CHALLENGESto the Sacrament ofMARRIAGE & FAMILY

INTRODUCTION

Among the numerous blessings that God has showered upon us in Jesus Christ, is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the humankind. While marriage is a special blessing for Christians because of the grace of Christ, marriage is also a natural blessing and gift for everyone in all times and cultures. It is a source of blessing to the couple, to their families, and to society and includes the wondrous gift of co-creating human life. Indeed, as St. Pope John Paul II is never tired

of reminding us – “the future of humanity depends on marriage and the family.”

As modern society undergoes both natural and forced transformation at all levels, its basic unit – the family struggles to hold on to its traditional and efficacious qualities. The weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differ¬ences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children.

CHALLENGES

Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. At a moment of history in which the family is the object of numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform it, and aware that the well-being of society and her own good are intimately tied to the good of the family, the church perceives in a more urgent and compelling way her mission of proclaiming to all people the plan of God for marriage and the challenges facing the family in the modern world.

1. Fear and apprehension about entering Marriage

There is a growing tendency among young people to an unjustifiable postponement

of the wedding for obtaining financial, professional and residential settling down. The desire to avoid the failures of other couples, a purely emotional and roman¬tic conception of love, the fear of losing their freedom and independence, the hesitancy to take up the responsibility of married life, force many young people to delay or to turn down married life.

There are also fears associated with

permanent commitment. During an assembly of Pope Francis with the engaged couples, one of them commented that, “to promise faithfulness for the whole of life is too difficult an enterprise; many feel that the challenge to live together forever is beautiful, fascinating, but too demanding, almost impossible.” Responding to the remark, Pope Francis narrated how a little boy “requested his Bishop that he wants to be a priest, but only for 10 years. The boy was afraid of definite choice.” The Holy Father observed that today so many people are afraid of making definitive choices. “This is a question that must be asked” he said “is it possible to love each other ‘forever’? Today everything changes rapidly; nothing lasts long”

2. Interfaith marriages

When the Almighty God, through Moses, gave his divine law to his chosen people, stern and uncompromising was the prohibition against their mingling in marriage with the children of unbelief: "Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons" (Deut. 7:3) St. Paul in his Second letter to the

Corinthians teaches, there can be no communion between light and darkness; that is, there can be no religious communion between one who has the faith, and one who has not the faith (cf. 6:14). They cannot communicate in faith, in worship, or in the sacraments.

We know that Holy Mother Church wants what is best for her children and what will bring them happiness and fulfilment. The Church has known first hand that, more often, such marriages have inherent obstacles that destroy marriages, such as what religious community to go to worship, what religion should the children be brought up in, and the conflict of different family traditions that are biased on religious observances. Interreligious marriages endanger the institutional, cultural and religious fabric of family, because it causes religious identity crisis between the couple, among children and other family members.

We are aware that Catholic marriage represents and signifies the nuptial union

between Christ and His Church, the profound meaning of which sacramentally affects the spiritual relations of the married pair in Christ, and bestows on them great responsibilities in common as members of the Church. But how can the union between a member of the Church and one who is not one of her members express the union between Christ and the Church? And how can they fulfil united duties toward the Church?

As the Lord God had warned the Israelites, that interfaith marriage “will turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods.” (Deut. 7:4) the Catholic party is exposed to the danger of losing the faith, or of becoming indifferent to it. The Church is also concerned that the Catholic faith education of the children which is generally neglected or often made impossible and most importantly because the non-Catholic party does not believe in the indissolubility of the bonds of marriage.

For these reasons the Church, conscious of her duty, discourages the contracting of interfaith marriages, for the Church is most desirous that Catholics be able in matrimony to attain to perfect union of mind and full communion of life. And the Holy Bible cautions us that “if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mk. 3:25)

3. Civil Marriages

The law of the Church requires the Catholics to marry with the blessing by a priest. Catholics who exchange marriage vows in the presence of only ministers from other religious traditions or authorized civil officials are not considered

validly married, in the opinion of the Catholic Church. St. John Paul II warns that those who opt for civil marriages for ideological or practical reasons lack in the required sacramental grace for the fulfilment of marital obligations and are less committed to the stability of the institution of family. Some of the young people during their marriage in the presence of ministers of other faith unremorsefully renounce their Catholic faith thereby leading themselves to live in mortal sin and certainly in danger of losing eternal life. Some in this state of mortal sin, unabashedly also receive the Most Holy Body of our Lord during the Holy Qurbana, thereby bringing “judgement against themselves” (1 Cor. 11:29)

4. Small families

Albeit, government advertisements may proclaim “Choota Parivaar, Sukhi Pariwar”, the presence of many children in the family strengthens the marital bonds, because studies enlighten that the couples with many children are less prone to divorce or separation. The over-concentrated attention to one child creates egocentric disposition, inability for tolerance and ill preparedness for resolving harsh realities of life. Even the families with two children are not entirely out of these dangers and spouses are called to be parents of as many children as their familial, social, financial and physical proficiencies. The number of children in a marital union is the prayerful decision of the spouses who have accepted from the Lord the vocation to receive with happiness the children he gifts to them. The nuclear families needs to interact with the wider family made up of parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and even neighbours.

5. Intimacy, communication, work and finance:

The harmony of family is disturbed by lack of intimacy and communication between the spouses, divergence of behavioural peculiarities of the spouses and biased or prejudiced notions on the family of the in-laws. A crisis in a couple’s relationship destabilises the family and may lead to separation. Marital problems are often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect to make sacrifices and to forgive on another. Working hours are long and oftentimes made more burdensome by extended periods from home. This situation does not help family members to gather together or parents to be with their children in such a way as to nurture their relationships each day. The rhythm of family is further derailed by mismanagement of the financial matters

smoking and drugs also affects the family in its growth and health, because living with addiction can put family members under unusual stress and normal routines are constantly being interrupted by unexpected or even frightening kinds of experiences that are part of living with drug users. The children in the families of the addicts to alcohol or drug live in the intense emotional environment that can set up a feeling of fear or patterns of attachment that are filled with anxiety and ambivalence.

7. Erroneous Values of Modern Society

It is easy nowadays to confuse genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily, as if there is no truths, values and principles to provide guidance. The exaggerated notion of individualism and the consequent cry for privacy in general and the fierce movements of feminism pose dangers to the family bonds. Individualism that ascertains the sovereignty of individuals over community and promotes the right to live according to one’s own judgment without any consideration for the other weakens family ties by its demands for privacy from and non-intervention by even the parents. The individualism so prevalent today can lead to creating small nests of security, where others are perceived as bothersome or a threat.

Consumerism that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts and gives prominence only to money and the ‘throw-away culture’ that assesses anything according to its utility. This outlook of consumerism moves stealthily into all relationships, especially among family members. Pope Francis’ ‘Amoris Latetitia’ reiterates “We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects: everything is disposable; everyone uses and throws away, takes and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the last drop. Then, goodbye.”

