English
EspañolThe worst enemy of the family is terrible families.
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“We also need to be humble and realistic, acknowledging that at times the way we present our Christian beliefs and treat other people has helped contribute to today’s problematic situation… (The Joy of Love, n.36)
We have long thought that simply by stressing doctrinal, bioethical and moral issues, without encouraging openness to grace, we were providing sufficient support to families, strengthening the marriage bond and giving meaning to marital life. We find it difficult to present marriage more as a dynamic path to personal development and fulfilment than as a lifelong burden.” (id., n.37)
Commentary
Why does Pope Francis advise a high dose of humility and realism in the face of a family crisis? Because in some cases, not infrequently, instead of love, what we have is a conceptual doctrine, almost an ideology, but not a life lived in the present moment, in authentic self-giving and embracing concrete family members. There are those who, while maintaining an ideal doctrine of love, make family life impossible by mistreating and embittering those they claim to love. There are those who, on the ideological level, are “supporters” of the family and repeat as a political slogan that “family is very important,” however, within their family life are bitter and view the need of self-giving and truly embracing their own – spouse, children, grandparents – as a heavy lifelong burden and consider their household a prison that prevents them from living freely.
The greatest enemy of the family is terrible families. A family is corrupted when it is not governed by true love and, due to other poisonous sources, loses the environment and fruits that only love can infuse into a household. Loveless families are the worst because they destroy, fracture, and corrupt the best part of family life. It is difficult, sometimes impossible, to make a young person understand what fatherhood, motherhood, marriage, and family are if their parents have been constantly hostile and disrespectful toward each other, if they haven´t cared for one another as spouses, if they have divorced amidst profound betrayals and hostilities, or if they have mistreated, manipulated, neglected or abandoned them.
The negative consequences of a disrupted or perverse family can last for the entirety of the victim´s life. There are numerous cases in which the destruction occurs within; it is psychopathological and extends to other generations.
The best of your potentialities through life, from birth to death, is your family. Take care of this treasure of humanity. Investing in it is the best business opportunity of your life.
