June 29.  Sts Peter and Paul.  The RCIA catechist shared some thoughts, “It is interesting that we celebrate the feasts of Sts Peter and Paul together when they hardly met.  Paul tells us they spent 15 days together on his first visit to find out first hand about Peter’s knowledge of Jesus.  Their second meeting some years later at a council meeting was because of an internal dispute about rules and laws for Jews and for Gentiles to become Christians.  Peter preached to the Jews and Paul to other peoples in the countries he visited.  How do we as senior and junior members in our families deal with conflict and disputes?  Does the senior member win the battle? Do we have “councils” and should we?” Natalie, the “eco-nut” in the group voiced her thoughts. “In my learning about animal family interactions one does come across this problem of upcoming young males challenging the authority of the old leader. Sometimes it’s the females who make the choice.”   

Reflect, share, act. Scripture: Paul writes,” I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.”  Gal 1:19-20    Read Acts of the Apostles Ch 15 to get further background.   Pope Francis:  The task of education in the family is to make us sense that the world and society are also our home; it trains us how to live together in this greater home.  In the family we learn closeness, care and respect for others. We come to realise that we are living with and alongside others who are worthy of our concern. There is no social bond without the everyday almost microscopic aspect of living side by side, crossing paths and being concerned about everything that affects us. AL276.  One of the things children need to learn from their parents is not to get carried away by anger.    AL 269.