CONCLUSION

On their wedding day, the bride and groom pledges by the Holy Gospel “to live in love and fidelity, and with oneness of mind, in joy and sorrow, in wealth and want, in health and sickness, from this day, till the hour of our death” and invokes the blessing of Almighty God to help them live in accord with this promise. Sooner or later, all couples face the “sorrow” or “want” or “sickness” in their marriage. According to Pope Francis, “Matrimony is a work of every day; I could say a craftwork, a goldsmith’s work, because the husband has the task to make his wife more ‘woman’ and the wife has the task to make her husband more ‘man’. It is called growing together. This doesn’t come from the air!”

We all know that the perfect family doesn’t exist, nor the perfect husband, or the perfect wife. Pope Francis exhorts every family should look to the Holy Family of Nazareth and invoke their protection. The Holy Family will not fail to help Christian families and all the families in the world, to be faithful to their day-to-day duties, to bear the cares and tribulations of life, to be open and generous to the needs of others, and to fulfil with joy the plan of God in their lives.

and not leaving within the means. EMI’s have often caused an addition burden difficult to carry.

6. Addictions

Social networking media: These are the modern day destroyer of the harmony and affinitive web of family. The excessive use of social networking media leads in behavioural addiction, resulting in the view that social media is inevitable mechanism to relieve stress, loneliness or depression. The obsessive preference for virtual networking over real relationship results in withdrawal from active interaction in the family and liming oneself to a world of imagination and inability to establish meaningful human relations. The negative impact of the addiction to social media is replicated by the addiction to video games in its behavioural obsessiveness and consequent contra-effect on family.

Pornography: It has the ability to exploit and degrade the human person, undermines marriages and families and twists personal and social relation. The addiction to pornography leads to distorted ideas of physical relationship and over-expectations from the life-partner. Such addicts often try to imitate the porn-stars and end up in

unsatisfied marital relationship. This contributes to the commission of sexual violence and child molestation, and reduces God’s gift of sexuality to a level that lacks a sense of the personal dignity, human tenderness, mutual love and ethical commitment that are part of the divine plan. They are also led to sexual perversion and socially unacceptable behaviour.

Televisions & Computers: Effects of television addiction on family life are detrimental because it affects the psychological balance of a person, makes one postpone important responsibilities and disharmonise relationships. Addiction to particular television serials programmes the mind of the viewer to over or misplaced expression of emotions and changes ones beliefs about life to an imaginary world. This addiction results in guilt feeling, because television or computer addiction is associated with delaying important tasks or wasting time that should be allocated to your family.

Alcoholism, smoking and drugs: Alcoholism disturbs the affinitive equilibrium and financial balance of family and creates many health-related

issues. Similarly, addiction

to

INTRODUCTION

Among the numerous blessings that God has showered upon us in Jesus Christ, is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the humankind. While marriage is a special blessing for Christians because of the grace of Christ, marriage is also a natural blessing and gift for everyone in all times and cultures. It is a source of blessing to the couple, to their families, and to society and includes the wondrous gift of co-creating human life. Indeed, as St. Pope John Paul II is never tired

of reminding us – “the future of humanity depends on marriage and the family.”

As modern society undergoes both natural and forced transformation at all levels, its basic unit – the family struggles to hold on to its traditional and efficacious qualities. The weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differ¬ences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children.

CHALLENGES

Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. At a moment of history in which the family is the object of numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform it, and aware that the well-being of society and her own good are intimately tied to the good of the family, the church perceives in a more urgent and compelling way her mission of proclaiming to all people the plan of God for marriage and the challenges facing the family in the modern world.

1. Fear and apprehension about entering Marriage

There is a growing tendency among young people to an unjustifiable postponement

of the wedding for obtaining financial, professional and residential settling down. The desire to avoid the failures of other couples, a purely emotional and roman¬tic conception of love, the fear of losing their freedom and independence, the hesitancy to take up the responsibility of married life, force many young people to delay or to turn down married life.

There are also fears associated with

permanent commitment. During an assembly of Pope Francis with the engaged couples, one of them commented that, “to promise faithfulness for the whole of life is too difficult an enterprise; many feel that the challenge to live together forever is beautiful, fascinating, but too demanding, almost impossible.” Responding to the remark, Pope Francis narrated how a little boy “requested his Bishop that he wants to be a priest, but only for 10 years. The boy was afraid of definite choice.” The Holy Father observed that today so many people are afraid of making definitive choices. “This is a question that must be asked” he said “is it possible to love each other ‘forever’? Today everything changes rapidly; nothing lasts long”

2. Interfaith marriages

When the Almighty God, through Moses, gave his divine law to his chosen people, stern and uncompromising was the prohibition against their mingling in marriage with the children of unbelief: "Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons" (Deut. 7:3) St. Paul in his Second letter to the

Corinthians teaches, there can be no communion between light and darkness; that is, there can be no religious communion between one who has the faith, and one who has not the faith (cf. 6:14). They cannot communicate in faith, in worship, or in the sacraments.

We know that Holy Mother Church wants what is best for her children and what will bring them happiness and fulfilment. The Church has known first hand that, more often, such marriages have inherent obstacles that destroy marriages, such as what religious community to go to worship, what religion should the children be brought up in, and the conflict of different family traditions that are biased on religious observances. Interreligious marriages endanger the institutional, cultural and religious fabric of family, because it causes religious identity crisis between the couple, among children and other family members.

We are aware that Catholic marriage represents and signifies the nuptial union

between Christ and His Church, the profound meaning of which sacramentally affects the spiritual relations of the married pair in Christ, and bestows on them great responsibilities in common as members of the Church. But how can the union between a member of the Church and one who is not one of her members express the union between Christ and the Church? And how can they fulfil united duties toward the Church?

As the Lord God had warned the Israelites, that interfaith marriage “will turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods.” (Deut. 7:4) the Catholic party is exposed to the danger of losing the faith, or of becoming indifferent to it. The Church is also concerned that the Catholic faith education of the children which is generally neglected or often made impossible and most importantly because the non-Catholic party does not believe in the indissolubility of the bonds of marriage.

For these reasons the Church, conscious of her duty, discourages the contracting of interfaith marriages, for the Church is most desirous that Catholics be able in matrimony to attain to perfect union of mind and full communion of life. And the Holy Bible cautions us that “if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mk. 3:25)

3. Civil Marriages

The law of the Church requires the Catholics to marry with the blessing by a priest. Catholics who exchange marriage vows in the presence of only ministers from other religious traditions or authorized civil officials are not considered

validly married, in the opinion of the Catholic Church. St. John Paul II warns that those who opt for civil marriages for ideological or practical reasons lack in the required sacramental grace for the fulfilment of marital obligations and are less committed to the stability of the institution of family. Some of the young people during their marriage in the presence of ministers of other faith unremorsefully renounce their Catholic faith thereby leading themselves to live in mortal sin and certainly in danger of losing eternal life. Some in this state of mortal sin, unabashedly also receive the Most Holy Body of our Lord during the Holy Qurbana, thereby bringing “judgement against themselves” (1 Cor. 11:29)

4. Small families

Albeit, government advertisements may proclaim “Choota Parivaar, Sukhi Pariwar”, the presence of many children in the family strengthens the marital bonds, because studies enlighten that the couples with many children are less prone to divorce or separation. The over-concentrated attention to one child creates egocentric disposition, inability for tolerance and ill preparedness for resolving harsh realities of life. Even the families with two children are not entirely out of these dangers and spouses are called to be parents of as many children as their familial, social, financial and physical proficiencies. The number of children in a marital union is the prayerful decision of the spouses who have accepted from the Lord the vocation to receive with happiness the children he gifts to them. The nuclear families needs to interact with the wider family made up of parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and even neighbours.

