Posted on 01/07/2011 12:37:15 PM PST by Stourme
You don’t want to see my pale body.Trust me.
Jennifer holds a BA degree from Smith College[1][dead link] and resides in Newton, MA with her partner, Cheryl Jacques and their twin sons, Timmy and Tommy. [2]
Or is that Tommy and Timmy?
If your dog is black, you, my friend, are already in a heap'o'trouble. Get an attorney.
Black Lassie, fat and sassy
She started poor, aw
But now she's rich
She's the queen
Of the doggy world
Black Lassie is a ghetto
(Sssh, don't you say it)
But I'm talking about Black Lassie
-Johnny Stash (aka Cheech and Chong)
Wonder if I can use it as the cover shot on my new kids' book
Ain't it jes' wunneful? I especially like the way these two have decided to keep this low-profile, so as not to make it too hard on the boys.
Gator, I am grateful that you are quoting... and not the author of that dogerel.
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as A Model for Family Life In a Climate of Declining Family Values
By Deacon John Kranz
Trinitarian Anthropology provides insight on the Holy Family as a source of theological truth on the family. As Jesus is the ontological fullness of human personhood, I.e., through his union with human nature human nature comes into its fullness, even so the Holy Family reveals the fullness of family life. Through the presence of the Holy Family in faith and in our homes, family comes into its fullness as a communion of persons. By reflecting on the state of family a few decades ago, where it stands today, and where it might be tomorrow, and holding these in contrast to The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we can better discern what many professionals claim are the negative elements in contemporary family which have contributed to it’s weakened state.
Admittedly one’s perspective on the state of family has everything to do with his or her socio-political views. The statistics I am about to share might prove troubling only when juxtaposed against a thorough understanding of the teachings of our faith. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the marriage rate plummeted while divorce rates and unwed birth percentages skyrocketed. In a research brief published on the American family, it stated that part of the reason for both the drop in marriage and the increase in unwed births was due to the dramatic rise in the number of people living together outside of marriage, which has only increased over the past decades and even jumped from 2,856,000 couples in 1990 to 5,368,000 couples in 2006. Furthermore, any concerns over the stigma of single parenthood and the debate over same sex marriage have by and large over-shadowed any judgements about the weakening of family. In a report sponsored by The Council on Families in America in 1995 it was among the first to single out the weakening of marriage as the key to family decline. The executive summary read, “The divorce revolution ... has failed. It has created terrible hardships for children, incurred insupportable social costs, and failed to deliver on it’s promise of greater adult happiness. The time has come to shift the focus from divorce to marriage.”
All of the previously mentioned is a development that arose over the past few decades. Today: divorce, unwed births, and cohabitation have become so widely accepted - and practiced - that politicians today risk alienating voters at the mere mention of these issues being a source contributing to the weakening of family. Yet, while we remain silent on the weakened state of family too many of our youth reach out to gangs to create bonds and relationships that are lacking in their lives. Too many of our youth suffer in ever increasing numbers from depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. The lack of substantial direction further leads them down a spiraling decent into crime, delinquency, and victimhood. Where does this leave the next generation that will come after them? Strong families are essential for a strong and healthy society, and are irreplaceable for successful child rearing, not to mention satisfying the deeper social-emotional needs of both adults and children.
The statistics I’ve shared are from a Family Data Report that was last published in 2006. It provided no data by which we might be more optimistic about the state of family in the near future. In fact, it stated that the percentage of divorce and births outside of marriage is not only continuing to increase but is, in fact, accelerating. When attempting to predict the future of family we need to be careful; however, family trends of recent years point toward the development of what has been labeled “secular individualism”. This value set consists of the gradual abandonment of religious attendance and beliefs, a strong leaning toward “expressive” values, being preoccupied with personal autonomy and self-fulfillment, and a political emphasis on egalitarianism and the tolerance of diverse lifestyles. A well established empirical generalization is that the greater the dominance of secular individualism in a culture, the more fragmented the family.
The state of family in the past, present and foreseeable future outlined thus far are simple statements of fact. No value judgement has been made. However, when held in comparison to the Holy Family there is a clear disparity in functionality of the family unit of today. As I said earlier, even as Jesus is the ontological fullness of human personhood so the Holy Family reveals the fullness of family life. It was Pope John Paul II who said that family comes into its fullness as a communion of persons. This fullness consists of a shared and practiced value set in family built upon mutual respect, unconditional love and support, self-sacrifice, shared faith and unshakable belief in God’s divine plan in order to bring the communion of all individuals into the fullness of family. This fullness is never realized by selfish, narcissistic, conditional, makeshift contributions to family.
The life of the Holy Family reminds us of the value of fulfilling God’s law for marriage and family life. Modeling our families upon the values and ideals of the Holy Family will not always enable us to avoid suffering and personal tragedies in life. By virtue of free will not all individuals are necessarily going to be committed to a shared value set built upon the laws and precepts of The Divine Will. Therefore, bad things unfortunately happen to good people; however, building our lives and family units upon a shared belief in the teachings of God and imitating the virtues of Jesus, Mary and Joseph can prove to be a means by which we would develop unfathomable support and inspiration within family in order to combat a social climate that is too often less than inspiring. This is a reminder of all that family is meant to be when built upon the foundation of God’s divine plan.
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