community or unity which they should establish through marriage is constituted by a reciprocal donation of self, which is also a mutual subjection’. Hence Paul goes on to say that “husbands should love their wives as their own bodies” (Eph 5:28). The biblical text is actually concerned with encouraging everyone to overcome a complacent individualism and to be constantly mindful of others: “Be subject to one another” (Eph 5:21). In marriage, this reciprocal “submission” takes on a special meaning, and is seen as a freely chosen mutual belonging marked by fidelity, respect and care. Sexuality is inseparably at the service of conjugal friendship, for it is meant to aid the fulfilment of the other.” (Amoris laetitia, no. 156)
20 Amoris laetita & the ToB: A Deep EngagementVirginity and its relation to marriage (159-61): “it is not a matter of diminishing the value of matrimony in favor of continence”. “There is no basis for playing one off against the other… “ (AL, 160) Motherhood as a unique realization of female embodiment and a renewal of “the mystery of creation, which is renewed with each birth”. (AL, no. 168; cf. 173)
21 Amoris laetita & the ToB: A Deep EngagementGrowth in chastity by the young: “The language of the body calls for a patient apprenticeship in learning to interpret and channel desires in view of authentic self-giving. and in growth in chastity by the young” (284) The language of the body spoken in the liturgy (213), in the life of the couple: “The procreative meaning of sexuality, the language of the body, and the signs of love shown throughout married life, all become an ‘uninterrupted continuity of liturgical language’ and ‘conjugal life becomes in a certain sense liturgical’.” (AL, no. 216; citing ToB carechesis of July 4, 1984)
22 Amoris laetita: Key PointsAn Embrace of the Teaching of Humanae vitae: “From the outset, love refuses every impulse to close in on itself; it is open to a fruitfulness that draws it beyond itself. Hence no genital act of husband and wife can refuse this meaning, even when for various reasons it may not always in fact beget a new life.” (AL, no. 80, referencing HV, nos ). “Large families are a joy for the Church. They are an expression of the fruitfulness of love. “ (AL, no. 167).
23 AL: Some Key Points Pope Francis as Marriage Counselor:The expense of weddings Managing unrealistic expectations Communication Conflict resolution Spending time together Building and Sustaining Intimacy Welcoming children Handling crises together Dealing with old wounds The resources of extended family and the Christian community Aging together
24 Marriage Ministry in Light of Amoris laetitiaMarriage preparation that presents the beauty of marriage (AL, no. 205) Formation in virtues (AL, no. 206). Aids discernment (AL, no. 209). Promotes communication and conflict resolution (AL, no. 210). “Post-Cana” accompaniment of couples in marriage (AL, nos ) Helping spouses form each other (cf. AL, nos. 218, 221). Uncharted territory for the Church in the modern era
25 The Big Picture: Family & the New Evangelization“I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since ‘no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord’.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii gaudium, no. 3; citing Pope Paul VI, Apostolic exhortation, Gaudete in Domino, no. 22) .
26 The Big Picture: The Continuity with Previous Teaching“Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus caritas est, no 1). “In order to make this ‘encounter’ with Christ possible, God willed his Church. Indeed, the Church ‘wishes to serve this single end: that each person may be able to find Christ, in order that Christ may walk with each person the path of life” (Pope St. John Paul II, Veritatis splendor, no. 7). “We wish to confirm once more that the task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church."[36] It is a task and mission which the vast and profound changes of present-day society make all the more urgent. Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize . . .” (Blessed Pope Paul VI, Evangelii nuntiandi, no. 14).
27 Family and the New EvangelizationThe role of families in evangelization: “In virtue of their baptism , all of the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples” (EG, no. 120) “The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each and every one of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization” (EG, no. 120)
28 Amoris laetiia & The Big Picture: Family’s Role in the New Evangelization“The Synod Fathers emphasized that Christian families, by the grace of the sacrament of matrimony, are the principal agents of the family apostolate, above all through “their joy-filled witness as domestic churches.” It is not enough to show generic concern for the family in pastoral planning. Enabling families to take up their role as active agents of the family apostolate calls for “an effort at evangelization and catechesis inside the family”. (AL, no. 200).
29 The Role of the ToB in the New EvangelizationAn effective tool for inviting people to encounter Christ & His mercy A way to access scripture and the larger Catholic tradition New and positive pastoral tone Powerful catechesis on the human person and the vocation to love for a culture deeply wounded by the Sexual Revolution Equips all in the Church—especially those ministry to marriage and family-- to act as “missionary disciples” and accompany those who are struggling or lost
30 The Role of the ToB in the New Evangelization“If we are not convinced, let us look at those first disciples, who, immediately after encountering the gaze of Jesus, went forth to proclaim him joyfully: ‘We have found the Messiah!’ (Jn 1:41). The Samaritan woman became a missionary immediately after speaking with Jesus and many Samaritans come to believe in him ‘because of the woman’s testimony’ (Jn 4:39). So too, Saint Paul, after his encounter with Jesus Christ, ‘immediately proclaimed Jesus” (Acts 9:20; cf. 22:6-21). So what are we waiting for?’” (Evangelii gaudium, no. 120)