5. Intimacy, communication, work and finance:

The harmony of family is disturbed by lack of intimacy and communication between the spouses, divergence of behavioural peculiarities of the spouses and biased or prejudiced notions on the family of the in-laws. A crisis in a couple’s relationship destabilises the family and may lead to separation. Marital problems are often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect to make sacrifices and to forgive on another. Working hours are long and oftentimes made more burdensome by extended periods from home. This situation does not help family members to gather together or parents to be with their children in such a way as to nurture their relationships each day. The rhythm of family is further derailed by mismanagement of the financial matters

smoking and drugs also affects the family in its growth and health, because living with addiction can put family members under unusual stress and normal routines are constantly being interrupted by unexpected or even frightening kinds of experiences that are part of living with drug users. The children in the families of the addicts to alcohol or drug live in the intense emotional environment that can set up a feeling of fear or patterns of attachment that are filled with anxiety and ambivalence.

7. Erroneous Values of Modern Society

It is easy nowadays to confuse genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily, as if there is no truths, values and principles to provide guidance. The exaggerated notion of individualism and the consequent cry for privacy in general and the fierce movements of feminism pose dangers to the family bonds. Individualism that ascertains the sovereignty of individuals over community and promotes the right to live according to one’s own judgment without any consideration for the other weakens family ties by its demands for privacy from and non-intervention by even the parents. The individualism so prevalent today can lead to creating small nests of security, where others are perceived as bothersome or a threat.

Consumerism that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts and gives prominence only to money and the ‘throw-away culture’ that assesses anything according to its utility. This outlook of consumerism moves stealthily into all relationships, especially among family members. Pope Francis’ ‘Amoris Latetitia’ reiterates “We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects: everything is disposable; everyone uses and throws away, takes and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the last drop. Then, goodbye.”

CONCLUSION

On their wedding day, the bride and groom pledges by the Holy Gospel “to live in love and fidelity, and with oneness of mind, in joy and sorrow, in wealth and want, in health and sickness, from this day, till the hour of our death” and invokes the blessing of Almighty God to help them live in accord with this promise. Sooner or later, all couples face the “sorrow” or “want” or “sickness” in their marriage. According to Pope Francis, “Matrimony is a work of every day; I could say a craftwork, a goldsmith’s work, because the husband has the task to make his wife more ‘woman’ and the wife has the task to make her husband more ‘man’. It is called growing together. This doesn’t come from the air!”

We all know that the perfect family doesn’t exist, nor the perfect husband, or the perfect wife. Pope Francis exhorts every family should look to the Holy Family of Nazareth and invoke their protection. The Holy Family will not fail to help Christian families and all the families in the world, to be faithful to their day-to-day duties, to bear the cares and tribulations of life, to be open and generous to the needs of others, and to fulfil with joy the plan of God in their lives.

“This is a question that must be asked” he said “is it possible to love each other ‘forever’? Today everything changes rapidly; nothing lasts long”

and not leaving within the means. EMI’s have often caused an addition burden difficult to carry.

6. Addictions

Social networking media: These are the modern day destroyer of the harmony and affinitive web of family. The excessive use of social networking media leads in behavioural addiction, resulting in the view that social media is inevitable mechanism to relieve stress, loneliness or depression. The obsessive preference for virtual networking over real relationship results in withdrawal from active interaction in the family and liming oneself to a world of imagination and inability to establish meaningful human relations. The negative impact of the addiction to social media is replicated by the addiction to video games in its behavioural obsessiveness and consequent contra-effect on family.

Pornography: It has the ability to exploit and degrade the human person, undermines marriages and families and twists personal and social relation. The addiction to pornography leads to distorted ideas of physical relationship and over-expectations from the life-partner. Such addicts often try to imitate the porn-stars and end up in

unsatisfied marital relationship. This contributes to the commission of sexual violence and child molestation, and reduces God’s gift of sexuality to a level that lacks a sense of the personal dignity, human tenderness, mutual love and ethical commitment that are part of the divine plan. They are also led to sexual perversion and socially unacceptable behaviour.

Televisions & Computers: Effects of television addiction on family life are detrimental because it affects the psychological balance of a person, makes one postpone important responsibilities and disharmonise relationships. Addiction to particular television serials programmes the mind of the viewer to over or misplaced expression of emotions and changes ones beliefs about life to an imaginary world. This addiction results in guilt feeling, because television or computer addiction is associated with delaying important tasks or wasting time that should be allocated to your family.

Alcoholism, smoking and drugs: Alcoholism disturbs the affinitive equilibrium and financial balance of family and creates many health-related

issues. Similarly, addiction

to

INTRODUCTION

Among the numerous blessings that God has showered upon us in Jesus Christ, is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the humankind. While marriage is a special blessing for Christians because of the grace of Christ, marriage is also a natural blessing and gift for everyone in all times and cultures. It is a source of blessing to the couple, to their families, and to society and includes the wondrous gift of co-creating human life. Indeed, as St. Pope John Paul II is never tired

of reminding us – “the future of humanity depends on marriage and the family.”

As modern society undergoes both natural and forced transformation at all levels, its basic unit – the family struggles to hold on to its traditional and efficacious qualities. The weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differ¬ences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children.

CHALLENGES

Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. At a moment of history in which the family is the object of numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform it, and aware that the well-being of society and her own good are intimately tied to the good of the family, the church perceives in a more urgent and compelling way her mission of proclaiming to all people the plan of God for marriage and the challenges facing the family in the modern world.

1. Fear and apprehension about entering Marriage

There is a growing tendency among young people to an unjustifiable postponement

of the wedding for obtaining financial, professional and residential settling down. The desire to avoid the failures of other couples, a purely emotional and roman¬tic conception of love, the fear of losing their freedom and independence, the hesitancy to take up the responsibility of married life, force many young people to delay or to turn down married life.

There are also fears associated with

permanent commitment. During an assembly of Pope Francis with the engaged couples, one of them commented that, “to promise faithfulness for the whole of life is too difficult an enterprise; many feel that the challenge to live together forever is beautiful, fascinating, but too demanding, almost impossible.” Responding to the remark, Pope Francis narrated how a little boy “requested his Bishop that he wants to be a priest, but only for 10 years. The boy was afraid of definite choice.” The Holy Father observed that today so many people are afraid of making definitive choices. “This is a question that must be asked” he said “is it possible to love each other ‘forever’? Today everything changes rapidly; nothing lasts long”

2. Interfaith marriages

When the Almighty God, through Moses, gave his divine law to his chosen people, stern and uncompromising was the prohibition against their mingling in marriage with the children of unbelief: "Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons" (Deut. 7:3) St. Paul in his Second letter to the

Corinthians teaches, there can be no communion between light and darkness; that is, there can be no religious communion between one who has the faith, and one who has not the faith (cf. 6:14). They cannot communicate in faith, in worship, or in the sacraments.

