"As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live." --Pope St. John Paul II
As Pope Leo XIV settles into his new role as the Vicar of Christ, we find him repeatedly returning to certain themes. This, in turn, suggests that he views these issues as being especially urgent in the contemporary world.
To my delight, one of these themes to which the Holy Father keeps returning is the central importance of the family as "the cradle of the future of humanity" (as he put it in one recent address).
Pope Leo's most recent remarks on the subject were made during an address to a group of participants in a conference discussing the family, and some of the challenges facing it in the modern world.
In that address, the Pope speaks of the family as "a gift and a task."
"In every child, in every spouse, God entrusts us to his Son, to his Mother, as he did with Saint Joseph, to be, together with them, the foundation, leaven, and witness of God's love among humanity," he said.
The family is called, he added, "To be a domestic Church and a hearth where the fire of the Holy Spirit burns, spreading His warmth to all and inviting everyone to this hope."
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The Holy Father lamented that in the contemporary world "there are genuine threats to the dignity of the family, such as problems related to poverty, lack of employment and access to health care, abuse of the most vulnerable, migration, and war."
In the face of such threats, he said, the government and the Church "have the responsibility to seek ways to promote dialogue and strengthen those elements in society that favor family life and the education of its members."
In the address, Pope Leo suggested that his listeners reacquaint themselves with the content of a homily that Pope St. Paul VI gave in Nazareth in 1964.
In that homily, the late pope emphasized the importance of silence, work and prayer in the context of family life.
"Nazareth," said St. Pope Paul VI, "is the school in which we begin to understand the life of Jesus. It is the school of the Gospel. Here we learn to observe, to listen, to meditate, and to penetrate the profound and mysterious meaning of that simple, humble, and lovely manifestation of the Son of God."
In particular, noted Paul VI, Nazareth teaches us the deep spiritual significance of silence. Speaking of silence, he expressed his longing that "there return to us an appreciation of this stupendous and indispensable spiritual condition, deafened as we are by so much tumult, so much noise, so many voices of our chaotic and frenzied modern life."
"O silence of Nazareth," the sainted pontiff prayed, "teach us recollection, reflection, and eagerness to heed the good inspirations and words of true teachers; teach us the need and value of preparation, of study, of meditation, of interior life, of secret prayer seen by God alone."
In Nazareth, Pope St. Paul VI concluded, we find "the meaning of family life" - "its harmony of love, its simplicity and austere beauty, its sacred and inviolable character."
Unfortunately, we live in a world that increasingly undervalues marriage and family life.
It is difficult not to contrast the values described by Pope St. Paul VI with the lived reality of many contemporary families, which seem in many cases to live by values that are the polar opposite of what the sainted pope taught.
Where, in modern families, do we find silence, prayer, simplicity, harmony, and beauty?
In an astonishing number of cases, family members scarcely ever even make room for that most basic, human act of communion and fellowship, i.e. gathering together to eat a meal.
As I am hardly the first to suggest, there is something profoundly Eucharistic about a family gathered around a table, enjoying one another's company, and basking and growing in the love that they have for one another.
Indeed, it is surely no accident that Christ chose to make Himself present to us most intimately in the form of food, to be shared by the faithful gathered around a table. Just as it is no accident that the Gospels repeatedly inform us that, after His resurrection, Christ showed Himself to His Apostles in the context of sharing a meal.
Gathered around a table, communing over a meal, members of a family come to know one another more deeply. They share the news of the day, their triumphs, their heartbreaks, and their sorrows. Above all, they are simply present to one another, with a presence that is the prerequisite for authentic love.
Instead, in far too many modern homes, the members of the family take their nourishment isolated, at random moments. If they do gather together, they are either staring at a TV, or at their smartphones. There is little in the way of laughter, conversation, or that intimate silence that is the hallmark of a deep, comfortable love.
And this is only in those cases where the family is intact. Sadly, many families are broken, with children shuffled from one household to another, depending upon what the courts have decided the custody arrangement should be. Rather than a stable mother and a father, they are faced with a succession of pseudo-parents, in the form of the boyfriends or girlfriends of their divorced parents.
