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values which have the realization of moral good as their objective. ‘Moral
good means the integral good of the human person, of every person, and of
the community of persons’. It entails respecting and promoting the dignity
and worth of every human person, which consists in his/her being a
physical-psycho-spiritual entity and is founded on his/her essential
relationships - relationship with God who sustains, with other human
persons who support and the environment which nourishes him/her”. 100

4.3.2.2.2 Witnessing Through the Sense of Sacrifice

In the contemporary context, sacrifice is made by every member of
the nuclear family to maintain the social status of the family. Family
members make numerous sacrifices in order to maintain economic stability.
Especially when a child is born, parents save their income with a view to the
education of their child. In the Indian context, the marriage of the children,
especially of the daughters, costs more than an education. The CBCI
document notes the importance of sacrifice in the family as a “community
of persons”: “The Christian family is meant to be also a ‘community of
love’ - a community of persons who stand in a dynamic relationship of
openness to each other and in constant state of self-giving and self-
sacrifice”. 101

In this contemporary, changing society, the Christian family is
challenged to be, first of all, a community of love, where the sense of
sacrifice governs daily life. In this author’s opinion, several family values
have changed in contemporary families; a prominent one is this sense of
sacrifice. Today the sense of sacrifice looks different from the past. Even in
the Knānite context, both parents have to work outside the home to support
their family. Since in many families both husband and wife go to work and
share their earnings for the common welfare of the family, it is concrete
evidence that there is still a spirit of sacrifice in many families. It looks
different from the past.

100
SRAMPICKAL, THOMAS, “Values, Moral Development and Consumer Culture”, in
Jeevadhara, Vol 28/168, Kottayam, 1998, pp. 453-454.
101
CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE OF INDIA, CBCI Communication to the Synod
of Bishops 1980 on its theme “The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World”,
Ranchi, 17-25 October, 1979, in DONALD H. R. DE SOUZA (ed.), Final Statements of the
General Body Meetings of the Catholic Bishop Conference of India 1966-2002, New Delhi,
2002, p. 68.

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