MARFAM Family Weekly e-newsletter 5 February 2025
JESUS’ INVITATION IN 2025: “LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” t’s almost impossible to avoid focusing on Love during this month of February. But why should one, as Love is such an integral part of life, our spiritual life too. Pope Francis’ 2024 encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus is all about his love, divine and human. The Pope reflects on the human heart in great detail. “We see that in the heart of each person there is a mysterious connection between self- knowledge and openness to others, between the encounter with one’s personal uniqueness and the willingness to give oneself to others. We become ourselves only to the extent that we acquire the ability to acknowledge others, while only those who can acknowledge and accept themselves are then able to encounter others. “ DN 18 Does that not speak to the very philosophy of Marriage Encounter? Love also features strongly alongside hope in the Jubilee resources as well.
My particular MARFAM focus this Jubilee year as usual is on family life in all its varied aspects, happy and sad, problems and joys, its shape and size, etc. February’s theme is LOVE GIVES FAMILIES LIFE, and it does so in different ways, forms and types of families. However 9th Feb, the 2nd Sunday and the closest to Valentine’s day, is for some of us in the Church WORLD MARRIAGE DAY. It has been celebrated as such by Worldwide Marriage Encounter since the 1980s and has the approval of the Vatican. The US Catholic bishops have designated 7-14 February National Marriage Week and they have posted a large number of different resources for use in parishes and families. Go to https://www.foryourmarriage.org/ and https://wwme.org/community/sponsored-events/world-marriage-day/ to search through the many resources, prayers, reflections and retreats and special liturgies.
But as was said very recently, the Mass, or commemorations such as this, are not mere rituals or talks but are meant to be applied to our lives. In last week’s e-newsletter I mentioned my article in the Southern Cross – the SA Catholic magazine – on dialogue as a very effective way of communicating from the heart. Dialogue should consist of sharing our deepest true feelings and exploring our values and our needs and is promoted as the Synodal way of sharing and listening.
For us in SA some dioceses and parishes do celebrate World Marriage Day and might organize a Renewal of Marriage Vows for their couples and also promote the various marriage enrichment programs: Teams of Our Lady, Couples for Christ, Engaged Encounter, Retrouvaille and the Alpha Marriage Course apart from Marriage Encounter and other local initiatives for marriage and/or family life. it seems that many such programmes are not as popular as they were in the 1980s and 1990s but there are dedicated groups offering the experiences in different parts of the country.
However, as I discovered on my long journey through life and 25 years of widowhood, there is more to life, family life and church life than marriage per se. I also find that limiting a marriage celebration to couples is quite exclusive and misses the point that marriage is a sacrament of the Church and for the Church. We should stress that marriage is relevant for everyone, priests and parishioners, catechists and families, including the couples, young people and the engaged especially. Even inviting reflection by those who are not married in church, those who have been widowed, separated or divorced still have the experience and spirituality of marriage as an image and model of the love of God. The Blessed Trinity is a communion of love. In the Christian vision of the Trinity God is contemplated as Father, Son and Spirit of love. The triune God is a communion of love and the family is its living reflection. Amoris Laetitia 11. For me nothing expresses this vision of marriage better than the prayer of Fr Chuck Gallagher, the early ME “guru. OUR FATHER’S CALL TO A COUPLE. See attached.
My suggestion for a commemoration on Sunday 9th Feb then is to build marriage into the Sunday liturgy, the homily, either have a renewal of baptismal promises by everyone followed by a renewal of vows by couples or have a type of commissioning and blessing for everyone and renewal of vows by couples. In that way everyone is included. Holism is part of my life-view, something that applies to all kinds of family situations which can be unpacked in the course of the year. For now the slogan for World Marriage Day in the words of Jesus himself can be applied firstly to couples and lso to every loving person. “Love one another as I have loved you.: TR Family Weekly
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 5 FEBRUARY 2025.
February 5. Spiritual growth is a journey. Beauty had been a catechist for a number of years. While she loved the ministry she also felt quite sad that she was finding herself growing away from her own family. “It seems as if they think I’m some kind of religious nut,” she shared, “and all I wish is for Peter and the kids to understand what I am gaining from this growing spirituality, especially my eco-spirituality. It isn’t only about God and me, but affects the family too.”
Reflect, share. Scripture: Jesus said to them, ”A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country and among his own kin and in his own house.” Mark 6:1-6. Pope Francis. Those who have deep spiritual aspirations should not feel that the family detracts from their growth in the life of the Spirit, but rather see it as a path which the Lord is using to lead them to the heights of mystical union. AL 316. JUBILEE: St Paul can write: “We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom 5:3-4). For the Apostle, trials and tribulations mark the lives of those who preach the Gospel amid incomprehension and persecution. We learn to practise a virtue closely linked to hope, namely patience. In our fast-paced world, we are used to wanting everything now. SNC 4. Prayer and action : Pray for confidence and consolation in living one’s particular calling. Choose appropriate action.
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