MARFAM WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER AND INTRODUCTION

Bringing Lent and the Year of St Francis together is the kind of thing I find quite helpful for families.   Both can be seen as being good for families and important too.  St Francis is probably the most popular saint in the Church and also has a wide following in the world.  Is this because of his prayer for peace or because  of his love of animals and all of nature or hopefully some of both? Many of us have been long-time fans but Pope Francis brought another dimension in his encyclical Laudato Si which has spawned – to use a nature orientated term – a whole new following.  

MARFAM’S LENTEN booklet is adapted for the YEAR OF ST FRANCIS 2026.  St Francis, his life and legacy are the main focus for this programme of THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY from Ash Wednesday to Easter Monday.  The THOUGHTS are also posted as usual on the website, by email and on social media. The full programme is published in booklet form. Cost R30.  Available from MARFAM +27 825521275 and  www.marfam.org.za/shop. 

LOVE IS HIS LAW, LOVE IS HIS WAY. LENTEN THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY with St Francis, Pope Francis and an eco-friendly family focus.

Introduction. A family group discussed, “a sacrifice is essentially something offered to God.  It can mean taking up, doing, making, give extra time for the benefit of others but offered to God.” Jack added, “I have seen that often during Lent time is taken for churchy things, but not much for the churchy things of the home. This Lent we can make up our own Family Lenten calendar, build in eco-family-friendly actions and prayers.  We can even pray the Stations of the Cross for Families at home as well as at church.”  Mom added, Why not a Family Paschal or Prayer Meal and Reconciliation Service as well as Confession?”   For these family suggestions for Lent go to https://marfam.org.za/families-and-lent/

Pope Francis: The spiritual stature of a person’s life is measured by LOVE which remains the criterion for a human life’s worth.  All of us believers need to recognize that LOVE takes first place and must never be put at risk. FT 92. 

Pope Leo:  Dear brothers and sisters, may the example and spiritual legacy of this Saint, strong in faith, steadfast in hope and ardent in active charity towards his neighbour, inspire in everyone the importance of trusting in the Lord, of living a life faithful to the Gospel, and of accepting and illuminating every circumstance and action of life with faith and prayer.  In this Year of St Francis, a Year of Grace, I wish to offer you a prayer, that Saint Francis of Assisi may continue to instil in all of us perfect joy and harmony:     

 Pope Leo’s Prayer for the Year of St Francis.  
Saint Francis, our brother, you who eight hundred years ago went to meet Sister Death as a man at peace, intercede for us before the Lord.    
You recognized true peace in the Crucifix of San Damiano, teach us to seek in Him the source of all reconciliation that breaks down every wall.
You who, unarmed, crossed the lines of war and misunderstanding, give us the courage to build bridges where the world raises up boundaries.
In this time afflicted by conflict and division, intercede for us so that we may become peacemakers: unarmed and disarming witnesses of the peace that comes from Jesus Christ. Amen

PEACE PRAYER OF ST FRANCIS
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me sow love,
Where there is injury pardon, where there is doubt faith,
Where there is despair hope, where there is darkness light,
and Where there is sadness joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to loved.
For it is in giving that we receive, in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and in dying to self that we are born to eternal life. Amen

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LAUDATO SI GOALS from the Laudato Si Action Platformare built into these Lenten Daily Thoughts during the wholeSeason .






The Response to the Cry of the Earth is a call to protect our common home for the wellbeing of all, as we equitably address the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and ecological sustainability.













The Response to the Cry of the Poor is a call to promote eco-justice, aware that we are called to defend human life from conception to death, and all forms of life on Earth.  Assist with poverty alleviation projects.





Ecological Economics acknowledges that the economy is a sub-system of human society, which itself is embedded within the biosphere – our common home.





The Adoption of Sustainable Lifestyles is about the ideal of sufficiency in the use of resources and energy.





