The Family as the Domestic Church

The Fathers of the Church and the Second Vatican Council teach that the family is the domestic Church.  If we understand what the Church really is, the implications are enormous.  

The Church is a community dedicated to continual conversion on ongoing mission.  As the basic unit of the Church, the family is where the call to holiness and apostolic mission are first heard, and where the reponse to that call is encouraged and directed.  The family is the original “seminary” or greenhouse where vocations sprout and are sheltered until they grow sturdy enough to survive and bear fruit in the world.

So healthy Catholic families are designed to produce not just “nice people” but saints, evanelizers, leaders.  This talk outlines the vision of the goal and purpose of the Catholic family, and shows how God’s grace can make it happen despite the inevitable shortcomings of even the best parents.