the 12 guiding principles of catholic family life
Your Family is Sacred
Each family is a unique image of the Trinity. It is a special community with its own identity, designed and set apart by God. The Family is the “Domestic Church” and is established when a man and a woman marry. In it, members both give and receive love.
Fatherhood Shows God’s Love in a Specific Way
The father is propelled by his love for God and gives witness to this love while guiding, providing, and protecting his family.
Motherhood Shows God’s Love in a Specific Way
The mother is propelled by her love for God to reflect His beauty while enriching, nurturing, and guiding the hearts of her family.
Each Person Is Unique and Called
Parents have the responsibility to help their children discover God’s plan for their lives. Each person is created uniquely by God to be in a relationship of love with Him. God gifts each person for a special, personal mission and vocation.
Faith Begins at Home
Parents have both the privilege of and responsibility for evangelization and faith formation of their children. Prayer and service are both key elements of an active faith and are essential to the development of healthy, resilient children.
The Family Prepares Children for Life
Parents are responsible for the personal formation and education of their children. They ensure that all family members learn to see the needs of others and respond. Parents also choose schools that will support the family identity.
Families Learn and Live Emotional Maturity
Parents guide their children to understand and live in harmony with their emotions. Emotions and passions are fundamental aspects of being human; they need to be understood and properly guided in order to assist us in choosing the good, not only by our wills but also by our “hearts.”
Family Life Requires and Fosters Virtue
Parents consciously work to help their children grow in virtue and form their consciences to become faithful images of Christ to the world. Each person in the family must choose to love and forgive other family members despite faults and weaknesses.
The Family Is United and Works Together
Parents work together to ensure both the unity of the family and the freedom of each member to follow God’s plan. As they help each other in daily life, family members learn the value of work and cooperation, and they gain an appreciation for the giftedness of other family members.
The Family Serves Together
The family has been endowed by God with a natural concern for the evangelization and common good of society. This missionary spirit is cultivated through the Christian development of family members as they serve in the home, and it is then lived in and through relationships outside the home. The missionary spirit is maintained by the strength of the faith within the home.
God’s Plan Is the Plan
Husband and wife see God’s plan for marriage and family as their reference point. They see each son or daughter as a gift from God. They seek to see and understand the truth, beauty, and goodness experienced in a faithful life.
God Is the Source of True Happiness
True happiness is found in God’s plan for each person. The joy and appreciation of true freedom (the ability to choose what is authentically good) is experienced when we make choices that lead us to live moral lives and pursue our God-given missions.
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