MARFAM FAMILY MATTERS E-NEWSLETTER 23 APRIL 2025.

RIP POPE FRANCIS BELOVED FATHER OF OUR WORLD A FAMILY OF FAMILIES. Toni Rowland

On Easter Monday  21 April 2025, the Church and the world lost a great man.  We mourn the death of our beloved Holy Father, Pope Francis as Catholics, believers and many other citizens of the world.  We have seen and heard hundreds of wonderful tributes from millions of people, about his compassion, his humility and the concern for and pastoral care he gave to the poor, migrants, the elderly and marginalized and his personal response to the cry of the earth.

Let us not forget that one of the earliest acts of his pontificate in 2013 was an expression of concern for the needs of families, through a discernment process and synods in 2014 and 2015 on the Family and Evangelisation.  These resulted in his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the Joy of Love on Marriage and the Family.

His 2015 encyclical Laudato Si – on Care of our Common Home called for action towards an integral ecology of all aspects of life and the common good. Families are at the heart of this journey through loving tenderness, education and action.  Pope Francis’ legacy, is not only what he gave and left to the world, but how we, as human families, commit to continue to care for all the families in our common home, human, animal and plant.

Long before this 2025 Jubilee year where he calls on Catholics to be Pilgrims of Hope he expressed a hope in Amoris Laetitia.  “It is my hope that in reading the text all will feel called to love and cherish family life, for “families are not a problem, they are first and foremost an opportunity.”  AL7. An opportunity to be Signs of Hope whatever their circumstances.  

My personal journey in family ministry grew from engaging with the writings of the late popes, John Paul II, Benedict and Francis. it developed from a focus on marriage and pre-marriage, to a wider consideration of family life in its different forms and life experiences, MARFAM became a vehicle, followed as a widow, by a number of years at the SACBC Family Life Desk promoting a family focus based on the 1994 African Synod image of THE CHURCH AS FAMILY OF GOD as well as Parish Family Ministry and the various family movements. From 2018 after being introduced to Laudato Si the combined vision of Becoming Eco-Friendly Families grew naturally as I became part of the Laudato si Movement and the LS Action Platform. TR

PS. Easter Monday was Family Day in South Africa. Did the government and the people take note?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY. APRIL 23. A HEART TO HEART TALK WALK.

Wednesday of Easter week.   Peter said, “Why did those two disciples that were walking to Emmaus not recognize him?  Who were they, don’t they have names?   Were they not important?   I like to think that Jesus is there for me, the same as for the pope or the bishop even if I am not important.” Mercia added, “What I like is that there were a pair of them, together, maybe a husband and wife, maybe with their kids and that Jesus took his time to walk and talk with them. I think we should do that too, all together.” 

Reflect, share and act. Scripture  He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. He went in to stay with them and their eyes were opened and they recognized him.  Luke 24:13-35.  Pope Francis.  In talking with his disciples Jesus would invite them to recognize the paternal relationship God has with all his creatures. With moving tenderness he would remind them that each one of them is important in God’s eyes, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.”  LS 96.  JUBILEE.  The Sacred Heart is the unifying principle of all reality, since “Christ is the heart of the world, and the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection is the centre of history. All creatures “are moving forward with us and through us towards a common point of arrival, which is God where Christ embraces all things. In the presence of the heart of Christ, I once more ask the Lord to have mercy on this suffering world in which he chose to dwell as one of us. May he pour out the treasures of his light and love, so that our world, which presses forward despite wars, socio-economic disparities and uses of technology that threaten our humanity, may regain the most important and necessary thing of all: its heart.  DN 31. Choose an appropriate action.