Family Matters

RECONCILIATION, A SKILL TO LEARN AT HOME

RECONCILIATION, A SKILL TO LEARN AT HOME

Some years ago, in 2008, the bishops of Southern Africa issued a pastoral letter entitled A MESSAGE OF HOPE: A CALL TO BE HEALED AND TO HEAL.    The MARFAM Advent booklet that year was called THE HEALING POWER OF LOVE and contained reflections from a family...

LOOKING FOR THE BRIGHT SIDE

LOOKING FOR THE BRIGHT SIDE

COP27 came and went and ended, with at least some resolutions on damage and compensation related to fossil fuel and global warming for more vulnerable nations. But there was no reference to the biodiversity aspect of the climate change issue.   That is sad and appears...

2023 MARFAM FAMILY YEAR PLANNER

2023 MARFAM FAMILY YEAR PLANNER

2023  MARFAM FAMILY YEAR PLANNER 2023-overview-doc-MARFAM-FAMILY-YEAR-PLANNERDownload Theme: OUR WORLD, A FAMILY OF FAMILIES   OVERVIEW AND EXPLANATIONS MONTHLY THEMES.      These THOUGHTS are available on www.marfam.org.za, facebook...

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM? CHRIST OUR KING!

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM? CHRIST OUR KING!

The solemnity of Christ the King has long been one of my special feasts, ever since boarding school and the procession. It is a relatively new feast in the Church, instituted only about 100 years ago by Pope Pius XI, in response to increasing secularism and...

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

The LAUDATO SI ACTION PLATFORM is one year old.  So Happy birthday!  Did you get the invite and did you come to the party?  Do you know what LSAP is? Maybe there is an information glut right now with the world in the middle of the UN COP27, as well as...

FAMILIES LOVE LIFE – TILL DEATH AND BEYOND

FAMILIES LOVE LIFE – TILL DEATH AND BEYOND

I had the pleasure of participating in a cross Irish/South African funeral.  The family spoke lovingly,  “We’re taking John home, to Ireland, to his seminary, to his mother and then he will be buried with his father in the family grave,” they said, the family of Fr...

FROM HALLOWEEN TO CHILDREN WHO SUFFER

FROM HALLOWEEN TO CHILDREN WHO SUFFER

I heard about a group of families who organized a Halloween celebration in a local park.   Kids dressed up, games were played and everyone had lots of fun.  That’s great but I must express some reservations about such an excuse for a party, here in South Africa, where...

MISSIONARY DISCIPLESHIP AND FAMILIES

MISSIONARY DISCIPLESHIP AND FAMILIES

Every so often I meet up with some young people or a young family from Europe or elsewhere in the world e.g. Philippines, who are volunteering to work for the Church as a missionary family in South Africa for a year or more. Last week in Cape Town I was very impressed...