Christians accept any family whether they are families with single parents, extended families, step families and nuclear families. As long as there is a loving structure between them it is fine in Christian’s eyes. It is not right or wrong to marry but it is encouraged. Some of the greatest Catholics did not marry but lived a single life so that they could follow God in a closer way. For married families with children, it should be a secure environment where the children learn social skills, companionship, love and forgiveness. If brothers and sisters are involved then it helps against selfishness and hastens toward a positive sharing relationship.
It is debatable whether prayer involved in a family brings them closer together. Prayer is not compulsory, but, in my opinion, builds a strong family relationship. It is a special time when the TV is off, computer games are off, all materialistic equipment are literally moved out the way. It is maybe the one chance in the day for the whole family to sit down and talk about their day without any interruptions. But as I said, it is not obligatory and some families thrive on love without prayer.
“Families who stick together stay together”. This is a powerful quote and is extremely true. Family life does not live merely on love, but on the power to join together through uneven times, e.g. money, work, stress. That is what makes a family special. A family who has difficulty doing this may end in the partners getting a divorce or a separation. Christians as a whole are against divorce, especially the Catholic Church. We can support this by an extract from the Matthew 5:31-32. It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce'. But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. The only option from Divorce is Annulment, which is very hard to get because special permission has to be given by the Pope. Annulment is where the vows during marriage did not mean anything and so then the marriage is never considered to have taken place.
A family life is considered as a proper upbringing for the children and the only place where we can actually have sex. But culture has got a large part to play in that, Society has changed so much, that it is known normal to have sex before marriage. This can cause people a lot of emotional pain because it is the greatest way in which two people can share their love. But as I said, it is very much abused nowadays. Causes of pregnancies without being married, “just a night out” can cause the biggest grief and makes it very hard to start another family.
