They also stressed the importance of including formation in “affectivity and sexuality in the broader scope of true love.”
Gift and discernment
The members of the bishops’ subcommittee encouraged parents to foster “the experience of encountering the living Christ” so that a “true friendship” can develop and so that “his voice can be recognized through discernment.”
In order for this “to be adequate, it must be open to the possibility of consecrating oneself to God,” they emphasized.
The prelates noted that parents must recognize that they don’t own the gift of their children but are the stewards of that gift in accordance with Pope Francis’ postsynodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. Thus they should accompany their children in their discernment “but not make decisions for them.”
Life as an offering
In looking at the family as a school for vocations, the bishops encouraged helping young people to discover life as an offering, to convey to them a passion for life and to cultivate the charitable dimension.
Lastly, the message prepared for Holy Family Day invited Catholics to participate in “the mission” of accompanying families and helping them grow, in particular those who experience marginalization and poverty, keeping migrants in mind and without leaving aside “families who have suffered separation and divorce.”
“Let us ask the Holy Family of Nazareth for the missionary impulse to show the beauty of the vocation of love to which each and every one of us has been called,” the bishops concluded.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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