Check out https://marfam.org.za/lent-and-family-celebrations-year-of-st-francis/

17 March. SEE.  Joseph and his son Aubrey continued their conversation.  “Dad, in those old apartheid days, did you and your friends really do things that were against the law?”  “Well, we didn’t go and blow up bridges but we did support what we believed was a just cause. Uncle Stephen became a conscientious objector and wouldn’t do his military service, because he didn’t want to fight for what he believed was unjust.” Aubrey said, “But my friend Busi said that his dad was an activist too, and he did go and blow up things.”  “We activists tried to do what we believed was right.”

JUDGE, reflect and share. Scripture: Jesus said to the lame man, “take up your pallet and walk.”   The Jews persecuted him because he did this on the Sabbath.    From John 5:1-6. Pope Francis:  Doing what is right means more than “judging what is best” or “knowing clearly what needs to be done.   We have to arrive at the point where what we know to be good becomes a thirst to do good, and that doing it is good for us here and now.   AL 265.  Pope Leo:  Although many people today have hearts ready for peace, they are often overcome by a great sense of powerlessness before an increasingly uncertain world.   St Augustine had already pointed out this paradox:” it is not difficult to possess peace; it is perhaps more difficult to praise it. To praise peace we may find that we lack the necessary talent; we search for the right ideas and weigh our words.  But to have it is there, within reach and we can possess it without effort.”  PM

The common vision of St Francis and St Clare. At a young age, Clare developed a deep spirituality and was drawn to the teachings and lifestyle of Francis. She met with him on a number of occasions until finally, at the age of 18 in the middle of the night after Palm Sunday, she left her parents’ home and found her way to Francis and the brothers.  There Clare made her commitment to God and to the poor and the simple lifestyle that Francis preached. Even when her uncles came to try to remove her from the convent where Francis had placed her, Clare did not waver. She was happy when other women of nobility, including her younger sister, joined her. Like Francis, she cared for her followers, taught them by word and example, wrote for them a simple rule of life, modelled on that of Francis, except that the sisters were contemplative and did not leave their convent. She stood up to bishops and popes for the privilege of living the life to which she felt called.  Her rule for her sisters was finally approved on her deathbed in 1253.

Followers of Francis and Clare can be found today in every walk of life and on every continent—still joyful, still seeking a simple lifestyle, still seeking to love and follow the God who lives in their own depths and in all of creation. Theirs remains a common vision: identification with the poor, care for creation as a sacred trust, embrace of each person in relationship as sister or brother. From Franciscan Media.   

REFLECT, SHARE, ACT, PRAY. Spend some time on a common project together as a family. How well do we work together?  At the same time we ask “Do we stand for justice and the common good, or self-interest, which is largely economic?” 

As we get closer to Holy Week some home activities can be : A FAMILY PRAYER MEAL, A FAMILY RECONCILIATION SERVICE, download from https://marfam.org.za/lent-and-family-celebrations-year-of-st-francis/. and STATIONS OF THE CROSS FOR FAMILIES from MARFAM. from i[email protected]