We know that Holy Mother Church wants what is best for her children and what will bring them happiness and fulfilment. The Church has known first hand that, more often, such marriages have inherent obstacles that destroy marriages, such as what religious community to go to worship, what religion should the children be brought up in, and the conflict of different family traditions that are biased on religious observances. Interreligious marriages endanger the institutional, cultural and religious fabric of family, because it causes religious identity crisis between the couple, among children and other family members.

We are aware that Catholic marriage represents and signifies the nuptial union

between Christ and His Church, the profound meaning of which sacramentally affects the spiritual relations of the married pair in Christ, and bestows on them great responsibilities in common as members of the Church. But how can the union between a member of the Church and one who is not one of her members express the union between Christ and the Church? And how can they fulfil united duties toward the Church?

As the Lord God had warned the Israelites, that interfaith marriage “will turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods.” (Deut. 7:4) the Catholic party is exposed to the danger of losing the faith, or of becoming indifferent to it. The Church is also concerned that the Catholic faith education of the children which is generally neglected or often made impossible and most importantly because the non-Catholic party does not believe in the indissolubility of the bonds of marriage.

For these reasons the Church, conscious of her duty, discourages the contracting of interfaith marriages, for the Church is most desirous that Catholics be able in matrimony to attain to perfect union of mind and full communion of life. And the Holy Bible cautions us that “if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mk. 3:25)

3. Civil Marriages

The law of the Church requires the Catholics to marry with the blessing by a priest. Catholics who exchange marriage vows in the presence of only ministers from other religious traditions or authorized civil officials are not considered

validly married, in the opinion of the Catholic Church. St. John Paul II warns that those who opt for civil marriages for ideological or practical reasons lack in the required sacramental grace for the fulfilment of marital obligations and are less committed to the stability of the institution of family. Some of the young people during their marriage in the presence of ministers of other faith unremorsefully renounce their Catholic faith thereby leading themselves to live in mortal sin and certainly in danger of losing eternal life. Some in this state of mortal sin, unabashedly also receive the Most Holy Body of our Lord during the Holy Qurbana, thereby bringing “judgement against themselves” (1 Cor. 11:29)

4. Small families

Albeit, government advertisements may proclaim “Choota Parivaar, Sukhi Pariwar”, the presence of many children in the family strengthens the marital bonds, because studies enlighten that the couples with many children are less prone to divorce or separation. The over-concentrated attention to one child creates egocentric disposition, inability for tolerance and ill preparedness for resolving harsh realities of life. Even the families with two children are not entirely out of these dangers and spouses are called to be parents of as many children as their familial, social, financial and physical proficiencies. The number of children in a marital union is the prayerful decision of the spouses who have accepted from the Lord the vocation to receive with happiness the children he gifts to them. The nuclear families needs to interact with the wider family made up of parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and even neighbours.

5. Intimacy, communication, work and finance:

The harmony of family is disturbed by lack of intimacy and communication between the spouses, divergence of behavioural peculiarities of the spouses and biased or prejudiced notions on the family of the in-laws. A crisis in a couple’s relationship destabilises the family and may lead to separation. Marital problems are often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect to make sacrifices and to forgive on another. Working hours are long and oftentimes made more burdensome by extended periods from home. This situation does not help family members to gather together or parents to be with their children in such a way as to nurture their relationships each day. The rhythm of family is further derailed by mismanagement of the financial matters

smoking and drugs also affects the family in its growth and health, because living with addiction can put family members under unusual stress and normal routines are constantly being interrupted by unexpected or even frightening kinds of experiences that are part of living with drug users. The children in the families of the addicts to alcohol or drug live in the intense emotional environment that can set up a feeling of fear or patterns of attachment that are filled with anxiety and ambivalence.

7. Erroneous Values of Modern Society

It is easy nowadays to confuse genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily, as if there is no truths, values and principles to provide guidance. The exaggerated notion of individualism and the consequent cry for privacy in general and the fierce movements of feminism pose dangers to the family bonds. Individualism that ascertains the sovereignty of individuals over community and promotes the right to live according to one’s own judgment without any consideration for the other weakens family ties by its demands for privacy from and non-intervention by even the parents. The individualism so prevalent today can lead to creating small nests of security, where others are perceived as bothersome or a threat.

Consumerism that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts and gives prominence only to money and the ‘throw-away culture’ that assesses anything according to its utility. This outlook of consumerism moves stealthily into all relationships, especially among family members. Pope Francis’ ‘Amoris Latetitia’ reiterates “We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects: everything is disposable; everyone uses and throws away, takes and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the last drop. Then, goodbye.”

CONCLUSION

On their wedding day, the bride and groom pledges by the Holy Gospel “to live in love and fidelity, and with oneness of mind, in joy and sorrow, in wealth and want, in health and sickness, from this day, till the hour of our death” and invokes the blessing of Almighty God to help them live in accord with this promise. Sooner or later, all couples face the “sorrow” or “want” or “sickness” in their marriage. According to Pope Francis, “Matrimony is a work of every day; I could say a craftwork, a goldsmith’s work, because the husband has the task to make his wife more ‘woman’ and the wife has the task to make her husband more ‘man’. It is called growing together. This doesn’t come from the air!”

We all know that the perfect family doesn’t exist, nor the perfect husband, or the perfect wife. Pope Francis exhorts every family should look to the Holy Family of Nazareth and invoke their protection. The Holy Family will not fail to help Christian families and all the families in the world, to be faithful to their day-to-day duties, to bear the cares and tribulations of life, to be open and generous to the needs of others, and to fulfil with joy the plan of God in their lives.

and not leaving within the means. EMI’s have often caused an addition burden difficult to carry.

6. Addictions

Social networking media: These are the modern day destroyer of the harmony and affinitive web of family. The excessive use of social networking media leads in behavioural addiction, resulting in the view that social media is inevitable mechanism to relieve stress, loneliness or depression. The obsessive preference for virtual networking over real relationship results in withdrawal from active interaction in the family and liming oneself to a world of imagination and inability to establish meaningful human relations. The negative impact of the addiction to social media is replicated by the addiction to video games in its behavioural obsessiveness and consequent contra-effect on family.

Pornography: It has the ability to exploit and degrade the human person, undermines marriages and families and twists personal and social relation. The addiction to pornography leads to distorted ideas of physical relationship and over-expectations from the life-partner. Such addicts often try to imitate the porn-stars and end up in

unsatisfied marital relationship. This contributes to the commission of sexual violence and child molestation, and reduces God’s gift of sexuality to a level that lacks a sense of the personal dignity, human tenderness, mutual love and ethical commitment that are part of the divine plan. They are also led to sexual perversion and socially unacceptable behaviour.

Televisions & Computers: Effects of television addiction on family life are detrimental because it affects the psychological balance of a person, makes one postpone important responsibilities and disharmonise relationships. Addiction to particular television serials programmes the mind of the viewer to over or misplaced expression of emotions and changes ones beliefs about life to an imaginary world. This addiction results in guilt feeling, because television or computer addiction is associated with delaying important tasks or wasting time that should be allocated to your family.

