Enduring Love (Editorial for May-August 2015 issue)
I often see them walk inside the UST campus to attend the early morning mass and they never fail to render a smile as I greet them and kiss their hands. He walks with a cane and she assists him. What a wonderful image of love! They may have been through life's rough roads but the promise they made to one another as married couple endures for love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, [and] endures all things" (1 Cor 13:7).
Just last February (2015), Tito Ernesto and Tita Cristina renewed their marriage vows at the same Church, on the same month and day of their wedding fifty years ago; but this time, their own son, Fr. Julius Paul Factora, OP presided over the ceremony. Coincidentally, I was assigned in the next mass so I partly witnessed the event. The celebration of their golden wedding anniversary is not only a rekindling of their love story but also of their mission, of their love story with God.
The family as a “community of life and love” (Gaudium et Spes, 48 §1) is “a saved and a saving community” at the heart of the Church’s mission of proclaiming the Gospel (cf. Familiaris Consortio, 49). “The family has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love, and this is a living reflection of and a real sharing in God’s love for humanity and the love of Christ the Lord for the Church His bride." St. John Paul II asked: "Family, become what you are!” (ibid, 17).
"The family is the way of the Church" (John Paul II, Letter to Families, 22 February 1994), which leads ultimately to the kingdom of heaven (cf. Mt 7:14). It is important that the "communion of persons" in the family should become a preparation for the "communion of Saints". Church both believes and proclaims the love which "endures all things" (1 Cor 13:7), which is the greatest" virtue of all (cf. 1 Cor 13:13). Everyone is called to love, including spouses and families. Created in God's image and likeness, married couples are called to act as God acts, to love as God loves. To love is to be holy. Everyone is called equally to perfect holiness (cf. Mt 5:48).
In Philippines, love can separate families. Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said in an interview with the Catholic News Service (6 October 2014): “De facto, there is separation of couples and separation of parents from their children. But not because they could not stand each other, not because there is a breakdown in communication, not because of conflicts. They get separated because they love each other.” He continued: “And the best way for some of them to show concern and love and support is to leave, to leave the family and find employment elsewhere. It's a separation that definitely creates a wound and leaves a wound, especially on the children.”Indeed, love is demanding. It makes demands in all human situations. The family needs to rediscover this demanding love, for it is the truly firm foundation of the family, a foundation able to "endure all things".
The Church has been facing "the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization." The forthcoming XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will continue the work of the III Extraordinary General Assembly by "reflect[ing] further on the points discussed so as to formulate appropriate pastoral guidelines" for the pastoral care of the person and the family (Instrumentum Laboris, III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops). Pope Francis said that “...the Lord is asking us to care for the family, which has been from the beginning an integral part of His loving plan for humanity” (Homily during the Opening Mass for the Extraordinary Synod of the Family, 5 October 2014). Like Tito Ernesto and Tita Cristina, may we always support each other as we tread the challenging path with faith, hope and love in this pilgrimage called life.