By Judie Brown
While investing in the stock market is really not a novel idea, investing in marriage and family is most definitely unique in our day and age. But as we know, the family is the cornerstone of a stable society. This is so because, as Pope John Paul II taught in Familiaris Consortio, “the fundamental task of the family is to serve life, to actualize in history the original blessing of the Creator-that of transmitting by procreation the divine image from person to person.”
Today his words ring rather hollow among those, including our national leaders, who are focused on the dissolution, not the strengthening, of the family as designed by God. But as we know, when the devil is running the show, nothing of value is sacred. Having this in mind, I refer to one of the most beautiful papal encyclicals ever written. Entitled Casti Connubii, this document speaks of the immense blessings of marriage and family.
The first words of this document set the tone: “How great is the dignity of chaste wedlock.” In this single sentence resides the reason why the faithful should be doing all they can to reinforce the family, support families, and stand with them.
Sadly, for many these days my words will immediately be shunned or ignored. But there is reason for optimism nonetheless. Daniel Gallagher, among others, has written on this very theme. He compares the spiritual investment of our lifelong commitment to one another in marriage to that of an investment banker.
He suggests that following the principles contained in Casti Connubii (Pius XI, 1930) and Familiaris Consortio (John Paul II, 1981) contributes tremendously to the well-being of the family and thus to society as a whole, saying that couples who live by these teachings would “bear brighter witness to the joy and peace it brings (amid great suffering, of course) to a world torn by hate and division,” even though the world around us seems to be falling into rack and ruin.
As Catholics, we do not fall into the secular trap laid by those who have lost the wonder that exists where true love for another person exists. While they may be morally bankrupt, we affirm what truly matters when it comes to affirming the family.
As commentator Anastasia Northrop wrote:
John Paul II says that God created our bodies the way He did specifically to show us that we are called to love, that our reason for existence is to love, to make a gift of ourselves to others. He calls this the “nuptial (or spousal) meaning of the body.”
He explains, “The human body includes right from the beginning . . . the capacity of expressing love, that love in which the person becomes a gift—and by means of this gift—fulfills the meaning of his being and existence.
Underscoring this truth, we turn to Pope John Paul II himself, who taught:
Education in love as self-giving is also the indispensable premise for parents called to give their children a clear and delicate sex education. Faced with a culture that largely reduces human sexuality to the level of something common place, since it interprets and lives it in a reductive and impoverished way by linking it solely with the body and with selfish pleasure, the educational service of parents must aim firmly at a training in the area of sex that is truly and fully personal: for sexuality is an enrichment of the whole person-body, emotions and soul-and it manifests its inmost meaning in leading the person to the gift of self in love.
Investing in the family and investing in one’s selfless love for another are but two ways to grow in holiness, happiness, and the joy of living life in the presence of Christ rather than the din of our faithless world.
In this way we can teach others that celebrating faith, life, family, and the home pave the road to eternal joy. Investing in that future bears eternal benefits. And after all, that is why we are here in the first place.
