Mention Article 2018-Families against currents

Por Yisbel de la Caridad Calleiro Pérez

… to exist and progress as a family,

that is, the right of every man, especially even though he is poor,

to start a family and have resources

appropriate to maintain it.

John Paul II

Familiaris Consortio

“Your duty to realize values does not leave you

to man at peace so far

end of its existence”

V. E. Frankl

According to some people, the family is casual, it touches us as by a kind of tin marín of two penguins… you may also have heard the same comment, but otherwise… family is the one that touches us and there is nothing to do, perhaps comparing this fact, with a heavy cross that is difficult to carry, that is, not to think about varying, in much or little what manifests the way inwards. Listening to these opinions quickly comes to mind an image of God handing out families, as if it were a deck game. There are many opinions, as many of us are the humans who fill this planet. Whoever takes on the nail and rises with absolute truth, is subjective, the most accurate thing I think is, in loving, understanding and applauding the creative work that God planned for his children.

Talking about the family, it’s easy and complex at the same time, it’s not about talking a little more about the same thing, even if we finally agree on one point, or maybe several. Great have been the intellectuals who addressed this issue and still do, because despite the centuries that have elapsed it remains a desirable question of perfecting, making the family a classic and imitable example, it is one of the complexities to which I referred in the first lines, because it is very difficult to pretend that in this circle all its members think and act in the same way , that the younger ones behave at the height of the elders or vice versa. This is a very fashionable example in the life of every Cuban family and for this reason I wanted to quote it.

The family is the first human community, based on the bond of blood, that is, characterized by a fundamental homogeneity of a biological, psychological, affective and cultural order.1 This would be very good in a conceptual way, because these words summarize what the family is and how far it reaches its filial and structural bond. We also hear, since we are young, a phrase that shows its greatness: “the family is the fundamental cell of society”, evoking the primacy it possesses. Surely you are part of one and share these ideas, it can also happen that yours lives in conflicts for matters of misunderstood; if we’re in tune, let’s reflect a little on the subject.

Papal documents have addressed this issue. John Paul II called on Familiaris Consortio2 to the family and mentioned the family’s tasks in society. In his first part entitled “Lights and Shadows of the Family Today”, he examines, from a phenomenological point of view, the contemporary situation and refers to the behavior that parents and children must have, criteria that are reduced to mutual love and submission, although not absolute, but always understood according to the logic of the Kingdom; faithful fulfillment of the mutual rights and duties of the various components of the family community. Vatican II recalls and highlights the importance of education in the family sphere: “Since parents have given their children their lives, they have a very serious obligation to educate the off-road and, they must be recognized as the first and leading educators of their children.” “We are a lost generation,” said one teacher a few years ago, “our parents used to send us. today our children send us.” A fifteen-year-old girl wrote in her private diary “why do I have to obey my parents for the fact that they brought me into the world?” 3 It is a difficult task for new parents who consolidate a family to carry out the longed-for dream of forming educated, honest people with Christian principles, because the social phenomenon present today serves as a magnet, attracting to themselves those who are forming, because it demands nothing, only enjoyment.

Several issues directly influence the development of this human core today, signs of worrying degradation of some fundamental values are presented, while new technologies appear that, although they show a worldwide advance in all areas where modern man performs, directly influence it by absorbing much of its time, if they are not used wisely , perhaps the time you can devote to your family and your family’s needs. Serious ambiguities about the relationship of authority between parents and children, the increasing number of divorces and abortions, the anti-ceptional mentality, the difficulties in the transfer of values, to this is the poor dialogue between both sides of marriage, which often walk on opposite paths, because there is no communion of ideas, as to the situations that arise , constitute an erroneous way of achieving family well-being.

It is not a question of pointing out the bad in this environment and of recognizing it with a changeable expectation. Making the family an institution where peace, understanding, love, forgiveness and reconciliation reign are purposes that we must consider, beyond the complex dichotomies that we establish as a way of asserting one position over another, Let us project our gaze to what the Pope asks of us today, give him the value that our family really has, let us respect their spaces , beliefs, and even mania. If everyone contributes that little stone, we will certainly build a great temple.

Notes

[1] See Encyclopedic Theological Dictionary, Navarra, Editorial Verbo Divino, 2da. edition, 1996.

2 See the Apostolic Exhortation The Family in Modern Times, by John Paul II, 1982.

3 Examples taken from the Educate Today collection.

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