Cardinal Wuerl promulgated a Pastoral Plan to implement Pope Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (AL), on Sunday March 4, 2018. The fourth section of the Pastoral Plan stresses the importance of parish life. Today I want to present some thoughts for accompanying families in special circumstances that are presented in this section of the pastoral plan.
Today I want to present some thoughts for accompanying older couples and adults that are presented in this section of the pastoral plan. In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis writes: “It [the parish] is a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey” (28). For many single adults and older couples, the parish can feel like a very young, family-centric experience. Parishes have an opportunity to help people experience the fruitfulness of intergenerational relationships and the beauty of the life of the parish family that is diverse in age, experience, and culture.
Families are schools of love in which family life shapes the formation of children and young people and teaches how to care for the aging and elderly. Our Holy Father reminds us that the family “is where we first learn to relate to others, to listen, to share, to be patient and show respect, to help one another and live as one” (AL, 276).
Today I want to present some thoughts for accompanying newly married couples that are presented in this section of the pastoral plan. Newly married couples begin building their life together as a family with hope, welcoming children, and laying down roots.