Objective:
The middle school youth will come to a deeper understanding of the Church’s teaching on divorce and how to deal with its consequences in their lives.
Overview:
In today’s culture, divorce has become a norm. The majority of middle school youth come from families affected by divorce. This night will help teens understand that the Church is very clear on the issue of divorce. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign (2384).
Divorce is never easy for anyone. While it most obviously affects the marital union, it also impacts any children the couple may have had as well as the community as a whole. The Catechism states:
Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society (2385).