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Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother.
Oh, I don't know. It might be pretty tough to honor MY father and mother.
I never really had a father in my life.
What makes for a happy family?
When I think of the fourth commandment, honor your father and your mother, I think of my own parents.
I grew up in the '60s and '70s in a large, happy, Catholic family.
My parents took us to Mass, we had a very stable home life,
we ate supper every night at 5 p.m. sharp...
they were there for us.
They guided us in all the questions that life presented and they loved us unconditionally.
And yet, my family wasn't perfect, just as no one's family is perfect.
And yet, the Catholic Church sees the family as sacred, sees the family as part of the will of God.
That the family is that sacred place where children are born, raised in the faith,
learn to love God, learn to forgive, and serve each other- even in our imperfection.
That beautiful ideal of marriage as the Church holds out for us, we know is often an ideal.
We live in a world of broken marriages, divorces, single parenthood... difficult situations.
So, don't let the ideal of marriage and family keep us from embracing and living that as best we can, in our situation.
So, if you're a single parent, be the best single parent you can be.
If you're going through a divorce, don't think that the Church has automatically rejected you.
Keep going to Mass, keep staying involved in your parish.
If your family is going through difficulties, go to a counselor, go to your pastor...
try to pray together. Try to work through that.
Don't give up right away.
The values of marriage and family are so important, both for the society that we live in,
and for the Church that we love-and we see the family as the building block of both.
We see it as an expression of the will of God.
Even in our imperfection and sin, and brokenness, God still works in us and loves us.
So, honor your father and your mother, even in their imperfections.
Honor and obey and serve the people that have rightful claim on you.
Whether it's your pastor or your boss... whether it's your teachers at school.
When we give ourselves to those relationships
as imperfect and sinful as they may be, and we are, something good happens.
God's grace is at work.
Family, marriage... Church is all about that, because we see there,
the hand of God continuing to bring about life and love and salvation in this world.
It's the Year of Faith and we're connecting Christ and the Catechism of the Catholic Church!
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