Pope St. John Paul II was right, “The future of humanity passes through the family.” In a letter simply titled, “Letter to Families,” the pope wrote, “The family is the first and most important… the family is indeed— more than any other human reality – the place where an individual can exist ‘for himself’ through the sincere gift of self. This is why it remains a social institution which neither can nor should be replaced; it is the ‘sanctuary of life.’... the Church considers serving the family to be one of her essential duties.” In other words, the family is the building block of our civilization, where you and I first encounter love. We learn our value from how our parents love us and in turn, the family teaches us how to love one another. When trauma is introduced during these formative years, the ramifications can endure for a lifetime. 

Pope John Paul II saw the effects of this firsthand growing up as a child in Poland shortly before the outbreak of World War II. The Nazi’s invaded, trying to wipe out all Polish identity. Their brutality was followed by the Communist Soviet Union which attempted to kill the Catholic faith. Both of these hellish political movements attempted to elevate the state above the family and reality itself. When he was elected pope in 1978, John Paul II, he would make the family a central theme of his papacy. A few years later, he founded the first Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He was signaling to the wider Church – rebuild the family! 

We see the profound dignity of the family in the celebration of the Christmas mystery. Imagine, our God had a million different options to enter into our world. In his eternal wisdom, he chose to be born into a human family. He literally became one of us, in the same manner that we all enter into the world. God became a baby. He cried like us; he cooed like us; he giggled like us. All to say, “I created you in my image and likeness” (Genesis 1:27). Humanity has forgotten this. To remind us of our true identity, he is born. The family is where salvation begins. “If you want to bring peace to the world, go home and love your family.” -St. Mother Teresa.