This month we highlight themes that benefit every family. Over the past decade we have been hearing what the government should do for the family, what the state should do for the family, and what the Church should do for the family. When you come right down to it, however, the most important thing is what you are doing for your family.
No
individual is so old or so young that he or she cannot make a
contribution to the health of the family. No person is so poverty
stricken that he or she cannot offer a word of charity or
encouragement to members of his or her family.
In reading the gospel of Christ, you find a simple rule of life: "By this shall all know that you are my disciples; if you have love for one another. If you love one another as I have loved you."
It is the leadership of Christ and his quality of love that must be implemented in every home. This love is not the same as romantic or biological love. It is the virtue that Christ brought into this world. Love is the foundation on which we should build our homes.
No matter how beneficial government or state programs might be, none will ever be a substitute for the kind of love that Christ expects us to share with our parents, sisters, brothers. If you study the life of Christ you will find that on the way to Calvary he was helped by Simon of Cyrene, Veronica and the women of Jerusalem. Almost every family today has its own Calvary and each person in that family is in need of the Christlike help that can come from your personal Christlike love. It might not have any great impact on the world, but it certainly will have a powerful impact on your own family.
When a family brings the spirit of Christ to each other, it is a taste of heaven on earth.