Denver Catholic

2 AUGUST 24-SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop's Page Archbishop's Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila PHOTO OF THE WEEK ARCHBISHOP'S SCHEDULE AUG. 25: 20th Anniversary Mass for Community of Beatitudes, St. Catherine of Siena, Denver (11 a.m.) AUG. 30: Mass of Installation of Pastor, St. Peter, Greeley (12:10 p.m.) SEPT. 10: Dedication Mass of New Altar, Our Lady of Lourdes, Denver (6 p.m.) @ArchbishopDen Aug. 13 Annual Mass & Anniversary Celebration with #ArchDen #PermanentDeacons. Their min- istry in our parishes & the larger community in outreach to those in prison, #marisol clinics, pro- life work, the divorced, homeless, shelters, & those on the periph- eries is a great blessing! +sja Permanent Deacons from all around the Archdiocese of Denver gathered Aug. 13 for the annual Deacon Day at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Northglenn. Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila celebrated Mass to honor all of the men who have been called to serve as permanent deacons. PHOTO BY BRANDON YOUNG The future needs the family Editors Note: In this column, Arch- bishop Aquila presents some excerpts from a talk he gave to the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers. They have been edited for brevity and clarity. To read the full talk, visit: archden.org/archbishops_ writing/the-future-needs-the-fam- ily/#.XVwuuuNKgdU S ome of you may have heard of the Benedictine monks of Norcia, the small Italian moun- tain town where St. Benedict was born. In 2016, their monastery and the basilica of St. Benedict was com- pletely destroyed by the strongest earthquake that Italy has experienced in 30 years. With the aftershocks continuing, the monks moved their community to a property outside the town's walls and took shelter in canvas tents. While their monastery was demol- ished, their faith remained intact. They continued to celebrate Mass and pray the Liturgy of the Hours in their new improvised community. Cardinal Robert Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Wor- ship, visited the monks to celebrate Mass and bless their "tent monas- tery," which he said reminded him of "Bethlehem, where it all began." Then he made an observation that goes to the heart of what this confer- ence is about — the future and the family. "I am certain," he said, "that the future of the Church is in the monasteries, because where prayer is, there is the future" ("The Benedict Option," p. 242). Cardinal Sarah was talking about the monastic community, but he could have been talking about the family, since the family serves as the incubator for the values and virtues of the next generation. … And this is only possible when prayer stands at the heart of a family. … My friend and fellow bishop, Arch- bishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, recently gave a talk on "The Pastoral State of Marriage and the Family Today." In it, he asserted that the main challenge for the Church today is rediscovering the "radical 'new- ness' of the Christian message about the family." That message consists of speaking about marriage as a love that lasts a lifetime, or a calling from God, or a path that can lead to holiness and salvation. The Christian concept of marriage also presents "man and woman becoming 'one fl esh' and par- ticipating in God's own act of creating new life." We are living in spiritually and materially impoverished times. In this context, the Catholic family can and should be like a lighthouse illu- minating the way for others in stormy seas. The early Church was able to fl our- ish despite a series of persecutions that lasted almost 300 years because our ancestors in the faith had a deep, lasting faith in Christ and salvation through him. They did not belong to the world, just as Jesus did not. They were in the world, but not of it. I would like to leave you with a story of love in a family from Saint Mother Teresa's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Listen to the power of the family: … I want you to fi nd the poor here, right in your own home fi rst. And begin love there. … I had the most extraordinary experi- ence with a Hindu family who had eight children. A gentleman came to our house and said: 'Mother Teresa, there is a family with eight children, they have not eaten for so long. Do something.' So I took some rice and I went there immediately. And I saw the children, their eyes shining with hunger — I don't know if you have ever seen hunger. And [the mother] took the rice, she divided the rice, and she went out. When she came back I asked her, 'Where did you go, what did you do?' And she gave me a very simple answer: They are hungry also. What struck me most was that she knew. And who are they? A Muslim family, and she knew [they were starving]. I didn't bring more rice that evening because I wanted them to enjoy the joy of shar- ing. But there were those children, radiating joy, sharing the joy with their mother because she had the love to give. And you see, this is where love begins at home. Let us devote ourselves to fi rst growing love in our families and then sharing it in our neighborhoods and parishes, states and country. In doing so, we will help build up family life and ensure that our ultimate goal of heaven is made manifest to the Church and the world.

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