family values
"That is why I kneel before the Father from Whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name; and I pray." —Ephesians 3:14-16
Jesus is the second Person of the Trinity. The Trinity is the eternal, ultimate Holy Family. After His Incarnation, Jesus lived in another holy family with Mary and Joseph. Therefore, Jesus has high standards for family life. He calls families to be holy, sacramental signs of the Trinity as Family.
To make holy, Trinitarian families, Jesus:
- lights "a fire on the earth" to purify families (Lk 12:49),
- was baptized, that is, immersed in, the pain of His death on the cross (see Lk 12:50; Mk 10:38),
- surfaces the divisions in families in order to deal with them through forgiveness, repentance, and healing (see Lk 12:51ff),
- dwells in the hearts of family members through faith (Eph 3:17),
- enables us "to grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of" His love (Eph 3:18), and
- does "immeasurably more than we ask or imagine" (Eph 3:20).
Jesus is offering each of us the miracle of a holy, Trinitarian family. Accept His offer by accepting Him as Savior and Lord of your life and your family.
Prayer: Father, make my family a miracle and Your masterpiece.
Promise: "To Him Whose power now at work in us can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine..." —Eph 3:20
Praise: "To Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, world without end. Amen" (Eph 3:21).
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, April 24, 2000
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 27, 2000