Bearing Witness to Family Love
"Holy Family of Nazareth,
make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family and its beauty in God's plan." (Amoris Laetitia, 325)
Pope Francis announced the ‘Year of Family Love’, during his Angelus Message on the Feast of the Holy Family, December 27, 2020. He ended his address invoking the Blessed Mother, “May the Virgin Mary grant that families throughout the world be increasingly fascinated by the evangelical ideal of the Holy Family, so as to become a leaven of [a] new humanity and of a genuine and universal solidarity.”
On Friday, March 19, 2021, the Church celebrated five years since the publication of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) on the beauty and joy of love in the family. On the same day, Pope Francis launched the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, which will conclude on June 26, 2022, on the occasion of the Tenth World Meeting of Families in Rome.
Family Love: Vocation and Path to Holiness
Heavenly Father,
We come before You to praise
You and to thank You for the great gift of the family.
We pray to You for all families consecrated by the Sacrament of Matrimony.
May they rediscover each day the graces they have received,
and as small domestic churches,
may they know how to witness to Your presence and to the love with which Christ loves the Church.
We pray to You for all families faced with difficulty and suffering
caused by illness or circumstances of which only You know.
Sustain them and make them aware
of the path to holiness upon which You call them,
so that they might experience Your infinite mercy
and find new ways to grow in love.
We pray to You for children and young people.
May they encounter You and respond joyfully to the vocation You have in mind for them.
We pray for their parents and grandparents.
May they be aware that they are signs of the fatherhood and motherhood of God in caring for the children who, in body and spirit,
You entrust to them, as well as in the experience of fraternity
that the family can give to the world.
Lord, grant that each family
might live their specific vocation to holiness in the Church
as a call to become missionary disciples,
in the service of life and peace,
in communion with our priests, religious, and all vocations in the Church.
Bless the World Meeting of Families in Rome.
Amen.
(Prayer for the X World Meeting of Families
ROME, 22-26 June 2022)
Family, the Domestic Church
“The pandemic experience has highlighted the central role of the family as the domestic Church, and has shown the importance of community ties between families,” the Vatican remarked in a statement announcing the Year. “Through the spiritual, pastoral, and cultural initiatives planned in the Year ‘Amoris Laetitia Family,’ Pope Francis intends to address all ecclesial communities throughout the world, exhorting each person to be a witness of family love.”
What is Family for you? Who is Family for you?
Out of One, Many?
Out of Many, One?
Descendants of a common ancestorBlood RelationshipMarriage RelationshipParents and ChildrenNarrow / Broad ImageExclusive / InclusiveFaith FamilyCorporate FamilyOne Species - ‘The Human Family ‘All Species - A Web of All LifeGod’s Family- All of Creation
We Are a Family | Jack Hartmann
"We Are Family : A Musical Message for All"
Read Pope Francis Apostolic Letter, ‘Amoris Laetitia Family’ here:
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