 |
Made in His Image:
Family Life Today
Dynamic evangelist Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers explores the meaning of
family life from a Catholic perspective.
EPISODES:
1 -The State of
Christian Family Life Today
This episode will give an overview of the entire series by introducing
the following concepts: the cultural battle over the definition of the
family, the challenges of living in a secular society, and the
importance of fostering a culture of life within the family
2- Made in His Image and Likeness
This episode will explore the intimacy between sacramental marriage and
the Holy Trinity, as reflected in the covenant union of husbands, wives,
and their children in response to God’s invitation to love and life
3 - The Knowledge of Good and Evil
This episode will examine the effects of Original Sin, how sin has
damaged the marriage covenant, and how God will use the family to
restore Man’s relationship with Him.
4 - The Domestic Church
This episode will examine the sacramental dimensions of family life as
seen in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Reconciliation,
which act as the bridge between the sacredness of family life and the
brokenness of the culture. We will discover how key moments of family
life are sacramental opportunities for grace to work, and how the
sacraments are lived out in the four-fold call of families: to form a
communion of persons, to serve life, to serve society, and to form the
domestic church.
5 - The Role of Mothers and Fathers
This episode will explore the meaning and role of motherhood and
fatherhood in the family through the examples of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and Saint Joseph.
6 - The Role of the Extended Family and Communities
This episode will explore the meaning and role of the extended family,
the challenge of de facto unions, societies obligation and
responsibility to safeguard natural marriage, and lessons learned from
the Holy Family.
7 - Nurturing Life in a Culture of Death
This episode will examine the challenges faced by families living in a
morally relativistic culture that rejects Catholic teaching and actively
works to undermine their faith. Given these facts, what are the key
elements to promoting holy, faith-filled families in the current
cultural environment?
8 - Challenges to Family Life – Part One: Love vs. Use
This episode will examine the culture's disordered, self-centered view
of sexuality that hinders and undermines authentic family life, and how
the theology of the body helps families recognize that they are temples
of the Holy Spirit. Specific issues will include contraception,
pornography, and the true meaning of “safe” sex (i.e. protection from
the evil of lust and sin).
9 - Challenges to Family Life – Part Two: Liturgy and Family
This episode will examine how all work flows from a family's primary
work: Liturgy. When families understand and appreciate the fact that the
workweek begins at Mass on Sunday, then the balance between family life,
the secular occupation, and the intrinsic value of rest and recreation
will be readily achieved.
10 - Challenges to Family Life, Part Three: Medical Ethics
This episode will explore systemic problems raised by the advancement of
medical technologies that confront and challenge families. How can
Catholic families be the catalyst of change to overcome a growing
culture of death?
11 - Challenges to Family Life – Part 4: Crisis of Faith
This episode will examine several major challenges faced by families
today. Specific issues to be covered include suffering and death,
infidelity and divorce, and family members who have left the Church.
12 - Building a Civilization of Love
This episode will give practical recommendations that will foster and
encourage better family communication, and a deeper, richer family
spirituality, all while cultivating the personal spiritual life of each
family member. The reciprocal relationship of parents educating their
children in the faith and children evangelizing their parents will also
be explored. Two family apostolates will be highlighted: the Pilgrim
Center of Hope and St. Joseph’s Center for the Domestic Church.
13 - Epilogue: The True Meaning of Family
This show will summarize all of the major themes and key ideas presented
interspersed with personal testimony. Particularly emphasized will be:
the Trinity and the Eucharistic heart of the family, the family as a
sacramental reality--lived in and through the Church-- that purifies,
challenges and redeems us, and the pursuit of holiness within families
as the response to become more of who we are called to be, made in His
image and likeness.
Back to Series List |
