Te whakapono o te whānau - Family Faith
The Domestic Church
We are the living Church. The People of God creating communities of faith, reaching out to others, praying. Our Living Church is the Domestic Church.
In the Catholic tradition, the family holds a special place–especially in the formation of faith. Parents are recognized as the first formators in faith. According to the Second Vatican Council
The family, is so to speak, the domestic church. Lumen Gentium#11
This means that it is in the context of the family that we first learn who God is and to prayerfully seek God’s will for us.
The term “domestic church” is not new. It has been used to describe families since the beginning of Christianity. In his Letter to Families, John Paul II wrote,
The Fathers of the Church, in the Christian tradition, have spoken of the family as a ‘domestic church,’ a ‘little church.’
The domestic church is believing that how you live your faith has a ripple effect that changes the world. It is the imperfect, humble and joy-filled family that evangelizes through its living the life of the 'be-attitudes'.
Every family is called to be a place of prayer, service, and love – a “little Church of the home.” Families naturally do this in their day-to-day lives:
The spirituality of family love is made up of thousands of small but real gestures” (Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, no. 315).
They do this by strengthening the bonds of love among their members, and by asking the Lord’s presence into their homes. There are so many ways to strengthen our domestic Church. This page and its links has a number of starters.