Alcoholism, smoking and drugs: Alcoholism disturbs the affinitive equilibrium and financial balance of family and creates many health-related

issues. Similarly, addiction

to

INTRODUCTION

Among the numerous blessings that God has showered upon us in Jesus Christ, is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the humankind. While marriage is a special blessing for Christians because of the grace of Christ, marriage is also a natural blessing and gift for everyone in all times and cultures. It is a source of blessing to the couple, to their families, and to society and includes the wondrous gift of co-creating human life. Indeed, as St. Pope John Paul II is never tired

of reminding us – “the future of humanity depends on marriage and the family.”

As modern society undergoes both natural and forced transformation at all levels, its basic unit – the family struggles to hold on to its traditional and efficacious qualities. The weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differ¬ences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children.

CHALLENGES

Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. At a moment of history in which the family is the object of numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform it, and aware that the well-being of society and her own good are intimately tied to the good of the family, the church perceives in a more urgent and compelling way her mission of proclaiming to all people the plan of God for marriage and the challenges facing the family in the modern world.

1. Fear and apprehension about entering Marriage

There is a growing tendency among young people to an unjustifiable postponement

of the wedding for obtaining financial, professional and residential settling down. The desire to avoid the failures of other couples, a purely emotional and roman¬tic conception of love, the fear of losing their freedom and independence, the hesitancy to take up the responsibility of married life, force many young people to delay or to turn down married life.

There are also fears associated with

permanent commitment. During an assembly of Pope Francis with the engaged couples, one of them commented that, “to promise faithfulness for the whole of life is too difficult an enterprise; many feel that the challenge to live together forever is beautiful, fascinating, but too demanding, almost impossible.” Responding to the remark, Pope Francis narrated how a little boy “requested his Bishop that he wants to be a priest, but only for 10 years. The boy was afraid of definite choice.” The Holy Father observed that today so many people are afraid of making definitive choices. “This is a question that must be asked” he said “is it possible to love each other ‘forever’? Today everything changes rapidly; nothing lasts long”

2. Interfaith marriages

When the Almighty God, through Moses, gave his divine law to his chosen people, stern and uncompromising was the prohibition against their mingling in marriage with the children of unbelief: "Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons" (Deut. 7:3) St. Paul in his Second letter to the

Corinthians teaches, there can be no communion between light and darkness; that is, there can be no religious communion between one who has the faith, and one who has not the faith (cf. 6:14). They cannot communicate in faith, in worship, or in the sacraments.

We know that Holy Mother Church wants what is best for her children and what will bring them happiness and fulfilment. The Church has known first hand that, more often, such marriages have inherent obstacles that destroy marriages, such as what religious community to go to worship, what religion should the children be brought up in, and the conflict of different family traditions that are biased on religious observances. Interreligious marriages endanger the institutional, cultural and religious fabric of family, because it causes religious identity crisis between the couple, among children and other family members.

We are aware that Catholic marriage represents and signifies the nuptial union

between Christ and His Church, the profound meaning of which sacramentally affects the spiritual relations of the married pair in Christ, and bestows on them great responsibilities in common as members of the Church. But how can the union between a member of the Church and one who is not one of her members express the union between Christ and the Church? And how can they fulfil united duties toward the Church?

As the Lord God had warned the Israelites, that interfaith marriage “will turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods.” (Deut. 7:4) the Catholic party is exposed to the danger of losing the faith, or of becoming indifferent to it. The Church is also concerned that the Catholic faith education of the children which is generally neglected or often made impossible and most importantly because the non-Catholic party does not believe in the indissolubility of the bonds of marriage.

For these reasons the Church, conscious of her duty, discourages the contracting of interfaith marriages, for the Church is most desirous that Catholics be able in matrimony to attain to perfect union of mind and full communion of life. And the Holy Bible cautions us that “if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mk. 3:25)

3. Civil Marriages

The law of the Church requires the Catholics to marry with the blessing by a priest. Catholics who exchange marriage vows in the presence of only ministers from other religious traditions or authorized civil officials are not considered

validly married, in the opinion of the Catholic Church. St. John Paul II warns that those who opt for civil marriages for ideological or practical reasons lack in the required sacramental grace for the fulfilment of marital obligations and are less committed to the stability of the institution of family. Some of the young people during their marriage in the presence of ministers of other faith unremorsefully renounce their Catholic faith thereby leading themselves to live in mortal sin and certainly in danger of losing eternal life. Some in this state of mortal sin, unabashedly also receive the Most Holy Body of our Lord during the Holy Qurbana, thereby bringing “judgement against themselves” (1 Cor. 11:29)

4. Small families

Albeit, government advertisements may proclaim “Choota Parivaar, Sukhi Pariwar”, the presence of many children in the family strengthens the marital bonds, because studies enlighten that the couples with many children are less prone to divorce or separation. The over-concentrated attention to one child creates egocentric disposition, inability for tolerance and ill preparedness for resolving harsh realities of life. Even the families with two children are not entirely out of these dangers and spouses are called to be parents of as many children as their familial, social, financial and physical proficiencies. The number of children in a marital union is the prayerful decision of the spouses who have accepted from the Lord the vocation to receive with happiness the children he gifts to them. The nuclear families needs to interact with the wider family made up of parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and even neighbours.

5. Intimacy, communication, work and finance:

The harmony of family is disturbed by lack of intimacy and communication between the spouses, divergence of behavioural peculiarities of the spouses and biased or prejudiced notions on the family of the in-laws. A crisis in a couple’s relationship destabilises the family and may lead to separation. Marital problems are often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect to make sacrifices and to forgive on another. Working hours are long and oftentimes made more burdensome by extended periods from home. This situation does not help family members to gather together or parents to be with their children in such a way as to nurture their relationships each day. The rhythm of family is further derailed by mismanagement of the financial matters

smoking and drugs also affects the family in its growth and health, because living with addiction can put family members under unusual stress and normal routines are constantly being interrupted by unexpected or even frightening kinds of experiences that are part of living with drug users. The children in the families of the addicts to alcohol or drug live in the intense emotional environment that can set up a feeling of fear or patterns of attachment that are filled with anxiety and ambivalence.

7. Erroneous Values of Modern Society

It is easy nowadays to confuse genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily, as if there is no truths, values and principles to provide guidance. The exaggerated notion of individualism and the consequent cry for privacy in general and the fierce movements of feminism pose dangers to the family bonds. Individualism that ascertains the sovereignty of individuals over community and promotes the right to live according to one’s own judgment without any consideration for the other weakens family ties by its demands for privacy from and non-intervention by even the parents. The individualism so prevalent today can lead to creating small nests of security, where others are perceived as bothersome or a threat.

Consumerism that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts and gives prominence only to money and the ‘throw-away culture’ that assesses anything according to its utility. This outlook of consumerism moves stealthily into all relationships, especially among family members. Pope Francis’ ‘Amoris Latetitia’ reiterates “We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects: everything is disposable; everyone uses and throws away, takes and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the last drop. Then, goodbye.”

