Every person is called to become like Christ and many will live out this call precisely through their marriage and family relationships, theologian Joseph Atkinson told those gathered for the third and final session of the Diocesan Synod Oct. 9 at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento.

“Each one of us in a fundamental way is called to live out our holiness in relationship to God,” he said. “Through marriage as a vocation, husbands and wives are capable of great holiness.”

Atkinson, assistant professor of sacred Scripture and pastoral theology at the John Paul II Institute in Washington, D.C., addressed about 260 lay, clergy and religious delegates of the synod, priests of the diocese, and chairpersons of parish pastoral councils.

He focused on the theology of the “domestic church,” a term capturing the holiness of marriage and family life as a Christian vocation and as a response to the invitation of Jesus to “follow me.”

Atkinson said the term “domestic church” can be traced back to Scripture and the early church fathers. He said it is an ancient idea which has achieved new prominence in theological circles since the Second Vatican Council.

Marriage is used in Scripture to describe Jesus’ relationship with his people in the fifth and six chapters of Ephesians, Atkinson noted.

“The New Testament, after addressing the nature of salvation, deals with family relationships,” he said. “Families are where we work out our salvation. It is precisely in the joys and brokenness of family life that we can grow in holiness and work toward healing and restoration.”

Vatican II rooted theology strongly in the biblical revelation, Atkinson said. He pointed to the council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, “Lumen Gentium,” which revealed “a genuine recovery of the universal call to holiness.”

“By virtue of our baptism, every man, woman and child is called to follow and imitate Jesus,” Atkinson said. “This truly gives a profound vision of what the family is — it is the place where we can become holy.

“Families are not made of perfect people,” he added. “They are made up of flesh and blood people walking together on the road to holiness. It is through the joys and the struggles that holiness comes into play. It is as we allow Christ to be formed in us in the varied situations of family life that we walk toward holiness.

“We learn to forgive, to share, to make sacrifices in our families,” he said. “In this way our family becomes a vehicle for Jesus’ presence in the world. In this way our family becomes a church, the domestic church, where we can encounter Jesus.”

Atkinson also addressed the priests of the diocese on the theology of the domestic church during their annual study days Oct. 9-12. The priests met at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights.

During the final synod session, delegates discussed continued progress made toward implementing the eight pastoral initiatives of the synod. The initiatives were the result of the work of more than 400 clergy, religious and laity from all parishes in the diocese who came together in October 2004 for the first session of the synod.

The eight pastoral initiatives, promulgated by Bishop Weigand in January 2005, focus on evangelization/faith formation, vocations, collaborative ministry/shared responsibility, eucharist and sacraments, formation for lay ministry, youth and young adults, social service and social justice ministry, and cultural diversity.

Phil Myers, a member of St. Thomas More Parish in Paradise and the Synod Implementation Commission, said that the nine priest deans have held collaborative meetings on three of the initiatives since January: vocations, lay ministry and the Lay Formation Institute, and youth and young adults.

He said the deaneries will continue to meet to facilitate synod implementation at the deanery level and will in the coming year focus on the pastoral initiative on cultural diversity.

The diocese will codify the intent of the synod pastoral initiatives in a revised set of statutes to ensure that all the faithful operate in a consistent manner, said Father Mark Richards during the session. Father Richards is judicial vicar for the diocese.

Editor’s note: Excerpts of Bishop William K. Weigand’s homily at the Oct. 9 Mass to formally close the Third Diocesan Synod are included in his “Feed My Lambs” column.

Copyright © 2006 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved