For the first 300 years of Christianity there were no churches. This was the era of the great Roman persecution, when Christians were forced to worship in their homes. It is from this practice that the concept of the Domestic Church (Ecclesia domestica) was born. St John Chrysostom (349-407) was the first to preach extensively on the importance of the Domestic Church in the faith formation of the family. In more recent times, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2204) speaks specifically about the Domestic church when it says; “the Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called the Domestic Church.” St John Paul II in his apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio, also speaks about how the Christian family is a “miniature Church” that should perform functions analogous to the universal Church.
Therefore, if the family is the Domestic church, then we can say that the liturgy of the Domestic church is the family meal. The family meal is perhaps the most overlooked and undervalued asset that the family possesses. Even non-Christian social scientific based studies demonstrate the importance and numerous benefits of the family meal time. Their studies have shown that families that share this common meal time together produce children that have good language skills, communication and relational skills, are physically healthier, have fewer problematic behaviors, greater academic achievement, and overall psychological well-being.
However, the spiritual benefits are even more significant. It is during the family meal that the family truly functions as a Domestic Church, preaching, teaching, correcting, exhorting, and praying together. A few simple ideas that could be implemented to fulfill this role as a Domestic church would be to pray-both before and after the meal-and to read from the scriptures and/or the lives of the saints. The Catholic church makes planning this time incredibly easy since we have scripture readings for every day as well as a saint nearly every day. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if parents even prepared a short reflection on the days Gospel reading to share with the family? By the grace of God, adopting these practices will have a positive formative effect upon the entire family!