Introduction : why be concerned with the ordinary? -- Part I. Resources from the Catholic tradition -- Chapter one. A Catholic theological understanding of marriage -- Cultural understandings of marriage -- Liturgy : the personal and social dimensions of Christian marriage -- Scripture and the social import of family life -- Marriage as sacrament : beyond relationship to communion -- Conclusion : family as primary Christian community -- Chapter two. Between the personal and the political : families as agents of social change -- Early documents and movements : 1891-1931 -- Early American Episcopal documents and Catholic Action Groups : 1919-1965 -- Contemporary reflections : changing hearts and structures -- Conclusion : Families and social change -- Chapter three. Grace, sin, and holy families -- The limits of a theology of ideals -- O'Connor's gift to theology -- Seeing : acknowledging the importance and difficulty of faith -- Sin and finitude -- Grace, sin, and finitude in Christian marriage -- Sin, grace, and solidarity -- Conclusion : beginning with imperfection, moving toward solidarity -- Part II. Practices -- Chapter four. Practicing sexual fidelity -- Why practices? -- Sexual ethics : moving beyond controversy -- Sex, fidelity, and infidelity : the situation -- Sex as practice : seeking the good -- Conclusion : from intimacy to community -- Chapter five. The practice of eating : love, justice, and mercy -- Family meals in the twenty-first century -- Eucharist : communion and calling -- Eating with/as sinners : practicing mercy at the table -- Love and justice at the table : practices within a practice -- Conclusion : the priority of mercy -- Chapter six. How much is enough? : the practice of tithing -- Are we rich yet? -- Foundations : Hebrew and Christian Scriptures -- Christian tradition on wealth and charity -- Application : tithing in a contemporary Christian context -- Conclusion : why tithing matters -- Chapter seven. Serving : re-imagining a central practice of middle-class family life -- Contemporary Catholic family life : a rough sketch -- Pre-Vatican II American parishes -- The changing shape of parish life -- Reshaping parish life to support Christian families -- Service as family practice -- Conclusion : community, practice, and service -- Chapter eight. Family prayer as practice of resistance -- Prayer : beyond platitudes -- A brief history of Christian thought on parental religious duties -- Interfaith families as models -- Praying as church in contemporary families -- Conclusion : practices of resistance as ordinary morality.