It was in the home of Mary and Joseph that Jesus learned to read the Sacred
Scriptures and to ponder with them their deepest meaning—the meaning that he
himself would ultimately fulfill. Together with them, he would gather to celebrate the
weekly Sabbath with their kinfolk and neighbors and make the yearly joyful
pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover. In such settings, familial and communal,
Mary and Joseph fostered, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the devout life of
Jesus. The Church is a communion of faith, hope, and love. The Christian family, as
the domestic Church, is equally to be a communion of faith, hope, and love. Through
faith, hope, and love, Jesus abides within the family, and through the Holy Spirit he
pours out the love of the Father within the family. It is within this context of the family
as the domestic Church that fathers and mothers, after the manner of Joseph and
Mary, have a particular obligation to nurture the Christian life within their own families.
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