CONCLUSION

On their wedding day, the bride and groom pledges by the Holy Gospel “to live in love and fidelity, and with oneness of mind, in joy and sorrow, in wealth and want, in health and sickness, from this day, till the hour of our death” and invokes the blessing of Almighty God to help them live in accord with this promise. Sooner or later, all couples face the “sorrow” or “want” or “sickness” in their marriage. According to Pope Francis, “Matrimony is a work of every day; I could say a craftwork, a goldsmith’s work, because the husband has the task to make his wife more ‘woman’ and the wife has the task to make her husband more ‘man’. It is called growing together. This doesn’t come from the air!”

We all know that the perfect family doesn’t exist, nor the perfect husband, or the perfect wife. Pope Francis exhorts every family should look to the Holy Family of Nazareth and invoke their protection. The Holy Family will not fail to help Christian families and all the families in the world, to be faithful to their day-to-day duties, to bear the cares and tribulations of life, to be open and generous to the needs of others, and to fulfil with joy the plan of God in their lives.

and not leaving within the means. EMI’s have often caused an addition burden difficult to carry.

6. Addictions

Social networking media: These are the modern day destroyer of the harmony and affinitive web of family. The excessive use of social networking media leads in behavioural addiction, resulting in the view that social media is inevitable mechanism to relieve stress, loneliness or depression. The obsessive preference for virtual networking over real relationship results in withdrawal from active interaction in the family and liming oneself to a world of imagination and inability to establish meaningful human relations. The negative impact of the addiction to social media is replicated by the addiction to video games in its behavioural obsessiveness and consequent contra-effect on family.

Pornography: It has the ability to exploit and degrade the human person, undermines marriages and families and twists personal and social relation. The addiction to pornography leads to distorted ideas of physical relationship and over-expectations from the life-partner. Such addicts often try to imitate the porn-stars and end up in

unsatisfied marital relationship. This contributes to the commission of sexual violence and child molestation, and reduces God’s gift of sexuality to a level that lacks a sense of the personal dignity, human tenderness, mutual love and ethical commitment that are part of the divine plan. They are also led to sexual perversion and socially unacceptable behaviour.

Televisions & Computers: Effects of television addiction on family life are detrimental because it affects the psychological balance of a person, makes one postpone important responsibilities and disharmonise relationships. Addiction to particular television serials programmes the mind of the viewer to over or misplaced expression of emotions and changes ones beliefs about life to an imaginary world. This addiction results in guilt feeling, because television or computer addiction is associated with delaying important tasks or wasting time that should be allocated to your family.

Alcoholism, smoking and drugs: Alcoholism disturbs the affinitive equilibrium and financial balance of family and creates many health-related

issues. Similarly, addiction

to

INTRODUCTION

Among the numerous blessings that God has showered upon us in Jesus Christ, is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the humankind. While marriage is a special blessing for Christians because of the grace of Christ, marriage is also a natural blessing and gift for everyone in all times and cultures. It is a source of blessing to the couple, to their families, and to society and includes the wondrous gift of co-creating human life. Indeed, as St. Pope John Paul II is never tired

of reminding us – “the future of humanity depends on marriage and the family.”

As modern society undergoes both natural and forced transformation at all levels, its basic unit – the family struggles to hold on to its traditional and efficacious qualities. The weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differ¬ences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children.

CHALLENGES

Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. At a moment of history in which the family is the object of numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform it, and aware that the well-being of society and her own good are intimately tied to the good of the family, the church perceives in a more urgent and compelling way her mission of proclaiming to all people the plan of God for marriage and the challenges facing the family in the modern world.

1. Fear and apprehension about entering Marriage

There is a growing tendency among young people to an unjustifiable postponement

of the wedding for obtaining financial, professional and residential settling down. The desire to avoid the failures of other couples, a purely emotional and roman¬tic conception of love, the fear of losing their freedom and independence, the hesitancy to take up the responsibility of married life, force many young people to delay or to turn down married life.

There are also fears associated with

permanent commitment. During an assembly of Pope Francis with the engaged couples, one of them commented that, “to promise faithfulness for the whole of life is too difficult an enterprise; many feel that the challenge to live together forever is beautiful, fascinating, but too demanding, almost impossible.” Responding to the remark, Pope Francis narrated how a little boy “requested his Bishop that he wants to be a priest, but only for 10 years. The boy was afraid of definite choice.” The Holy Father observed that today so many people are afraid of making definitive choices. “This is a question that must be asked” he said “is it possible to love each other ‘forever’? Today everything changes rapidly; nothing lasts long”

2. Interfaith marriages

When the Almighty God, through Moses, gave his divine law to his chosen people, stern and uncompromising was the prohibition against their mingling in marriage with the children of unbelief: "Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons" (Deut. 7:3) St. Paul in his Second letter to the

Corinthians teaches, there can be no communion between light and darkness; that is, there can be no religious communion between one who has the faith, and one who has not the faith (cf. 6:14). They cannot communicate in faith, in worship, or in the sacraments.

We know that Holy Mother Church wants what is best for her children and what will bring them happiness and fulfilment. The Church has known first hand that, more often, such marriages have inherent obstacles that destroy marriages, such as what religious community to go to worship, what religion should the children be brought up in, and the conflict of different family traditions that are biased on religious observances. Interreligious marriages endanger the institutional, cultural and religious fabric of family, because it causes religious identity crisis between the couple, among children and other family members.

We are aware that Catholic marriage represents and signifies the nuptial union

between Christ and His Church, the profound meaning of which sacramentally affects the spiritual relations of the married pair in Christ, and bestows on them great responsibilities in common as members of the Church. But how can the union between a member of the Church and one who is not one of her members express the union between Christ and the Church? And how can they fulfil united duties toward the Church?

As the Lord God had warned the Israelites, that interfaith marriage “will turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods.” (Deut. 7:4) the Catholic party is exposed to the danger of losing the faith, or of becoming indifferent to it. The Church is also concerned that the Catholic faith education of the children which is generally neglected or often made impossible and most importantly because the non-Catholic party does not believe in the indissolubility of the bonds of marriage.

For these reasons the Church, conscious of her duty, discourages the contracting of interfaith marriages, for the Church is most desirous that Catholics be able in matrimony to attain to perfect union of mind and full communion of life. And the Holy Bible cautions us that “if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mk. 3:25)

3. Civil Marriages

The law of the Church requires the Catholics to marry with the blessing by a priest. Catholics who exchange marriage vows in the presence of only ministers from other religious traditions or authorized civil officials are not considered

validly married, in the opinion of the Catholic Church. St. John Paul II warns that those who opt for civil marriages for ideological or practical reasons lack in the required sacramental grace for the fulfilment of marital obligations and are less committed to the stability of the institution of family. Some of the young people during their marriage in the presence of ministers of other faith unremorsefully renounce their Catholic faith thereby leading themselves to live in mortal sin and certainly in danger of losing eternal life. Some in this state of mortal sin, unabashedly also receive the Most Holy Body of our Lord during the Holy Qurbana, thereby bringing “judgement against themselves” (1 Cor. 11:29)

4. Small families

Albeit, government advertisements may proclaim “Choota Parivaar, Sukhi Pariwar”, the presence of many children in the family strengthens the marital bonds, because studies enlighten that the couples with many children are less prone to divorce or separation. The over-concentrated attention to one child creates egocentric disposition, inability for tolerance and ill preparedness for resolving harsh realities of life. Even the families with two children are not entirely out of these dangers and spouses are called to be parents of as many children as their familial, social, financial and physical proficiencies. The number of children in a marital union is the prayerful decision of the spouses who have accepted from the Lord the vocation to receive with happiness the children he gifts to them. The nuclear families needs to interact with the wider family made up of parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and even neighbours.

