I think I have had a pretty good experience of the "domestic church" in my home since I've been born. First off, my parents were married in the catholic church, and although my mom did not become catholic until after she married my dad, she always embodied the compassion, forgiveness, and service of a christian. My sisters and I were all baptized as infants and received First Communion, Reconciliation, and Confirmation in our catholic grade school. Since I was a child, my parents have always taught me how to live a life of Christianity. My family went to church every Sunday and the teaching I received at home always correlated with the lessons I learned in catholic school and church. I definitely feel like I want to establish the "domestic church" in my future home. If I do get married and have children like I have always dreamed of doing, I want to teach my children the lessons that I have learned from my parents and set a good example of how to live as a christian, person, wife, and mother and my husband to do the same as a husband and father.
It is obvious that the face of marriage is changing in many ways. The world is becoming more open to same-sex marriage, families without children, and 'reverse' gender roles in a marriage. The biggest pro of our changing society is the acceptance of all people. I think it is important that all people feel accepted in the world, and the new outlook on marriage that many people, especially the younger population, have on marriage encourages acceptance and/or tolerance. Whether a woman is the primary income in a family, or a same-sex marriage, I think that all relationships are unique and work differently for all people. The biggest con, for Catholics at least, is the deviation that some of the modern marriage practices have from Catholic Social Teachings. However, I think that although the church does have reason behind its traditions, there is some adjusting that could be done in order to modernize the catholic church and appeal to more people.
