The Church's Sanctuary in the Home
55. The proclamation of the Gospel and its acceptance
in faith reach their fullness in the celebration of the sacraments. The Church
which is a believing and evangelizing community is also a priestly people
invested with the dignity and sharing in the power of Christ the High Priest of
the New and Eternal Covenant.(137)
The Christian family too is part of this
priestly people which is the Church. By means of the sacrament of marriage, in
which it is rooted and from which it draws its nourishment, the Christian
family is continuously vivified by the Lord Jesus and called and engaged by Him
in a dialogue with God through the sacraments, through the offering of one's
life, and through prayer.
This is the priestly role which the Christian
family can and ought to exercise in intimate communion with the whole Church,
through the daily realities of married and family life. In this way the
Christian family is called to be sanctified and to sanctify the ecclesial
community and the world.
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