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The Marriage & Family Life Office Word of the Week focusses on a word or phrase that has a meaning with a particular relevance to Catholic understanding of marriage, family, and the domestic church. In some cases, the Word of the Week is directly related and in other cases it is related via a current issue affecting marriage, family, and the domestic church.
Each Word of the Week article includes a short definition for the word or phrase and a link. The link is to more information about the word or phrase or to resources related to the word or phrase. Our hope is that the word and definition will pique your curiosity to click the link to find the real treasure of the Word of the Week.
Words of the Week are listed below by date (descending).
Theology of the Body - 12/13/2021
Theology of the Body (TOB) is St. John Paul II's integrated vision of the human person. The human body has a specific meaning, making visible an invisible reality, and is capable of revealing answers regarding fundamental questions about us and our lives:
Is there a real purpose to life and if so, what is it?
What does it mean that we were created in the image of God?
Why were we created male and female? Does it really matter if we are one sex or another?
What does the marital union of a man and woman say to us about God and his plan for our lives?
What is the purpose of the married and celibate vocations?
What exactly is "Love"?
Is it truly possible to be pure of heart?
USCCB Teachings on Theology of the Body
Called to the Joy of Love: National Pastoral Framework for Marriage and Family Life Ministry - 11/1/2021
Este documento proporciona el marco para ayudar a las diócesis a medida que la planificación e implementación pastoral local sigue adelante desde la publicación de la exhortación apostólica de 2016 sobre la familia, Amoris Laetitia. Proporciona directrices para el acompañamiento pastoral de los matrimonios y las familias en cada fase de la vida, basándose en las enseñanzas y recomendaciones contenidas en la exhortación apostólica. Fue desarrollado por el Comité de Laicos, Matrimonio, Vida Familiar y Juventud de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos (USCCB) y fue aprobado por la USCCB en su Asamblea Plenaria de junio de 2021.
This document provides the framework to assist dioceses as local pastoral planning and implementation continues to take place since the publication of the 2016 apostolic exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia. It provides guidelines for the pastoral accompaniment of married couples and families in every phase of life, drawing upon the teachings and recommendations contained in the apostolic exhortation. It was developed by the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and was approved by the USCCB at its June 2021 Plenary Assembly.
Pastoral Framework for Marriage and Family Life Ministry
Llamados a la Alegría del Amor: Marco Pastoral Nacional para el Ministerio del Matrimonio y la Vida Familiar - 11/1/2021
Pastoral Framework for Marriage and Family Life Ministry
Year of “Amoris Laetitia (Joy of Love) Family” - 10/4/2021
On March 19, 2021, the Church celebrates the fifth anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, on the beauty and joy of love in the family. On this same day, Pope Francis will launch the year “Amoris Laetitia Family,” which will conclude on June 26, 2022, during the X Meeting of Families in Rome with the Holy Father.
Year of “Amoris Laetitia (Joy of Love) Family” Vatican Brochure
Año de la “Familia Amoris Laetitia (alegría del amor)” - 10/4/2021
El 19 de marzo de 2021, la Iglesia celebra el quinto aniversario de la publicación de la exhortación apostólica del Papa Francisco Amoris Laetitia, sobre la belleza y la alegría del amor familiar. El mismo día el Papa Francisco inaugura el Año “Familia Amoris Laetitia“, que terminará el 26 de junio de 2022 con occasion del X Encuentro Mundial de las Familias en Roma con el Santo Padre.
Año de la “Familia Amoris Laetitia (alegría del amor)”
Caring for the Whole Person - 9/27/2021
Caring for the Whole Person is an initiative of the California Bishops and Catholic healthcare systems that supports parishes, community services, and families in ministering to those who are seriously ill or at the end of life. The vision of Caring for the Whole Person is a continuum of quality and comprehensive (physical, emotional, spiritual) care for all people of all ages, enhanced through partnerships of health care professionals and institutions with community-based movements.
Diocese of Stockton Caring for the Whole Person Page
Open to Life (in the context of conjugal love) - 9/13/2021
Accepting children as the supreme gift of marriage given by God through free and responsible collaboration with Him in the procreative act. For married couples, this means that each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life. Unmmaried persons remain open to life by purposefully refraining from what is reserved for marriage.
