The Choice of the Family {A Book Review}


**Give-away**, Book Review, Books, Family, Marriage / Sunday, August 30th, 2015

Hello and welcome to today’s blog tour stop for Image Catholic Books Blog Tour of Bishop Jean Lafitte’s new book, The Choice of the Family: A Call to Wholeness, Abundant Life, and Enduring Happiness , which releases September 1.

The Choice of the Family is a profound reflection on the dignity and essence of marriage, sexuality, family, God, and love.

It is a reading of interviews between Pierre and Veronique Sanchez and Bishop Jean Lafitte who, among other ecclesiastical duties, is the Head of the Pontifical Council on the Family at the Vatican and the organizer for the upcoming World Meeting of Families and Pope Francis’s first visit to the US in Philadelphia September 22 – 25.

As a wife and mother and as a lover of Christ and the beauty of the vocation of Marriage and the Family, I loved all Bishop Lafitte’s deep reflections on the mystery and gift of Marriage and the Family. If you’re interested why the Church teaches what She does about love and sex and marriage, this book will open a door for you to step in and fall in love with the great mystery of the truth of Marriage and the Family. By the time I was finished, I had nearly all the whole book highlighted.

The interview questions cover a wide span of topics relating to the engagement and marriage, family life, authentic sexuality and love, and an especially strong emphasis on the vital importance of appropriate and enriching marriage preparation. Through the dialogue, Bishop Lafitte, who came from a large family, shares his experience and understanding of marriage and family life and raises the Sacrament atop the high pedestal it belongs on, even and especially in this modern age.

As I read through the interviews, I imagined myself sitting on an old chair in a French villa sipping a cold glass of fresh sparkling lemonade while listening to a wise man paint the most beautiful image of marriage and family. The more I read the more Bishop Laffite’s profound perspective tugged me deeper and deeper into the beauty and genius of Marriage and the Family. It’s like studying a beautiful painting; the more you look at it, the more beauty and detailed intricacies you notice.

Marriage and Family have become a the topic of the times and many cry out again the Church’s teachings on what marriage and sexuality is. However, Bishop Lafitte maintains that even so, the Church will and must continue proclaiming the truth.

The Church has on voice that makes itself heard. She is attached because she is not always understood….Very often, the Church has the courage to take a position in which she knows she will be not only in the minority, but also isolated. She is driven thus to give her testimony even though it will cost her. This action is part of her mission, her very being.

It saddens me greatly that so many do not really understand the full potential and design of marriage, so many misunderstand the Church’s teachings and they are truly missing out on something wonderful. While most see the Church’s teachings on marriage and sexuality as oppressive and “unfair”, Her message about love and sexuality is a message of Hope and Joy!

Bishop Lafitte’s reminds us of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s proclamation –

It is evident today that we need to find our way back to the genuinely Christian attitude that existed among the first Christians and in the great periods of Christian culture; the attitude of joy in, and affirmation of, the body, of sexuality – seen as a gift that always requires discipline and responsibility as well. (Light of the World pg 103)

While many may feel depressed about the current state of marriage and the family, Bishop Lafitte’s calls us to stay positive and have Hope.

At the heart of the Christian couple and of the family, there is a the mystery of hope: a natural, human hope and a supernatural hope when filled with God: Hope carries a family and its members toward the eternal future. Hope already makes the desired good present.

and lastly,

The family that grows together and is strengthened wagers that the society into which it is inserted is worthy of being served, and that consequently it is worth the trouble of working within it, of getting involved. Hope is a central virtue.

I yearn for others to hear and receive this gift of what marriage, sexuality, and family truly IS. In The Choice of the Family: A Call to Wholeness, Abundant Life, and Enduring Happiness, Bishop Lafitte shares gives us a true gift and joins St. John Paul II’s call for families to “become what you are!”

I encourage everyone to read this book and become enlightened and excited about the beauty that is Marriage and the Family.

The Choice of the Family: A Call to Wholeness, Abundant Life, and Enduring Happiness releases September, 1 and I’m teaming up with Image Press to offer ONE FREE Book! Choose one more options in the Give Away below for a chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{Amazon sends me a cute little gift card when you make any Amazon purchases via the affiliate links on this site – Thank you!}

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