5. Intimacy, communication, work and finance:

The harmony of family is disturbed by lack of intimacy and communication between the spouses, divergence of behavioural peculiarities of the spouses and biased or prejudiced notions on the family of the in-laws. A crisis in a couple’s relationship destabilises the family and may lead to separation. Marital problems are often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect to make sacrifices and to forgive on another. Working hours are long and oftentimes made more burdensome by extended periods from home. This situation does not help family members to gather together or parents to be with their children in such a way as to nurture their relationships each day. The rhythm of family is further derailed by mismanagement of the financial matters

smoking and drugs also affects the family in its growth and health, because living with addiction can put family members under unusual stress and normal routines are constantly being interrupted by unexpected or even frightening kinds of experiences that are part of living with drug users. The children in the families of the addicts to alcohol or drug live in the intense emotional environment that can set up a feeling of fear or patterns of attachment that are filled with anxiety and ambivalence.

7. Erroneous Values of Modern Society

It is easy nowadays to confuse genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily, as if there is no truths, values and principles to provide guidance. The exaggerated notion of individualism and the consequent cry for privacy in general and the fierce movements of feminism pose dangers to the family bonds. Individualism that ascertains the sovereignty of individuals over community and promotes the right to live according to one’s own judgment without any consideration for the other weakens family ties by its demands for privacy from and non-intervention by even the parents. The individualism so prevalent today can lead to creating small nests of security, where others are perceived as bothersome or a threat.

Consumerism that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts and gives prominence only to money and the ‘throw-away culture’ that assesses anything according to its utility. This outlook of consumerism moves stealthily into all relationships, especially among family members. Pope Francis’ ‘Amoris Latetitia’ reiterates “We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects: everything is disposable; everyone uses and throws away, takes and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the last drop. Then, goodbye.”

CONCLUSION

On their wedding day, the bride and groom pledges by the Holy Gospel “to live in love and fidelity, and with oneness of mind, in joy and sorrow, in wealth and want, in health and sickness, from this day, till the hour of our death” and invokes the blessing of Almighty God to help them live in accord with this promise. Sooner or later, all couples face the “sorrow” or “want” or “sickness” in their marriage. According to Pope Francis, “Matrimony is a work of every day; I could say a craftwork, a goldsmith’s work, because the husband has the task to make his wife more ‘woman’ and the wife has the task to make her husband more ‘man’. It is called growing together. This doesn’t come from the air!”

We all know that the perfect family doesn’t exist, nor the perfect husband, or the perfect wife. Pope Francis exhorts every family should look to the Holy Family of Nazareth and invoke their protection. The Holy Family will not fail to help Christian families and all the families in the world, to be faithful to their day-to-day duties, to bear the cares and tribulations of life, to be open and generous to the needs of others, and to fulfil with joy the plan of God in their lives.

and not leaving within the means. EMI’s have often caused an addition burden difficult to carry.

6. Addictions

Social networking media: These are the modern day destroyer of the harmony and affinitive web of family. The excessive use of social networking media leads in behavioural addiction, resulting in the view that social media is inevitable mechanism to relieve stress, loneliness or depression. The obsessive preference for virtual networking over real relationship results in withdrawal from active interaction in the family and liming oneself to a world of imagination and inability to establish meaningful human relations. The negative impact of the addiction to social media is replicated by the addiction to video games in its behavioural obsessiveness and consequent contra-effect on family.

Pornography: It has the ability to exploit and degrade the human person, undermines marriages and families and twists personal and social relation. The addiction to pornography leads to distorted ideas of physical relationship and over-expectations from the life-partner. Such addicts often try to imitate the porn-stars and end up in

unsatisfied marital relationship. This contributes to the commission of sexual violence and child molestation, and reduces God’s gift of sexuality to a level that lacks a sense of the personal dignity, human tenderness, mutual love and ethical commitment that are part of the divine plan. They are also led to sexual perversion and socially unacceptable behaviour.

Televisions & Computers: Effects of television addiction on family life are detrimental because it affects the psychological balance of a person, makes one postpone important responsibilities and disharmonise relationships. Addiction to particular television serials programmes the mind of the viewer to over or misplaced expression of emotions and changes ones beliefs about life to an imaginary world. This addiction results in guilt feeling, because television or computer addiction is associated with delaying important tasks or wasting time that should be allocated to your family.

Alcoholism, smoking and drugs: Alcoholism disturbs the affinitive equilibrium and financial balance of family and creates many health-related

issues. Similarly, addiction

to

INTRODUCTION

Among the numerous blessings that God has showered upon us in Jesus Christ, is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the humankind. While marriage is a special blessing for Christians because of the grace of Christ, marriage is also a natural blessing and gift for everyone in all times and cultures. It is a source of blessing to the couple, to their families, and to society and includes the wondrous gift of co-creating human life. Indeed, as St. Pope John Paul II is never tired

of reminding us – “the future of humanity depends on marriage and the family.”

As modern society undergoes both natural and forced transformation at all levels, its basic unit – the family struggles to hold on to its traditional and efficacious qualities. The weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differ¬ences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children.

CHALLENGES

Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. At a moment of history in which the family is the object of numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform it, and aware that the well-being of society and her own good are intimately tied to the good of the family, the church perceives in a more urgent and compelling way her mission of proclaiming to all people the plan of God for marriage and the challenges facing the family in the modern world.

1. Fear and apprehension about entering Marriage

There is a growing tendency among young people to an unjustifiable postponement

of the wedding for obtaining financial, professional and residential settling down. The desire to avoid the failures of other couples, a purely emotional and roman¬tic conception of love, the fear of losing their freedom and independence, the hesitancy to take up the responsibility of married life, force many young people to delay or to turn down married life.

There are also fears associated with

permanent commitment. During an assembly of Pope Francis with the engaged couples, one of them commented that, “to promise faithfulness for the whole of life is too difficult an enterprise; many feel that the challenge to live together forever is beautiful, fascinating, but too demanding, almost impossible.” Responding to the remark, Pope Francis narrated how a little boy “requested his Bishop that he wants to be a priest, but only for 10 years. The boy was afraid of definite choice.” The Holy Father observed that today so many people are afraid of making definitive choices. “This is a question that must be asked” he said “is it possible to love each other ‘forever’? Today everything changes rapidly; nothing lasts long”

2. Interfaith marriages

When the Almighty God, through Moses, gave his divine law to his chosen people, stern and uncompromising was the prohibition against their mingling in marriage with the children of unbelief: "Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons" (Deut. 7:3) St. Paul in his Second letter to the

Corinthians teaches, there can be no communion between light and darkness; that is, there can be no religious communion between one who has the faith, and one who has not the faith (cf. 6:14). They cannot communicate in faith, in worship, or in the sacraments.