USCCB - Openness to Life
Systemic Racism - 9/7/2021
Racism is what makes us see the "other" with suspicion or to attribute negative characteristics to an entire group of people. This evil manifests itself in our individual thoughts, and also in the workings of our society itself. Systemic racism continues through inequalities in education, housing, employment, wealth, and representation in leadership positions.
USCCB - Open Wide Our Hearts - What is Systemic Racism?
Racismo Sistémico - 9/7/2021
El racismo es lo que nos hace ver al "otro" con sospecha o atribuir características negativas a todo un grupo de personas. Este mal se manifiesta en nuestros pensamientos individuales, y también en el funcionamiento de nuestra sociedad. El racismo sistémico continúa a través de las desigualdades en la educación, la vivienda, el empleo, la riqueza y la representación en puestos de liderazgo.
USCCB - Open Wide Our Hearts - What is Systemic Racism?
Social Justice - 8/30/2021
The respect for the human person and the rights which flow from the human dignity and guarantee it. Society must provide the conditions that allow people to obtain what is their due, according to their nature and vocation. (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1928, 1931)
USCCB - Justice, Peace, Human Development
Justicia Social - 8/30/2021
El respeto a la persona humana y los derechos que derivan de la dignidad humana y la garantizan. La sociedad debe proveer (proporcionar) las condiciones que permitan a las personas obtener lo que les corresponde, de acuerdo con su naturaleza y vocación. (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica #1928, 1931)
USCCB - Justice, Peace, Human Development
Vice - 8/24/2021
A habit acquired by repeated sin in violation of the proper norms of human morality. The vices are often linked with the seven capital sins. Repentance for sin and confession may restore grace to a soul, by the removal of ingrained disposition to sin or vice requires much effort and self-denial, until the contrary virtue is acquired. (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1866)
Capital Sins and Virtues
Vicio - 8/24/2021
Un hábito adquirido por el pecado repetido en violación de las normas propias de la moralidad humana. Los vicios muchas veces están relacionados con los siete pecados capitales. Arrepentimiento por el pecado y la confesión puede devolver la gracia a un alma, por la eliminación de la disposición arraigada al pecado o el vicio requiere mucho esfuerzo y abnegación, hasta que se adquiera la virtud contraria. (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica #1866)
Capital Sins and Virtues
Same-Sex Attracted - 8/16/2021
Same-sex attraction refers to emotional, physical, or sexual attraction to a person of the same gender. The experience of same-sex attraction is not the same for everyone. Some people may feel exclusively attracted to the same gender, while others may feel attracted to both genders.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Conference - Homosexuality
Courage
Atracción al Mismo Sexo - 8/16/2021
La atracción hacia personas del mismo sexo se refiere a la atracción emocional, física o sexual por una persona del mismo género. La experiencia de la atracción hacia personas del mismo sexo no es la misma para todos. Algunas personas se pueden sentir exclusivamente atraídas al mismo género, mientras los otros se pueden sentir atraídos a ambos géneros.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Conference - Homosexuality
Courage
Gender Ideology - 8/9/2021
Gender ideology is a false system of beliefs about the human person, premised on the idea that “human identity becomes the choice of the individual.”1 According to gender ideology, the person self-determines a “gender identity,” based on feelings or the person’s “sense of self” as male, female, both, neither, or something else—regardless of the person’s actual male or female sex. Gender ideology asserts an individual’s “right” to “transition” to a desired identity, using social, medical or surgical interventions to “feminize” or “masculinize” the body’s appearance.
Person Identity Project - The Basics
Ideología de Género - 8/9/2021
La ideología de género es un sistema falsa de creencias sobre la persona humana, basado en la idea de que "la identidad humana es la opción del individuo.” 1 De acuerdo con la ideología de género, la persona se determina por sí mismo una "identidad de género", basada en los sentimientos o el "sentido de sí mismo" como hombre, mujer, ambos, ninguno de los dos, o algo más, sin importar el sexo masculino o femenino real de la persona. La ideología de género afirma el "derecho" de un individuo a la "transición" a una identidad deseada, utilizando intervenciones sociales, médicas o quirúrgicas para "feminizar" o "masculinizar" la apariencia del cuerpo.
