Yulo, Cryzxia Bhene Y.

1-6

UNIT IV: PASTORAL CHALLENGES OF THE FAMILY

The family is the basic unit of a society that is what we always hear whenever we talk
about family in our early years but what we fail to grasp is how vital a family is to the
development of a society. As a Filipino, I have always been taught about the
importance of family and the need to help and care for those that are older than we are
and so Filipinos understand and uphold family gatherings and because of our culture,
Filipinos are tagged as being hospitable and having close family ties and I have
always been proud of that. I have seen extended families and nuclear ones in the
Philippines and that’s what makes us different from other countries. Families are
where a person feels like he/she belongs to, we associate ourselves as part of
something and it satisfies one of our basic needs, A sense of belonging.

But lately, sudden growth in the digital age and technology accounted for separation
and the family’s growing distance with each other. Instead of communicating face to
face we are connecting online, instead of meeting with people we chat them hoping
that it would suffice. I believe that because of this we forget just how important
someone is in our life. The pressure of always being out there and making things
happen made it hard to just sit down and have a normal family meal and it got in the
way of us interacting with each other or simply engaging in conversation. Technology
made it easier for us to indulge ourselves in materials online that would later stain our
lifestyle and the way we interact with people. Because of all the things media is
feeding us we get confused as to what really is real and what is good. These days
different mediums teach us that certain things are okay, divorce is fine, that how we
perceive ourselves to be is fine, that abortion is okay, casual sex is fine, cheating is
fine as long as it is kept a secret, everything that is fine does not always mean that it
is right and we have settled with just being fine. We no longer strive to be good and
that is exactly what the world needs. We need people who struggle everyday to
choose what is good instead of what is easy because nothing great is easy at first and
we have become so lazy and complacent that we do what is easy for us instead of
what is good. Another problem families face nowadays is that more and more teens
are liberated therefore they become so independent that they no longer depend on the
family for help and too much individualism can also be harmful on both the family
and the community.

I believe that the best way we can help the family in this generation is to disconnect.
Disconnect our phones and open ourselves into communication. Spend time with the
family and always be intentional in everything you do. This can be a good start and
from there we can start building the family again, Praying for them and giving people
some of our time will help them feel loved and appreciated. I think that we can also
reiterate the importance of each family member so that they will feel they belong and
that they are a part of something. By doing this, we protect the relationship we build
with our family members and in turn create a better and safer society. As a
community, we can create special programs that help the family get together. For
parents, we can give them seminars because we know that nobody is perfect and
sometimes even parents can go wrong. With seminars we can help parents stay on
track and keep track of their dependents as well. Teaching young adults to be
grounded and inline with God can also help prevent sudden pulls of human nature.
Being open with them about sexuality even if it is a tough road to travel can also be
beneficial and may minimize confusion in them. I agree that we should let our teens
express themselves but we must also remember God’s initial design for His people
and that man can only be in communion with a woman. I think that we should
preserve that rule in marriage and we should also teach that to our children. Living for
others is better and more fulfilling that living for one’s own self, I believe that I if we
start establishing the right kind of relationship now we can still save the families in
our Society.