The Real Presence of Christ

In Eucharist, we experience the real presence of Christ. In family life, we experience the real presence of Christ. Yes, the real presence of Christ is present in your family life! Furthermore, every family that strives to place Christ at its center becomes the most essential Christian community; it is the domestic church.

Your family may struggle at times. Still, it becomes a dwelling place for Christ through your efforts to communicate effectively, love deeply, forgive frequently, and share your values with one another. The Christian community of your family is also life-giving, bringing children into the world and rearing them responsibly; developing the potential of each member; handing on values and traditions. The Christian family responds to a call to serve society and Church by modeling love, generosity, hospitality, and caring and by reaching out to others in need.

To have a healthy and holy family, marriage and children does not mean that life for you is trouble-free. Whether you are a single-parent or a two-parent family, whether you are rich or poor, live in the city or one of our missions, all families have their share of joys and problems. The idealized view of a stress-free family portrayed in the media, can produce feelings of guilt in parents who live with everyday family pressures. Rather than acknowledging these pressures as real and valid, we are tempted to submerge them and to feel as if we have failed as spouses and parents when they erupt.

The fact is that, as with most things in life, we learn through our experience. This is certainly true of family life, parenting and marriage. No one has all the necessary skills when beginning a marriage or a family; these develop over time as the spouses, parents and children in a family grow and change. The stresses also change, testing our strength, skills, and relationships.

All families and marriages need support along the way. Life can be enriched by what we learn from one another. We need to mentor and support one another in order to continue to grow and flourish. Remember the African proverb, made famous by the title Hillary Rodham Clinton chose for her book? “It takes a village to raise a child.” We might say, “It takes a Church.” If we believe in the real presence of Christ, really present in the Eucharist as well as really present in our families, we will have what we need in order to build a solid foundation for holy and strong marriages, family life and children.

Family and church are interdependent. What enriches one enriches the other. Families want and deserve to be treated with respect and to be trusted as partners. Families have primary responsibility for the well-being of their members and they need support in fulfilling that responsibility. We need to take a hard look at our responsibilities as well – as a community and as an institution. Our attitudes, our expectations, the resources we offer, our willingness to listen and to share the wisdom we have learned through our own experience, are all ways of reaching out and offering the real presence of Christ that we have received and that we experience and represent.

Let’s look for opportunities where we can make a difference, especially to families who are neighbors, relatives and parishioners. Christian charity and justice call us to reach out in compassionate and generous service, without judgment. You may have already formed a network of friends and neighbors who mutually support and reinforce the marriage and family ideals you hold dear. If not, you may want to form one. Each of you can listen when needed. Each of you has learned from your experience and have wisdom and insight to share.

The Church in the Diocese of Juneau wants to respond to both the strengths and the needs of contemporary families. This office reflects a conviction that the diocese values family and is willing to support its growth and well-being. We want to be touch with the real needs of our families. That’s why it is so important to hear you name the needs you have. Some of you have mentioned support and enrichment for “preparing couples,” retreats and enrichment for married couples, with particular attention to the newly married, parenting skills, and child development.

In a diocese so diverse and vast as ours a variety of approaches are necessary to meet these needs. I am available to do retreats and workshops at your parish on a variety of family life topics. Some parishes have already called to schedule one or more of these events. If your need at this time is for a personal conversation about some aspect of your family life, please feel free to call me at 907-586-2227, ext. 29.

Many households have access to the internet. That can provide an abundance of information and resources. I have begun a list of websites that address family life issues in ways that are healthy, holy and compatible with sound teaching. It is included in this edition of the Inside Passage. Soon this list will be on our diocesan website, www.dioceseofjuneau.org, where it can be updated regularly. Click on The Diocese and then Family Outreach. Please bring to my attention any helpful websites that you would recommend.

One of the listed online resources is the website, www.worldfamilyconnection.com, which is owned by Becky Roth of Juneau. Be sure to check out the teleworkshops that are offered through World Family Connections. Teleworkshops are live, interactive workshop-style learning groups facilitated by an expert leader via specialized phone bridge lines, uniting participants from anyplace. It is a workshop that is 'held' in a 'room' is created when folks all call the same phone number, on the same day and at the same time. It's a classroom created by a phone call.

I am wondering if this use of technology might be helpful to us in this diocese. There are some advantages and benefits for us using the Teleworkshop :

• Eliminates travel…..you don’t have to leave your home or office to participate! This is an efficient use of time and resources.
• Breaks down the isolation to create a sense of togetherness in the diocese.
• Real and meaningful conversations for you choose the topic that you are interested in and have a community of people to discuss with.
• Cost is minimal ….tuition fee and long distance telephone charge you incur by dialing into the 'bridge' number (always U.S.) for the one hour.

You may be interested in some of the topics that Becky and her colleagues offer. If there are additional topics of interest to you, be sure to let her know.

We are the real presence of Christ. We need to make that real presence known to one another. It will enrich all of our lives, and it promises to make us holy, healthy and strong.