Noah and his wife were faithful servants of the Lord. They found favor with God by obeying His commands in a world that devalued marriage, the foundation of society. They navigated the deceptions and lies of their time by walking and conversing with the Lord. Noah heeded God’s warning to save his family by building the ark and enclosing them in its safety. He had faith in what the Lord was asking even when it seemed radical. Noah and his family were spared from the consequences of sin because they trusted in the Lord’s promises.

Our Struggles Today

We are drowning in a culture that denies the true nature and purpose of marriage and its unitive and procreative ends. Instead of trusting in God’s plan for our family, we choose our own path. As a result, marriages are strained and broken by the weight of sin. The Lord has promised He will never destroy the earth again by flood, yet we are left to navigate these rising waters of sinfulness.

God bestowed His blessing and new names on Abraham and his wife, Sarah. He promised them land, prosperity and more descendants than stars in the sky. After years wandering a timeworn path of faithfulness, waiting for His promises to be fulfilled, they lost hope. In desperation, Sarah told Abraham to have a child with her maidservant and Abraham obeyed. Yet this did not satisfy the desire of their hearts or fulfill God’s plan for their marriage.

The answer to years of prayer was finally revealed when Abraham and Sarah invited three travelers into their tent to dine at their table. They served these divine guests with the humblest of provisions. Their hospitality and faithfulness were rewarded with joy and laughter at the unexpected birth of Isaac.

Our Struggles Today

Because we have the medical and technological ability to manipulate the gift of life and fertility, we face the temptation of rejecting God’s plan for our families. Rather than discerning and trusting in the Church’s wisdom and teachings, we rely on our own faulty reasoning. Taking matters into our own hands, we prevent life from beginning, intentionally end life in the womb, and create life in a lab without regard for the outcome. These decisions fail to fill the emptiness of our hearts.

By all appearances, Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi lived an ordinary, simple life. Yet beneath this humble exterior, their deep faith enabled them to follow God’s will in extraordinary ways. The Quattrocchis were well-educated and lived in Rome. Luigi was a lawyer and Maria a teacher and writer. Throughout their married life, they dedicated themselves to many apostolates that supported marriage and the family. They were strengthened by daily Mass, the rosary and devotion to the Sacred Heart.

With joy, they welcomed four children and poured themselves into their little “domestic church.” When Maria was pregnant with their fourth child, doctors diagnosed her with placenta previa, giving her a five percent chance of survival unless she aborted the child. Maria refused, trusting instead in God’s Providence. For the remainder of her pregnancy, both she and Luigi drew courage from Christ’s cross. To their great relief and gratitude, their daughter Enrichetta was born without complications.

Despite their work and apostolates, they never sacrificed time with their own children. Instead, their devotion and actions served as a living example of how to “appreciate everything from the roof up,” as Maria would often say. When the Nazis invaded Italy, the Quattrocchis opened their home to Jews and others desperate for shelter. After twenty years of marriage, Luigi and Maria took the unique vow of living together as brother and sister, humbly sacrificing marital love for the sake of the kingdom.

Placing themselves close to Christ’s Sacred Heart they tasted joy, suffering and self-sacrifice. This example was richly rewarded. Their two sons became priests, one daughter became a nun and Enrichetta dutifully cared for them in their old age until their deaths.
Our Struggles Today

We are tempted to place our careers and possessions before the practice of our faith and time with family. As a result, our relationships with our spouse, children, elderly parents and even God deteriorate. Across the nation and throughout the world, these fractured relationships lead to isolation, distrust and fear. Rather than reaching out to others, we withdraw, anxious of what the future holds for us and for our children.

Born tenth of thirteen children, Gianna grew up in a family whose focus was unity, sanctity, and sacrifice. Her parents taught her to seek and follow God’s will by participating in the sacrifice of the Mass, praying the rosary daily, consecrating herself to the Sacred Heart and continually accepting the crosses God sent. While the early death of her parents could have fractured her family, it instead strengthened their foundation of faith, making the bonds between siblings impenetrable. Gianna witnessed the mystical workings of God in the various vocations of her siblings, including religious life and the priesthood.

As an adult, Gianna felt called to serve God and others by becoming a doctor. She longed to be a medical missionary, but health issues made it impractical. She instead became a pediatrician, ministering to both the body and soul of her patients. It was at this time she met Pietro, her future spouse.

Throughout their engagement and marriage, their lives were intertwined with Christ. Shortly before their wedding, Gianna wrote to Pietro about her hopes for their life together: “With God’s help and blessing we will do our best to make our new family a little Cenacle where Jesus reigns over all our affections, desires, and actions.”

Despite difficult pregnancies and deliveries, Gianna experienced motherhood with an abundance of joy. She welcomed three children while continuing her profession as a doctor. During Gianna’s fourth pregnancy, doctors discovered a large fibroid in her uterus that threatened the life of her unborn child. Untreated, it would pose a danger to her as well. Doctors advised an abortion. Trusting in Divine Providence and understanding the risks, she instead chose to have the fibroid removed. Gianna insisted that if a choice had to be made, they choose the life of her child over her own. While she gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Gianna’s health rapidly declined and she began her own ascent to Calvary, joining her suffering to Christ’s. She died of infection just seven days after delivery. In the last moments of her earthly life, she was accompanied by the prayers, love, and support of Pietro and her siblings. Together they anticipated her union with Christ and her loved ones in eternal life.

Our Struggles Today

Our culture has lost the ability to see how God can transform our lives through suffering. We no longer believe that the truths of the Catholic Faith will sustain us through this suffering. Searching for the easy way out, we choose every means possible of escaping pain. We seek to prolong pleasure and the desires of our youth, forgetting we were not made for this world but the next. With our sights no longer set on heaven, we reject the crosses God asks us to carry, robbing ourselves of graces and deeper conversion.