Ecological Education is about re-thinking and re-designing curricular and institutional reform in the spirit of integral ecology in order to foster ecological awareness and transformative action.





Ecological Spirituality springs from an ecological conversion and helps us to “discover God in all things,”the beauty of creation and the sighs of the sick and afflicted, aware that the life of the spirit is not remote from worldly realities.





Community Resilience and Empowerment.  A synodal journey of community engagement and participatory action.





Eco-friendly Lenten Acts of Love and Sacrifice to do or develop for Families at Home.  “Cry of the earth, cry of the poor.”





    

  • Study and read. Spend time together discovering St Francis, Pope Francis and Pope Leo writings, especially on poor. Share and pray.
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  • Do. A family project or activity, nature walk, plant, bird watch. Check carbon footprint. Clean-up, sort and donate for poor. Fast.  Visit. 
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  • Save, reuse, recycle.  Water & electricity – no waste. Save money by fasting.  Support projects –food garden, security, charity,
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  • Care for others.   Elderly, sick,  poor, lonely, share.   
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  • Pray. Meet, share and pray also with other religions for peace & our earth. Pray Stations of the Cross for Families
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  • Church.  Mass/Reconciliation/confession. Stations of the cross, Rosary.    
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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY.  ASH WEDNESDAY 





18 February.   SEE:   Jack, a catechist, offered the family groups a basic explanation for the three Catholic practices of Lent which are each a form of daily repentance and sacrifice: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  “Prayer, personal or communal, makes room for God in our lives. Fasting can mean denying ourselves, possibly something we particularly like, to share with others in need or just as self-denial. Almsgiving is sharing with others some of our gifts, time, talents, money or other possessions.  St Francis of Assisi made this three-fold Lenten practice his daily mission and way of life.”    





Who was St Francis: Francis Bernardone, born into a wealthy merchant family, as a young adult was a playboy, became a soldier and was wounded, captured and imprisoned for a year, during a local war between Assisi and a neighbouring town. He began to feel disillusioned with the materialistic, secular way of life and felt drawn towards a life of poverty. Prayer and reflection led him to publicly reject his family. Stripping off his smart clothes he gave them back to his father and put on the simple peasant’s robe tied up with a rope, which after 800 years is still a feature of some Franciscan brothers, priests and sisters.  





While out walking, in a small derelict church he heard a voice from the crucifix, “Francis go and rebuild my church, as you can see it is falling into ruin.” He started repairing the structure but came to see that his call was not about the building of stone but for the people and Church leaders. He chose a new way of life of prayer, poverty and humility. Soon friends and other men converted to his way. A while later Clare, a daughter of a noble family in Assisi, who was captivated by his vision, asked to join.





Francis was no highly educated theologian and never became a priest.  He intensely experienced God‘s love in the Incarnate and Crucified Jesus. While travelling, preaching and teaching his growing community of friars and Clare’s community of sisters, Francis lived a life of ongoing conversion, humbly and in peace with every person and all creatures. He came to see everything as his family, called elements of creation by name as Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Mother Earth, also Brother Wolf, Sister Dove.





JUDGE, reflect and share.  Scripture:  “Even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning.”  Joel 2:12-18. “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” From the blessing with ashes.  Pope Francis: Our sister, Mother Earth, cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods that God has endowed her with.  We forget that we ourselves are dust of the earth; our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and receive life and refreshment from her waters.  LS2.St Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and an integral ecology, lived out joyfully and authentically. He loved and was deeply loved for his joy, generous self-giving and his open-heartedness. LS11. Pope Leo:  Francis’ poverty was relational: it led him to become neighbor, equal to, or indeed lesser than others. His holiness sprang from the conviction that Christ can only be truly received by giving oneself generously to one’s brothers and sisters.DT63





ACT AND PRAY.   As family members share what you particularly admire in St Francis. What is God calling you to do at this starting moment of Lent? Review the Lenten Actions Suggestions and choose one of Laudato Si goals for a good understanding.