We know that Holy Mother Church wants what is best for her children and what will bring them happiness and fulfilment. The Church has known first hand that, more often, such marriages have inherent obstacles that destroy marriages, such as what religious community to go to worship, what religion should the children be brought up in, and the conflict of different family traditions that are biased on religious observances. Interreligious marriages endanger the institutional, cultural and religious fabric of family, because it causes religious identity crisis between the couple, among children and other family members.

We are aware that Catholic marriage represents and signifies the nuptial union

between Christ and His Church, the profound meaning of which sacramentally affects the spiritual relations of the married pair in Christ, and bestows on them great responsibilities in common as members of the Church. But how can the union between a member of the Church and one who is not one of her members express the union between Christ and the Church? And how can they fulfil united duties toward the Church?

As the Lord God had warned the Israelites, that interfaith marriage “will turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods.” (Deut. 7:4) the Catholic party is exposed to the danger of losing the faith, or of becoming indifferent to it. The Church is also concerned that the Catholic faith education of the children which is generally neglected or often made impossible and most importantly because the non-Catholic party does not believe in the indissolubility of the bonds of marriage.

For these reasons the Church, conscious of her duty, discourages the contracting of interfaith marriages, for the Church is most desirous that Catholics be able in matrimony to attain to perfect union of mind and full communion of life. And the Holy Bible cautions us that “if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mk. 3:25)

3. Civil Marriages

The law of the Church requires the Catholics to marry with the blessing by a priest. Catholics who exchange marriage vows in the presence of only ministers from other religious traditions or authorized civil officials are not considered

validly married, in the opinion of the Catholic Church. St. John Paul II warns that those who opt for civil marriages for ideological or practical reasons lack in the required sacramental grace for the fulfilment of marital obligations and are less committed to the stability of the institution of family. Some of the young people during their marriage in the presence of ministers of other faith unremorsefully renounce their Catholic faith thereby leading themselves to live in mortal sin and certainly in danger of losing eternal life. Some in this state of mortal sin, unabashedly also receive the Most Holy Body of our Lord during the Holy Qurbana, thereby bringing “judgement against themselves” (1 Cor. 11:29)

4. Small families

Albeit, government advertisements may proclaim “Choota Parivaar, Sukhi Pariwar”, the presence of many children in the family strengthens the marital bonds, because studies enlighten that the couples with many children are less prone to divorce or separation. The over-concentrated attention to one child creates egocentric disposition, inability for tolerance and ill preparedness for resolving harsh realities of life. Even the families with two children are not entirely out of these dangers and spouses are called to be parents of as many children as their familial, social, financial and physical proficiencies. The number of children in a marital union is the prayerful decision of the spouses who have accepted from the Lord the vocation to receive with happiness the children he gifts to them. The nuclear families needs to interact with the wider family made up of parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and even neighbours.

5. Intimacy, communication, work and finance:

The harmony of family is disturbed by lack of intimacy and communication between the spouses, divergence of behavioural peculiarities of the spouses and biased or prejudiced notions on the family of the in-laws. A crisis in a couple’s relationship destabilises the family and may lead to separation. Marital problems are often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect to make sacrifices and to forgive on another. Working hours are long and oftentimes made more burdensome by extended periods from home. This situation does not help family members to gather together or parents to be with their children in such a way as to nurture their relationships each day. The rhythm of family is further derailed by mismanagement of the financial matters

smoking and drugs also affects the family in its growth and health, because living with addiction can put family members under unusual stress and normal routines are constantly being interrupted by unexpected or even frightening kinds of experiences that are part of living with drug users. The children in the families of the addicts to alcohol or drug live in the intense emotional environment that can set up a feeling of fear or patterns of attachment that are filled with anxiety and ambivalence.

7. Erroneous Values of Modern Society

It is easy nowadays to confuse genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily, as if there is no truths, values and principles to provide guidance. The exaggerated notion of individualism and the consequent cry for privacy in general and the fierce movements of feminism pose dangers to the family bonds. Individualism that ascertains the sovereignty of individuals over community and promotes the right to live according to one’s own judgment without any consideration for the other weakens family ties by its demands for privacy from and non-intervention by even the parents. The individualism so prevalent today can lead to creating small nests of security, where others are perceived as bothersome or a threat.

Consumerism that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts and gives prominence only to money and the ‘throw-away culture’ that assesses anything according to its utility. This outlook of consumerism moves stealthily into all relationships, especially among family members. Pope Francis’ ‘Amoris Latetitia’ reiterates “We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects: everything is disposable; everyone uses and throws away, takes and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the last drop. Then, goodbye.”

CONCLUSION

On their wedding day, the bride and groom pledges by the Holy Gospel “to live in love and fidelity, and with oneness of mind, in joy and sorrow, in wealth and want, in health and sickness, from this day, till the hour of our death” and invokes the blessing of Almighty God to help them live in accord with this promise. Sooner or later, all couples face the “sorrow” or “want” or “sickness” in their marriage. According to Pope Francis, “Matrimony is a work of every day; I could say a craftwork, a goldsmith’s work, because the husband has the task to make his wife more ‘woman’ and the wife has the task to make her husband more ‘man’. It is called growing together. This doesn’t come from the air!”

We all know that the perfect family doesn’t exist, nor the perfect husband, or the perfect wife. Pope Francis exhorts every family should look to the Holy Family of Nazareth and invoke their protection. The Holy Family will not fail to help Christian families and all the families in the world, to be faithful to their day-to-day duties, to bear the cares and tribulations of life, to be open and generous to the needs of others, and to fulfil with joy the plan of God in their lives.

and not leaving within the means. EMI’s have often caused an addition burden difficult to carry.

6. Addictions

Social networking media: These are the modern day destroyer of the harmony and affinitive web of family. The excessive use of social networking media leads in behavioural addiction, resulting in the view that social media is inevitable mechanism to relieve stress, loneliness or depression. The obsessive preference for virtual networking over real relationship results in withdrawal from active interaction in the family and liming oneself to a world of imagination and inability to establish meaningful human relations. The negative impact of the addiction to social media is replicated by the addiction to video games in its behavioural obsessiveness and consequent contra-effect on family.

Pornography: It has the ability to exploit and degrade the human person, undermines marriages and families and twists personal and social relation. The addiction to pornography leads to distorted ideas of physical relationship and over-expectations from the life-partner. Such addicts often try to imitate the porn-stars and end up in

unsatisfied marital relationship. This contributes to the commission of sexual violence and child molestation, and reduces God’s gift of sexuality to a level that lacks a sense of the personal dignity, human tenderness, mutual love and ethical commitment that are part of the divine plan. They are also led to sexual perversion and socially unacceptable behaviour.

Televisions & Computers: Effects of television addiction on family life are detrimental because it affects the psychological balance of a person, makes one postpone important responsibilities and disharmonise relationships. Addiction to particular television serials programmes the mind of the viewer to over or misplaced expression of emotions and changes ones beliefs about life to an imaginary world. This addiction results in guilt feeling, because television or computer addiction is associated with delaying important tasks or wasting time that should be allocated to your family.

Alcoholism, smoking and drugs: Alcoholism disturbs the affinitive equilibrium and financial balance of family and creates many health-related

issues. Similarly, addiction

to