“We are living in a complex society, where the proposals of lay culture expects for life to be organized as if God didn’t exist”. This sentence was part of the message of the bishops of the Under-Commission for the Family and the Defense of Life of Spain’s Bishops Conference on the occasion of the Day for the Family and Life which will be celebrated in Spain next December 30. The Spanish bishops pointed out that recently in this context “attitudes of refusal or mistrust have emerged along with the overshadowing of culture and faith in the hope of avoiding confrontation”. In this way, we are faced with a weakening of Christian identity, which at times also involves the family”. The topic of the message, “Our homeland is in the Heavens”, “remind us of who we are: sons of God and citizens of the Heavens”, said the Spanish Bishops. Thus families are asked to be “stronger”, recalling their greatness and their dignity”. In particular, the prelates reminded Christian families the two major traits characterizing their identity: “The first”, they write, “is the integration of faith and life” since “faith cannot be reduced to a private experience which is alien to family life”. “Faith has to enter the life of every person and the life of the family”, the bishops said, “becoming evident in all dimensions of existence. Christian parents will have to set a good example to their children, offering a testimony of life which draws inspiration from the Gospel and is ‘nourished’ by the sacraments, especially the Sunday Eucharist”. The second distinctive trait is “integration in the Church community”, in fact, “Christian families aren’t on the threshold of the Church. However, in order to achieve this integration, family pastoral care is necessary”. In this way, the Parish communities will once again be “a family of Christian families”. The integration of families in the Church Communities, the Spanish bishops said, “can take place also through family movements, which must act as support in living the mystery of ecclesial communion.”
