Fr. Shenan J. Boquet: The Measure of Society: How it Sustains, Defends, and Promotes the Family

“There are, in fact, places and circumstances in which the Church ‘can become the salt of the earth’ only through the lay faithful and, in particular, through families. For this reason, the Church’s commitment in this area must be renewed and deepened, so that those whom the Lord calls to marriage and family life can, in Christ, fully live out their conjugal love, and that young people may feel attracted, within the Church, to the beauty of the vocation to marriage.”

― Pope Leo XIV, Message on the Tenth Anniversary of Amoris Laetitia

On the Solemnity of St. Joseph, March 19, Pope Leo XIV announced that he is convening the presidents of the world’s Episcopal Conferences in Rome this October. The occasion is the tenth anniversary of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. The purpose of the meeting, in his own words, is “to proceed, in mutual listening, to a synodal discernment on the steps to be taken in order to proclaim the Gospel to families today.”

In other words, the Pope is calling the bishops home, from every part of the world, to face one question together: How does the Church evangelize families now?

The Holy Father entrusted the journey to St. Joseph, “guardian of the Holy Family of Nazareth.” He is asking the bishops, and through them all the faithful, to look to the Holy Family as the pattern of every Christian household. ….

Continue reading >>>>>>>>>>