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In 1962 Karol Wojtyla wrote a poem entitled "Marble Floor." One of its verses says, "Peter, you are the floor, that others may walk over you...not knowing where they go. You guide their steps." For 25 years, Pope John Paul II, as Peter, has been the solid foundation that has guided the steps of the Church.
In no area has this been truer than in his ministry to families. Institutional advancements have been many and profound - the Pontifical Council for the Family; the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family (now with campuses around the world, one of which in Washington, D.C., we support); four World Meetings of Families with the Pope; and historic documents on the dignity and rights of the family including Familiaris Consortio, the Letter to Families, and the Charter of the Rights of the Family.
This enhanced concern for the welfare of families comes at a moment in history in which families are under unparalleled attack not only from legal changes regarding abortion, divorce and marriage, but also from economic and tax treatment of families and the diminished role of parents in the education and moral upbringing of their children.
Pope John Paul II's key insight is that concern for the family must be at the center of the new evangelization. While this has been a consistent theme to pastors of the Church, in too many places more still needs to be done to give "priority" to the care of the family.
Recently, the pope again emphasized "the need to rediscover the truth about the family as an intimate communion of life and love." This truth, of course, is that the community of the family finds its source in the divine communion of life and love that is the Trinity.
The family is truly the primary model for all human associations including the larger society itself. The Christian family becomes a unique mirror of the Trinity that radiates through neighborhood, city and country. It is the first school of faith, love and community. It teaches the lessons that make society possible. The pope is right when he says that the future of humanity passes through the family.
And he is right to say the family must have the highest priority in the Church's pastoral mission. John Paul II means this in two ways.
First, the family must be an "object" of evangelization - families must be given greater pastoral assistance at every level. Second, the family must also be a "subject" of evangelization - families must themselves take up the mission of evangelization regarding their own members as well as of their neighbors.
And so we should say with the pope that the whole Church (ordained and lay) is meant to serve the family. One sure place to begin is by taking to heart the pope's message in Familiaris Consortio and the Letter to Families, both now available from our Catholic Information Service.
In this way, the "marble floor" that is Peter will go on guiding our steps for years to come.
Vivat Jesus!
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