In such circumstances, characterized by noise and frenetic change, how can children learn who they truly are? How can their personalities develop and grow, under the protecting umbrella of their parents' love? How can they learn how beautiful life can be made, not by endless noisy entertainment, but by the contemplative sharing of love. How can they learn to pray? How can they learn to enter into the small, still silence in which God speaks to the heart?
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New study:
— Brad Wilcox (@BradWilcoxIFS) June 18, 2022
Boys who grew up apart from their biological father about 2 times more likely to land in prison or jail by @ age 30.
NB: fatherlessness is a better predictor of incarceration than race or growing up poor.https://t.co/tUheGJxYGI @AEI @FamStudies #FathersDay2022 pic.twitter.com/EuqoQFE7O4
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As Pope St. John Paul II wrote in Centesimus annus, "The first and fundamental structure for a 'human ecology' is the family . . . founded on marriage, in which the mutual gift of self as husband and wife creates an environment in which children can be born and develop their potentialities, become aware of their dignity and prepare to face their unique and individual destiny" (no. 39).
As numerous popes, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, have repeatedly observed, the family is not merely a social unit. It is a domestic church, a place where faith is nurtured, values are instilled, and holiness is pursued.
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Faith is transmitted in the family together with life, from generation to generation. It is shared like food on the table and the heart�s affections. This makes it a privileged place to encounter Jesus, who loves us and always wants what is good for us.
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) June 1, 2025
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In a society that has lost its mooring, it is essential for Catholic families to embrace their role as examples of faith and virtue. By living their faith and the virtues, families can demonstrate the beauty of a Christ-centered life.
As I write this, what comes to mind for me are the principles espoused by Brother Lawrence in The Practice of the Presence of God. "There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God; those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it," writes Brother Lawrence in that book.
In my wide travels, I have had the opportunity to visit with many different families. It always feels tangible to me, when I enter a household that is centered upon God and prayer. So often, there is a palpable sense of God's presence, manifested in the quiet love that the family members have for one another: the delight that they take in one another's presence, and the deep knowledge they have of one another's personalities, likes and dislikes, and the many small ways that they show love for one another.
The example of such a family serves as a witness to the broader community, showing that love and faith can flourish even amidst societal challenges - serving as a constant source of life and healing.
In a society that undermines the value of the God-givenness of family life, Catholic families striving for holiness and authentically living their faith play an essential role in the healing and transformation of world. By living out their faith authentically, families can inspire others to seek a deeper relationship with God and become a shining light of hope in a world that desperately needs it.
Real faith has very serious public consequences. It may be personal, but it is never private - always seeking to change the world.
The Second Vatican Council described the family as "the first and vital cell of society" (Apostolicam actuositatem, no. 11). It stressed that "the well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life" (Gaudium et spes, no. 47).
In Familiaris consortio, Pope St. John Paul II describes the family as "the most effective means for humanizing and personalizing society." In other words, the family builds up the world "by making possible a life that is, properly speaking, human" (no.43).
Again, in Familiaris consortio, Pope St. John Paul II reminds us that "Insofar as it is a 'small- scale Church,' the Christian family is called upon, like the 'large- scale Church,' to be a sign of unity for the world and in this way to exercise its prophetic role by bearing witness to the Kingdom and peace of Christ, towards which the whole world is journeying" (no. 48).
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In our increasingly disturbed, frantic, violent world, many people are looking for grand solutions to our problems. Surely, the United Nations can save us. Or perhaps it will be the NGOs, funded with the money of billionaires, that will implement the systems that will produce peace.
However, the Church, in Her wisdom, draws our attention inwards: into our own hearts and families, in the recognition that real, lasting change, cannot be imposed from the top down, but must come about by the conversion of hearts, and of families.
Government cannot heal our societies, but the "fundamental cell of society," the "cradle of the future of humanity" can. And that begins with you, today, in your home, with your children.
How, I ask you, will you bring the nourishing spirit of prayerful silence and mutual love into your household?
Perhaps it is as simple as prioritizing eating meals together as a family, if you do not currently do so. And if you do, why not take the advice of so many saints, and begin to pray the rosary together as a family?
Such actions may not seem to be enough to "save the world." But perhaps we never were meant to save the world. Perhaps, we were meant only to do our small part by saving ourselves and our families. At least, that is the first step. Who knows what the ripple effects of rediscovering deep spiritual values within our family will have on the broader culture? It is, I suspect, my greater than we will ever know.