Claim. The Family Pledge is not a generic liturgy; it can be validly recited only by Blessed families whose mind-body, husband-wife, and parent-child unity has been substantially achieved.
Elaboration. SMM is unusually restrictive about who may speak the Pledge: “You cannot recite the Family Pledge when your minds and bodies are in conflict or when husbands and wives are fighting. You cannot recite it without having any children. The unity of mind and body, husband and wife, and parents and children, should be centered on God’s love” (1.1. This is the age centering on families, not on individuals, 264-339 1994.11.20). The exclusion is not punitive but logical — the Pledge declares already-existing oneness, so internal conflict makes the words self-contradicting: “Only those who are united in true love can recite the Family Pledge, which has appeared for the first time in history” (ibid). The Pledge thus functions as both creed and continuous self-audit for the restored family.
See also. csg-family-pledge-encapsulates-restoration-through-indemnity, csg-completed-testament-age-requires-mind-body-and-family-unity