“I say to you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Mt 18:22)
Keep the home fires burning
By Chiara Lubich
Seven ways families can shape society
Seven ways families can shape society
The family, every family, can take a lead role in shaping this era. Devised by God as a masterpiece of love, the family is able to inspire the guidelines that can contribute to changing tomorrow’s world.
In fact, if we look at the family, if we were to take an x-ray of it, we would discover enormous and precious values, which if projected and applied to all of humanity have the potential to transform it into one big family.
The family is founded on love, a bond that has many dimensions: love between spouses, parents and their children, grandparents, uncles and aunts with nieces and nephews, and brothers and sisters.
It is a love that grows continuously, always going beyond itself. In the same way, the love between spouses generates new life, and the relationships among brothers and sisters become friendships. Since the various roles are expressions of love, authority is naturally accepted.
1. In the family it is spontaneous to put everything in common, to share everything and to have a single economy. Savings are not considered hoarding, but rather prudent foresight. It is normal to provide for the needs of those who are not yet productive or of those who no longer are.
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2. In the family people of all ages live together. It is natural to live for the other, to love one another. Even education occurs in a natural way; it is enough to think of a baby’s first steps or his or her first words. Punishment and forgiveness are given only for the good of the person.
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The task of every family is to live its vocation with such perfection that it becomes a model for the entire human family and, by example, passes on all of its values. | |||
3. A sense of justice is normal in the family, just as it is normal to feel the other’s guilt and shame. It is natural to suffer and to sacrifice oneself for the family, to carry one another’s burdens. Solidarity and faithfulness to one’s family are automatic.
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4. In the family, someone else’s life is just as precious as our own, at times even more so; one feels concerned about everyone’s health and takes care of those who are not well. The family is the place where life naturally begins and ends and where the disabled, elderly and terminally ill find acceptance, affection and care.
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| 5. In the family each member is clothed and nourished according to his or her needs. The home is built and taken care of with everyone’s participation.
This is the seed of a renewed awareness of the environment and of ecology. |
6. In the family everyone teaches and everyone learns: everything serves for the growth of all. Its members may have different cultural values, but all these diversities become enrichment for all.
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7. In the family communication is also spontaneous; everyone participates in everything and shares everything.
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Love is the natural bond among the members of the family. This is the seed of structures and institutions that work for the good of the community and individuals, and that aspire to universal brotherhood, giving value to each individual nation.
God created the family as a model for every other human coexistence. This, therefore, is the task of families: to always keep the fire of love burning in every home and to reawaken those values that God entrusted to the family, in order to bring them generously and tirelessly to every sector of society.
Excerpted from an address to the New Families Movement in Rome in June 1993
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© 2010 by the Focolare Movement (New York) •