The Family Fully Undead

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Thousands of people will pour into Philadelphia this September to celebrate the Eighth World Meeting of Families with Pope Francis. On June 25, the Vatican officially presented the theme for the event:

Love is our mission: the family fully alive
Lovely! On the other hand, do I want my family to be fully alive? That sounds like a handful. There are, after all, so many ways to be alive. My neighbor is alive at 6:50 am every Saturday and Sunday, cleaning his deck with a leaf blower powered by an engine from a Boeing 747. Alive was the man who cut me off in traffic yesterday, swearing at me colorfully through his open window. Children who fight over whose turn it is to wash the dishes? Very much alive.
© ezepov/Getty Images

Sometimes "alive" feels more like "undead."

But the World Meeting theme recalls the famous line by the second century theologian St. Irenaeus: "The the Glory of God is man fully alive." Pope St. John Paul II admired Irenaeus greatly and explained the context of his famous quotation: Human life reaches its fullness "provided that man remains in contact with his Creator." Only a vibrant, personal relationship with God can fill us to the brim with life.

STAY ALIVE at Praying with Grace!

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