Coffee Talk Redux is a reflection on things God is teaching me. In some cases the ideas for these topics may arise from some conversation I may have had with someone, or a thought that crossed my mind, something I have written, or perhaps something I read somewhere, or maybe a combination of all of these. In any case think of this as a discussion on what God is teaching us to help us grow in our understanding of His will for us.
The social teaching on the family recognizes the fact that God created man to live in communion with Himself and with others. The essence of this is the relationship between man and woman that forms the family, for as told in Genesis 1:27-28, “male and female he created them … God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘be fruitful and multiply’.” God therefore did not make man to live his life alone but God willed that man live in a family as well as with others in a society, “for by his innermost nature man is a social being, and unless he relates himself to others he can neither live nor develop his potential (Gaudium et Spe 12).” The fundamental cell of a society is therefore the family formed through the marriage of a man and a woman. The family is the basis of society (GS 52); all aspects of society whether it is the church or the social, political, or economic realms of the world, hinge on the family.Man is called into existence through the love of God and love is fundamental to being a human. The family is formed as an expression of God’s love that joins through conjugal love husband and wife. Conjugal love is both unitive and procreative in the sense that it “leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in mutual giving; and it is open to fertility (On the Family: Familiaris Consortio 13.” This means that the married couple give themselves completely to each other and at the same time they are open to “the reality of children, who are a living reflection of their love (FC 14).” It is through this conjugal love that society is made manifest since “citizens come to birth and it is within the family that they find the first school of the social virtues that are the animating principle of the existence and development of society itself (FC 42).” That marriage is both unitive and procreative means that the family is the visible expression of the mystery of the Holy Trinity as well as being a part of the Body of Christ. The family is therefore the church in miniature or what is also known as the domestic church, that is the ecclesia domestica. The family then becomes a “living image and historical representation of the mystery of the church (FC 49).”
The unitive and procreative aspect of the nuptial love between husband and wife finds its source in the love that exists between the Father and the Son. This nuptial love of the married couple reflects the same total self-giving that is found between the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This love between the Father and His Son is also a distinct Person known as the Holy Spirit. The essence of the Holy Trinity is the presence of these three coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial Persons known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each of these Persons is God whole and entire. Through what is known as the relations of opposition Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are truly three distinct Persons. Although the relations of opposition defines their distinction as Persons the principle of circumincession states that each of the Divine Persons may be found completely in each of the other two Divine Persons. This means that the Father is completely present in the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Son is completely present in the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is completely with the Father and the Son.
The relationships between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can also be described by the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. The principle of subsidiarity is reflected in the relations of opposition found in the Holy Trinity wherein there are three distinct Persons in one God. In a similar manner, the principle of solidarity reflects the fact that by the principle of circumincession each of the Divine Persons is completely present in each of the other two Divine Persons. The mutual self-giving and love that is found in the Holy Trinity is also by its nature unitive and procreative. The nuptial love within the Holy Trinity is unitive because of solidarity and procreative because of subsidiarity. The Holy Trinity by virtue of the relations of opposition and the principle of circumincession expresses the fact that solidarity and subsidiarity must coexist, there cannot be one without the other, and together they express the mystery of the nuptial love found in the Holy Trinity.
These unitive and procreative relationships found within the Holy Trinity serve as a model and at the same time are also the source through grace for the unitive and procreative nuptial love between the husband and wife. The married couple and the family they form through their nuptial love are transformed and drawn into communion with this Trinitarian life of the Triune God. The unitive and procreative aspects of marriage are expressed in terms of the couple’s subsidiarity and their solidarity. Through their nuptial love they reveal themselves to each other bringing them together as one flesh, which is unitive and expresses their solidarity. On the other hand the couple also see their individual uniqueness discovering through the procreative dimension their roles as father and mother. Hence the procreative aspect of marriage reveals the principle of subsidiarity. As in the Holy Trinity it is found as well that in marriage there cannot be a separation of the unitive and the procreative aspects since the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity must coexist within the nuptial bond and the family that is formed.
