Family: surviving in a pagan world.

The 10th anniversary of the Marian Hour, a weekly one-hour program heard on CKWR 98.5 in Kitchener/Waterloo, ON, was celebrated by a conference entitled "Hope 2000: The Catholic Family in the Third Millennium," May 15 and 16. Over 500 people gathered at Holy Family parish in Kitchener to hear speakers expound on topics dealing with Church, family, and conversion.

Terry and Nancy Parks, principal directors of the Marian Hour, along with several area families, hosted this conference, which boasted such renowned speakers as Fr. John Hardon, S.J., Fr. Jim Duffy of Madonna House, and Deacon Bob McDonald, as well as Steven and Janet Ray, authors of Crossing the Tiber.

In keeping with the Marian Hour's primary devotion to Our Blessed Mother, and because of her central role as Mother of the Church, Fr. Jim Duffy began by focusing on both the innate desire for God written on the heart of every human being, and the role of Mary as Mother and sure guide to her son Jesus. Echoing the Holy Father, Fr. Duffy reiterated the benefits and, in this difficult age, the near necessity of personal and familial consecration to Jesus through Mary.

Steven Ray, the son of a Protestant deacon, continued with this theme by describing his journey, and that of his wife and children, into the Church or, as his book is entitled, their Crossing the Tiber. Reiterating again and again the beauty, truth, and depth of the Church, Mr. Ray later on gave a brief presentation on the scriptural basis for the Papacy.

Fr. John Hardon, S.J., and Rev. Dr. Bob McDonald spoke on what could well be described as the heart of the conference, that is, the future of the family in the Third Millennium, and the re-discovery of our male and female identities before God.

Families need selfless love

The redemption of man by Jesus Christ, argued Fr. Hardon, is not just an individual redemption but also a redemption of society at its most fundamental level, that of the family. No religion before Christ, or after, except Christianity, holds to the teaching that a family should be a life- long union of persons, united by faith, obedient to the Truth and nourished by grace provided by Christ. In perhaps his most powerful statement, Fr. Hardon declared that "the family will survive only where husband and wife believe in and practice non-contraception. All others will disappear. Families will not survive without selfless love."

Actual practical insights, based upon biblical and theological reflection, were given by Rev. Dr. Bob McDonald, a permanent deacon in the Pembroke Diocese. Basing his presentation on Genesis and the writings of Sts. Peter and Paul, Deacon McDonald explained the Christian view that men and women, though created equal, were not created identical: they complement one another. Using descriptions that are sound but yet would upset certain feminists, he argued that science is discovering neurological differences in the make-up of the male and female brains. These differences account for the observations that women tend to be more skilled in communication, nurturing, and loving, whereas men tend to have better abilities involving left brain functions such as mathematics and spacial/temporal tasks such as construction and engineering.

Dr. McDonald quoted Pope Paul VI who said that women have a special dignity, "one that we haven't fully begun to understand and incorporate", and pointed out that the Second Vatican Council as well recognized the role that women imbued with the spirit of the Gospel had in the history of salvation.

Called to be martyrs

The banquet address by Fr. John Hardon was insightful and disturbing, as we live now in a modern pagan society, as well as in a century that has had more martyrs for the faith than all the 1900 years of history before us.

Fr. Hardon repeated to the general audience what he had told attending priests the night before, namely, that "ordinary" Christians will not survive the stress and strain of having to live their Christianity faithfully in today's world, one that has abandoned God. Repeating the sentiments of the Holy Father, Fr. Hardon repeated over and over again that "unless Catholics are willing to live martyrs' lives, the Church will dissolve in one country after another."

Dennis Buonafede is pastoral assistant at Holy Spirit Parish in Toronto, ON.