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By Marie Cofta,
Too rarely do we look at ourselves as a part of God’s great plan. Immersed in everyday life, we are not able to look at our lives through the lens of the supernatural.
This deficiency is a consequence of original sin. Meanwhile, being both corporal and spiritual creatures, we belong to two worlds. The history of our life is part of the incredible narrative by the Creator. This is a never-ending story about love. The genealogy of the personWe belong to God, we are his willed children. Hence, our entire history has love as its origin. The very same love that defines the relationship of the Holy Trinity is transferred to the human community. The place where it is to be realized is marriage and family. As people we do not have the power to create. Only God has it. The same who has created the world and willed man in it. John Paul II writes: “The genealogy of the person is thus united with the eternity of God, and only then with human fatherhood and motherhood” (Letter to Families, 9). This God gives us life. What is more, he invites us, ordinary mortals, to work together: man drawn into the Divine process of creation becomes a co-creator of another man. God the Creator, through human birthgiving, continues to work the miracle of creation. This is a great honor! There are no people who, called to conscious motherhood or fatherhood, would not stand in awe over the cradle of their offspring, moved by the effect of the cooperation! There is a man, but not only in the biological sense of this word, where we see a mortal body, because there is a man to whom God has granted a soul which will never die – a new human being called to life as a person. “This call is not only open to what exists in time, but in God it is also open to eternity,” we read further in the Letter to Families (9). God created man in his image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27). He, therefore, willed each of us and, what’s more, admitting his fatherhood, he does not stop caring for us. In respect of each of us he has a plan to bring us to the fullness of happiness, that is, participation in his divine nature (cf. 2 Pet 1:4). A door to two worldsFor a family who wishes to find fulfillment, to come to know itself from the perspective of God’s plan and find the truth about its existence and also in the context of the great history of mankind, it is necessary to reach back to the very beginning, that is, to the act of creation. Then, it will realize that it is a place where the door to two worlds opens. In it, a newly born human being not only is slowly introduced by its parents into the human community, but through baptism also joins the community of the Church, a much deeper space. “The Church thus finds in the family, born from the sacrament, the cradle and the setting in which she can enter the human generations, and where these in their turn can enter the Church,” reminds us in his Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, Pope John Paul II (FC, 15). When speaking of these two groups, it is not without reason that we use the phrases “human family” and “family of the Church”. Preserve the communionA family is called upon to build a community of people. Underpinned by the indissoluble communion of spouses, it is the first community called upon to proclaim the Gospel; it is there that witness is given, interpersonal relationships are taught, and a new human being is forged. There too, having already the bonds of blood and body, a man deepens his or her spiritual ties and finally is given tools to set up a personal relationship with God and find out exactly what he has in store for him or her. For this to happen, a child must grow up in the ambience of love, which the family community should create for the child. “The inner principle […], permanent power and final goal is love: without love the family is not a community of persons and, in the same way, without love the family cannot live, grow and perfect itself as a community of persons” (FC, 18). Such love as its own source has God himself. It is for this reason that it is so crucial to remain in the state of sanctifying grace and go to confession immediately after committing a mortal sin.
For this community to happen, everything must start with love and an indissoluble bond between the husband and wife: “the Holy Spirit who is poured out in the sacramental celebration offers Christian couples the gift of a new communion of love that is the living and real image of that unique unity which makes of the Church the indivisible Mystical Body of the Lord Jesus” (FC, 19). Spouses, therefore, are called upon to strengthen this bond in everyday life on all possible planes – those of the union of bodies, characters, hearts, minds and aspirations, souls… Only a communion so understood, which assumes a unity and reciprocal self-giving in complete freedom, may engender readiness to serve a family, that is, children in the first place.
BlowsThis intended likeness of man to the Creator, and further, of the community of spouses and that of the family to the image of the Holy Trinity and the relationship holding between Jesus and the Church, of course, meet with opposition. All this makes the father of falsehood, Satan, annoyed. Admittedly, repeating the words of John Paul II’s exhortation: “There is no family that does not know how selfishness, discord, tension and conflict violently attack and at times mortally wound its own communion” (FC, 21), but human sinfulness often leads to negligence and reciprocal weakening. For it is easy to leave the straight and narrow in the face of difficulties, negligence, or sometimes rushed decisions. It is easy to give top priority to selfish self-content and lose sight of the proper goal, which is salvation. God, however, calls every family to search for the ways of reconciliation and balance, which will allow it to realize its own calling of working towards the growth of love in the family of mankind. StruggleAs a pro-life activist once said: “we are taking part in an interesting battle.” Marriage and family must be aware that valor should be part of their nature. We know how to fight off the blows that harm the dignity of family life. God gives us suitable arms; they are deposited in the Church. We encourage all spouses to take on a fighting spirit and begin to do battle for the happiness of their families. To take up arms in this case means to pray, read the Scriptures and avail oneself of the sacraments. Regular genuflection on a hassock while praying the rosary and attending the Eucharist together by spouses are very helpful shields. Mutual care for a spouse’s pure heart by remembering to avail oneself regularly of the sacrament of Reconciliation is a powerful weapon against evil. As St. John Paul II reminds us: “In particular, participation in the sacrament of Reconciliation and in the banquet of the one Body of Christ offers to the Christian family the grace and the responsibility of overcoming every division and of moving towards the fullness of communion willed by God, responding in this way to the ardent desire of the Lord: »that they may be one«” (FC, 21). It is also good to be able to put on the glasses of the supernatural and take a broader view of one’s own community and one’s spouse, who after all are a gift from the Creator himself and proof of his implementing a careful plan of our salvation. Spouses prepared to “fight for their own” are invited to join the Movement of Pure Hearts of Married Couples which helps to realize the calling to sainthood. It is enough for you to go to confession and receive together the Eucharistic Jesus to your hearts and then say the following prayer to feel full members of the Movement. May this prayer accompany you every day. You are also invited to let us know about your joining the MPHMC so that we can enter your names in the Book of Pure Hearts and send you a special blessing. We are waiting for your testimonies! Share with other Readers the graces, including the difficult ones, that Jesus grants you. May this be for his glory! The history of our life is part of the incredible narrative by the Creator. This is a never-ending story about love. Man drawn into the Divine process of creation becomes a co-creator of another man. Source: https://loamagazine.org/archive/2017/2017-39/gods-plan The above article was published with permission from Miłujcie się! in April 2021. Read more Christian articles (English)
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