Catholic Thought discussion

Question for chapter five, from the study guide, (The Joy of Love” published by The Word Among Us Press, 2016):

Pope Francis would like "a Church that challenges the throw-away culture by the overflowing joy of a new embrace between young and old" (191). How has a grandparent or elderly person enriched and influenced your life? Why are the "continuity of generations" (192) and "historical memory" (193) so crucial to a healthy society?

I have read through chapter 7 and am now forgetting what was in each chapter. Was this the chapter that spoke about the church using key moments when families come to church such as baptism and first communion to reach and pull in those inactive
Catholics. I love the idea, but don't know how to do that.

I am reminded of what Russell Baker wrote in his autobiography “Growing Up” that applies to this issue. He wrote that we know little about our parents' life when they were young. I don't think we ever asked them much how life was like when they were our age. Then it was too late and now we'll never know.

There are age differences in my family between myself, the eldest, and younger siblings. Our parents also made a major geographical relocation when we were pre-teenage. The early period was almost completely lost to my younger brother and sister. I decided to write down for them what I remember of the first dozen years of our family history in book form. It was well received and the nieces and nephews looked into the strange history.

What a wonderful gift to give to your younger siblings, Galicius.

Tell us more Pope Francis how we can make a difference and change the deterioration of the family, keep our children in the church, stop international trafficking of children, keep our grandparents, and parents out of nursing homes and hospices, and deal with all the distress that afflicts our families.

We know these are huge modern problems and know very well that they exist. We are doing the best we know how in bringing up our children. We bring our children to Sunday mass. We support our parishes and send our children to religious education taught by volunteers an hour a week, or maybe just 15 minutes during mass when the children are sent out to a separate room during homily to be instructed by a volunteer. Our pastor tells us about his very busy schedule. Maybe we never pray together except at Thanksgiving and Christmas but that’s what our parents did with us. We take our children away from home to college, show them the Cardinal Newman Center, and encourage them to take an interest in the society but they never step inside. Never mind practicing the faith into which we brought them up. What else can we do but pray?

God has given the family the job of "domesticating" the world and helping each person to see fellow human beings as brothers and sisters.

I think Pope Francis is challenging us here to give family the importance it naturally has. It is here where our lives take place, it is here where we have the most immediate influence. These may be tiny individual ripples, but they will have an impact on the people we come in contact with every day.