The importance of the Sacraments of initiation in the catechesis of the
family
Prof. Alfonso Carrasco Rouco
"San Dámaso" Faculty of Theology
Madrid
The Christian sacraments of initiation for their children represent a
deep calling for the married couple and a substantial pathway by which to
better experience the true dimension of the nuptial mystery and their family.
The secularist mainstream of thought is focusing its energy today on the
reality of the family and of marriage, undermining its identity in terms of
being a mature expression of love and definitive gift of oneself to the other,
destroying its relationship with the mystery of life and, in other words, with
God. These points of view can overshadow or bring Christians themselves to
forget that their marriage is the sacramental sign of God’s eternal love for
mankind, a development of the gift of his Son and His gift of Himself to the
death for his Bride, the Church.[1]
The celebration of the sacraments of initiation and the corresponding catechesis represent a
privileged opportunity for families to experience more deeply their membership
in an ecclesial community within which to rediscover the truth of marriage, motivated in the love of God, and
the truth of their love for their children, taking on in a new way the
responsibility of including them and educating them within the horizon of true
life, in the strong and good company of the definitive family of men whose
Father is God himself.[2]
Baptism and the Eucharist, in particular, lead parents to consider
Christ’s surrender on the cross, the total gift of his flesh and blood, his
open heart, from which the blemish-less and unlined Bride was born. Gratitude
to God for the gift of life, made apparent by the son who was born, for
salvation given freely by being joined through baptism to the death and
resurrection of the Lord[3], will re-establish the awareness of
the origin of one’s life in the goodness of the eternal Father, as well as the
knowledge of being destined thanks to his grace to being his children, embodied
in His first born, Jesus Christ.[4]
The celebration of First Communion – and participation in the Sunday
Eucharist – will underline the way in which this fatherly love was revealed in
the Son, who gives his life, offers his flesh and blood, so as to bring his
Bride to a unity that can free her from all evil and make her part of the Gift
of an invincible life. The sacrament of Confirmation will celebrate the way in
which this Gift, the Holy Spirit, renews the heart of men, ensuring that they
are able to face the reality of this world with intelligence and a love that
discovers and subscribes to what is good and true in it, seeking always what is
in harmony with the love of the Father and the good of brothers, with the
promise that the whole of life will thus be a pathway of personal growth
towards one’s good fate.
Therefore, the sacraments of initiation are to represent an opportunity
for families to rediscover and better experiences their identity, matrimonial,
parental and filial relationships, The catechesis implied by the sacraments
will not be reduced to merely reminding people of catechism, but will place
before their consciences the deepest secret of life - of the history of mankind – the worldly expression of which is
the Church and, in particular, Christian marriage itself.[5]
The sacraments of initiation represent, therefore, for the entire
family, a providential stage, which is destined to deepen Christian
understanding of marriage and the family and, therefore, also educational responsibilities
towards children. If the parents experience this stage as part of a story in
which they themselves learn, as if it were the first time, to embrace their
existence in the light of the Lord’s love – as a vocation and a mission –it
will become natural for their children too to look on their life with the eyes
of the faith, as a story in which they are guided – by their family and the
Church – towards their authentic destiny, a story in which they are called by
the Lord to lasting fecundity, sharing in his mission of salvation of the
world.[6]