2010
GRATITUDE FOR GIFT OF FAMILY
Homily
at Mass of Thanksgiving for the Eucharistic Convention
Sacred Heart Church, Ponsonby, Auckland, 12 April 2010
+ Francis Cardinal Arinze
1. To God goes our Gratitude
The last three days have been special days of grace because of the Diocesan Eucharistic Convention. The ineffable mystery of the Eucharist has been gratefully received, celebrated in faith and love, meditated upon in all humility and looked up to as our inspirer and guide in our earthly pilgrimage.
It is therefore right that the many people involved in the organization of that convention gather to thank the Lord. The Eucharist itself is thanksgiving. Its celebration is the central and highest act of worship of the Church towards the Creator. The only possession that the Church has that is as great as the Mass is – well – another mass.
One of the images of the Church on earth is God’s family, the household of God in the Spirit (of Eph 2:19-22; of also Lumen Gentium, 6). This family of God that is in Auckland rejoices at the event that was the Eucharistic Conventon. She thanks God, and looks forward with longing for her heavenly inheritance. The collect of the Mass for this Monday, Second Week of Easter, summarises these sentiments: “Almighty and ever-living God, your Spirit made us your children, confident to call you Father. Increase your Spirit of love within us and bring us to our promised inheritance” (Roman Missal).
2. The Family Fundamental
As you know, members of the Family Life International have actively participated in the Eucharistic Convention and are taking part at this present Mass. I have also had the joy to hold two sessions organized by that important association. It is therefore proper that at this Thanksgiving Mass, our thoughts also go to the family.
Marriage and the family come from God’s creating hands. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created Him, male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). God created Adam and then created Eve to be his wife. He blessed them and said: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen 1:28).
God made the family the place and origin of human life. He endowed the procreative act between husband and wife with wonderful powers. Even medical science testifies that the conception of a child and his or her development for nine months in the mother’s womb are full of admirable and almost unimaginable details. “You formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Ps 139:13), prays the Psalmist.
The family is the most fundamental basis of society. The Second Vatican Council is not ambiguous on how it sees the family. “The family”, it says, “has received from God its mission to be the first and vital cell of society. It will fulfil this mission if it shows itself to be the domestic sanctuary of the Church” (Apost. Actuositatem, 11). If, however, our families are spiritually and morally damaged or even bankrupt, then there is not much hope. All of us come from the family. It is the harbour of refuge where the individual feels accepted in good days and in days of prodigal son behaviour.
The future of society goes through the family. If the family is damaged, harm is done to a people, a culture or a nation. Attack on the family is attack on what is dearest to the people. The damage could not be more thorough.
Therefore associations that work to promote and defend the family merit praise and support. “The apostolate of married persons and of families is of unique importance for the church and civil society” (ibid). If parents and children are helped to discharge their duties creditably, the Church and society are blessed indeed. That is why the family Life International deserves our gratitude and encouragement.
3. Prayer for the Family
Not everybody helps and promotes the family. There are forces that militate against the family. It is damaged by sexual relations by people who are not spouses. It is insulted by pornography. It is banalised and commercialized by prostitution. It is mocked by homosexual acts. And it is cut in two by divorce. All hands have to be on deck to support and promote marriage and the family. In the First Reading of mass today the early Church prayed for God’s protection against the ferocious attacks by Herod, Pontius Pilate and the arrogance of the nations (of Acts 4: 23-31). The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 2) shows trust in God, the Lord who sits in the heavens can reduce human plotting to nothing.
In the Gospel, Jesus teaches Nicodemus about the beauty and dignity of people being reborn in Baptism of water and the Holy Spirit. They are incorporated into Christ and the Church. In the context of our consideration of family and life, we see the dignity of every child who becomes God’s child in Baptism. At the same time we begin to appreciate the horror and injustice of abortion which truncates this possibility. May every human life be respected from conception right up to natural death. For this we should continue to pray, sacrifice and work.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary carried Jesus Christ in her womb for nine months under the gentle and respectful care of St Joseph. May the Holy Family of Nazareth bless all our families. By the grace of the Eucharistic Convention just concluded, may we all grow in joy, peace, grace and respect for the family. Ven more, may each of us be more oriented towards God, our Creator.
+ Francis Cardinal Arinze
12
April 2010
www.eucharistic-convention.com