The principles of subsidiarity and solidarity having their source in the Holy Trinity are therefore the basis of the family. These principles serve as a “sign and a requirement of the absolutely faithful love that God has for man and that the Lord Jesus has for the church (FC 20).” Pope John Paul II is expressing the fact that the indissolubility of marriage is rooted in the solidarity that is the basis of the nuptial love between husband and wife. Their solidarity reflects “‘a new heart’: thus the couple are not only able to overcome ‘hardness of heart,’ but also, and above all, they are able to share the full and definitive love of Christ… to participate truly in the irrevocable indissolubility that binds Christ to the church, his bride… [and] they remain faithful to each other, beyond every trial and difficulty (Ibid.).” Through solidarity the marriage is protected from individualism wherein each partner believes they can do whatever they desire.
The principles of subsidiarity and solidarity also define the relationships that exist within the family that grows out of the conjugal love of the husband and wife. The nuptial love between the couple “constitutes the foundation on which is built the broader communion of the family, of parents and children, of brothers and sisters with each other, of relatives and other members of the household (FC 21).” Here we see not only the subsidiarity within the family but also subsidiarity fostering solidarity within the family so that all members are responsible for the common good of all. Pope Paul II in Familiaris Consortio says that this makes “the family ‘a school of deeper humanity’: This happens when there is care and love for the little ones, the sick, the aged; where there is mutual service every day; when there is a sharing of goods, of joys and of sorrows Ibid.).”
The solidarity and subsidiarity formed within the family also diffuses out into society itself, for “the family is by nature and vocation open to other families and to society and undertakes its social role (FC 42).” The family’s importance in shaping society is something that cannot be overlooked and through the principle of subsidiarity government must do everything in its power to support the family. Solidarity amongst families means that everyone within a society works together for the common good just as within the family itself. Pope John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio argues that “the Christian family is thus called upon to offer a… ‘preferential option’ for the poor and disadvantaged…it must have a special concern for the hungry, the poor, the old, the sick, drug victims and those who have no family (FC 47).” These values and concern for the common good start within the family. Pope John Paul II says, “the family is thus…the place of origin and the most effective means for humanizing and personalizing society…in particular by guarding and transmitting virtues and ‘values’ (FC 43).” Strong families make for a strong society where justice prevails.
Subsidiarity and solidarity can both be seen as a grace given to the family through the Eucharist. Pope John Paul II teaches, “the Eucharist is the very source of Christian marriage. The Eucharistic sacrifice in fact represents Christ’s covenant of love with the church, sealed with his blood on the cross (FC 57).” Through the mystery of the Eucharist, the family sustains and at the same time expresses their solidarity and their subsidiarity, becoming one body as a family while also being part of the Body of Christ whose unity is found through the church.
Prayer is essential to the life of the Christian family. The prayer life of the family is a reflection of subsidiarity and solidarity within the family. Only through prayer as an expression of their solidarity and subsidiarity can the parents “penetrate the innermost depths of their children’s hearts and leave an impression that the future events in their lives will not be able to efface (FC 60).” Prayer offered up to God by the family is so important that Pope John Paul II says that it “constitutes the strongest incentive for the Christian family to assume and comply fully with all its responsibilities as the primary and fundamental cell of human society (Ibid.).” The human family as well as society itself advances and at the same time is brought together for the common good through prayer. There cannot be solidarity or subsidiarity within the family or within society without prayer. This is because the family and society is brought into communion with Christ through prayer.
Solidarity and subsidiarity form the two foundational principles of the church’s social teaching on the family. The theological foundation for these principles comes from the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the church as the Body of Christ nourishes them. The Greatest Commandment can also be seen as the active expression of subsidiarity and solidarity in the world; a law of love that guides the Christian, a “new law of the Spirit…[where the Christian family] is called to exercise its ‘service’ of love toward God and toward its fellow human beings (FC 63).” Without these two principles there would be no love of God, no love of the other person and the family, and there would be no society working for the common good of man. (Ronald L. Fournier © 2010)
