Cardinal Dolan from the Synod

I recently read a couple of Cardinal Dolan's blog posts from the synod on the family.  He is the archbishop of New York.

In the first one he remarks on one theme from the Synod: inclusion.

He writes:

A very refreshing consistent theme of the synod has been inclusion.  The church, our spiritual family, welcomes everyone, especially those who may feel excluded.

He then lists groups that form a new minority in the church and in our culture.  One of these is:

a couple who has decided that the wife would sacrifice a promising professional career to stay at home and raise their children.

Then he adds:

Where do they receive support and encouragement?  From TV? From magazines and Newspapers? From movies? From Broadway?  From their peers?  Forget it!

In a later blog post he writes about the many traditions the Church has that support family life, and the spiritual life within the family. 

 He writes:

One of the many points (at the synod) upon which there has been unanimous and enthusiastic support was this: that one of the more powerful ways we as church support and strengthen marriages and families is through prayer, the Eucharist, God's word, devotions, the Sacraments and our beautiful Catholic traditions.

He then lists many of these traditions including

       Joyful, yet simple celebrations of Baptisms, 
       First Communions, Confirmations, weddings 
       and jubilees of marriage.

At the end of his lengthy yet incomplete list, he says:

"Oh come on now!"  I can hear some say.  Nobody does that stuff anymore!"

To which I would reply: that's the problem!  We should!

You should read both of these posts completely.