Page 12 - Catholic Extension Magazine Summer2020

12 BUILD

Focus

The strength of the

“domestic Church” is revealed

The Easter of 2020 was certainly odd Pandemic rekindles us to the “domestic Churches” in their
and painful for many, but it was ulti- diocese to see the places where the
mately made easier by Catholics’ belief an appreciation faith is alive among the people we
in the idea of the “domestic Church;” for practicing support in the poorest regions of the
namely that faith has its foundations faith at home country. As a result, we often find
in our homes. In apostolic times, when ourselves visiting humble households,
there were no public churches, Chris- where we witness vibrant spiritual
tian communities gathered in homes. If any good has movements that are organized in people’s living
come as a result of sheltering in place, it is that we have rooms, robust prayer groups among many households
been able to recapture that sense of our faith being routinely convened, or immigrant communities cele-
grounded in our homes once again. brating devotions among their neighbors in prepara-
Pope Francis said in his apostolic exhortation, tion for feast days.
Amoris Laetitia, “The Church is a family of fami- We know that these homes are where the
lies, constantly enriched by the lives of all those Church has a strong foundation in our poor faith
domestic Churches.” communities and they bring that lively spirit of
Just before the start of the Easter Triduum, Catholic togetherness to their parishes.
Extension reached out to faith communities nation- So often, the teachers of the faith are mothers and
wide, asking them to submit photos of how they spent grandmothers, and thankfully a respectable number of
these holy days. A montage of these photos can be fathers as well. Bishop Emeritus of Las Cruces, Ricardo
viewed at catholicextension.org/DomesticChurch. Ramírez, recalled that as he was being ordained a
It is a remarkable collection of how Catholics across bishop, his grandmother, “Abuelita Panchita,” kept
the country are successfully living the faith in their teaching him about the faith.
homes. They are participating in streaming Masses and This strong woman raised many children and was
online devotions supplied by their local parishes and known to catch and kill rattle snakes with her bare
dioceses. They are designating sacred spaces with hands. She showed that same legendary strength in
religious imagery in their homes as places for prayer. the face of death. At 90, Ramírez remembers Panchita
The montage shows families performing tradi- singing joyfully on her deathbed, telling him, “It is a
tional Catholic rituals in their living rooms. Movingly, privilege to be able to die.” To see a video of this story,
parents recognized the importance of these holy days visit catholicextension.org/DomesticChurch.
in choosing to elegantly dress themselves and their This kind of faith, this depth of credal conviction,
children, even though they never left the home. is uniquely instilled in us and witnessed to us in the
What all of this is perhaps signaling is a domestic Church.
renewed gravitational pull among Catholics In the weeks and months ahead, as social
toward the domestic Church as the privileged distancing measures begin to relax, we must not
place where faith is lived, taught, and transferred lose sight of the unique power and privileged
from one generation to the next. Perhaps, this place of the domestic Church in the ongoing work
new emphasis or understanding of the evangeliz- of evangelization. Families are so very critical at this
ing power of the domestic Church will be here to moment. While we all look forward to the reopening
stay, long after social distancing restrictions are of our houses of worship, we hope that the recent
relaxed. surge in faith and religious activities among families
This resonates with our experience at Catholic will be ongoing, and that there continues to be an
Extension. Even though we have given 12,600 grants enriching dialogue and complementary relationship
to build and repair church facilities in our history and between our domestic Churches and the larger
work with 86 dioceses today, faith leaders often bring Catholic Church.