May 9. Even before they got married Paolo and Teresa had decided they wanted a large family.  They each had four siblings and there were always plenty of pets in the house and an openness to the community, a general love of nature and environmental awareness. Although there certainly had been all kinds of problems, financial, medical and at times relationship problems they had enjoyed the richness and fun as well as the security of family togetherness.  “You can’t be selfish when there are so many of you.”  Teresa shared.  Paolo added, “Our favourite Bible verse will still be the same one,  speaking of the abundance of life.

 Scripture.  Jesus said,  “I am the door of the sheep. If anyone enters by me he will find pasture. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10.  Pope Francis: The family is thus an agent of pastoral activity through its explicit proclamation of the Gospel and its legacy of varied forms of witness, namely solidarity with the poor, openness to a diversity of people, the protection of creation, moral and material solidarity with other families, including those most in need, commitment to the promotion of the common good and the transformation of unjust social structures, beginning in the territory in which the family lives, through the practice of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. AL 290. Reflect, share, act. How do parents, children, siblings and relatives belonging in a family try to love each other with their gifts, frailties, vulnerabilities, conflicts and different points of view? Pray. Mary, mother of the domestic church of the home, pray for us.