Person Identity Project - The Basics
Gender Dysphoria (GD) - 7/26/2021
The distress a person feels due to a mismatch between their gender identity—their personal sense of their own gender—and their biological sex. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until 2013 with the release of the DSM-5. The condition was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder.Catholic Teaching on the Human Person and Gender Dysphoria
Christian Faithful - 7/19/2021
Those who have been incorporated into Christ in Baptism and constituted as the people of God, the Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church #871). The term "lay faithful" refers to laity, all the faithful except those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church #897).
On the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World
Fieles Cristianos - 7/19/2021
Aquellos que han sido incorporados a Cristo en el Bautismo y constitudios como el pueblo de Dios la Iglesia (Catechimo di la Iglesia Católica #871). El término "fieles laicos" se refiere a los liacos, a todos los fieles excepto a los de las Órdenes Sagradas y a los que pertenecen a un estado riligioso aprobado por la Iglesia (Catechimo di la Iglesia Católica #897).
Sobre Vocación Y Misión De Los Laicos En La Iglesia Y En El Mundo
Virtue - 7/12/2021
A habitual and firm disposition to do good. The moral virtues are acquired through human effort aided by God's grace; the theological virtues are gifts of God (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1803).
Catechism Article 7 - The Virtues
Conscience - 7/5/2021
The interior voice of a human being, within whose heart the inner law of God is inscribed. Moral conscience is a judgement of practical reason about a moral quality of a human action. It moves a person at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. (catechism of the Catholic Church #1777-1778). An examination of conscience is recommended as a preparation for reception of the Sacrament of Penance (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1454).
Understanding Conscience
Conciencia - 7/5/2021
La voz interior del ser humano, en cuyo corazón la ley interior de Dios está inscrito. La conciencia moral es un juicio de la razón práctica sobre la calidad moral de una acción humana. Se mueve a una persona en el momento adecuado para hacer el bien y evitar el mal (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 1777-1778). Un examen de conciencia, se recomienda como preparación para la recepción del sacramento de la penitencia (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 1454).
Comprender la conciencia
Concupiscence - 6/28/2021
Human appetites or desires which remain disordered due to the temporal consequences of original sin, which remain even after Baptism and which produce an inclination to sin. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1264, 1426, 2515). (1264, 1426, 2515).
Simply Catholic - What is Concupiscence?
Human Person - 6/21/2021
The human individual, made in the image of God; not some thing but some one, a unity of spirit and matter, soul and body, capable of knowledge, self-possession and freedom, who can enter into communion with other persons-and with God (Catechism of the Catholic Church #357, 362; cf. 1700).
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Conference References
Contraception - 6/14/2021
The use of mechanical, chemical, or medical procedures to prevent contraception from taking place as a result of sexual intercourse; contraception offends against the openss to procreation required of marriage and also the inner truth of conjugal love (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2370).
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Conference References
Domestic Church - June 7, 2021
The family is the domestic church. The Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica. (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1656)
Chatechism of the Catholic Church - VI Domestic Church
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Conference Tools for Building a Domestic Church
Gender - May 31, 2021
Either of the two sexes (male and female), especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. The term is also used more broadly to denote a range of identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female.
Diocese of Stockton Gender Page
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Conference Document on Gender Ideology
Natural Family Planning - May 24, 2021
Natural family planning (NFP) is using fertility awareness, which is simply knowledge of a couple’s fertility, in planning for children.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Conference Church Teaching on Natural Family Planning
What is natural family planning?
Chastity - May 17, 2021
The moral virtue which, under the cardinal virtue of temperance, provides for the successful integration of sexuality within the person leading to the inner unity of the bodily and spiritual being. Chastity is called one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops - Chastity
Christian Anthropology - May 10, 2021
In the context of Christian theology, Christian anthropology is the study of the human anthropology (study of humanity) as it relates to God. It differs from the social science of anthropology, which primarily deals with the comparative study of the physical and social characteristics of humanity across times and places.Images of God: Reflections on Christian Anthropology Sign Up for Our Newsletter
Procreation - May 3, 2021
1. The process by which an organism produces others of its biological kind.
2. The sexual activity of conceiving and bearing biological offspring.
Human Reproduction, How God Made Men and Women
Marriage (Matrimony) -April 26, 2021
A covenant or partnership of life between a man and a woman, which is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and the procreation of children. When validly contracted between two baptized people, marriage is a sacrament.
Matrimony: Sacrament of Enduring Love
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