MARFAM WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER 28 OCTOBER 2026
FAMILIES ON MISSION has been my theme for this Mission Month and there are interesting ways to think about that. What was it that drove men and women to leave their families, homes and their countries and venture into strange places to bring the Word of God to strangers? These strangers were most often seen to be undeveloped, uncivilized and pagans in need of salvation. That was how missionaries saw it. Missionaries often accompanied colonisers, but with a very different intention. It was not self-interest, except for an ultimate reward of eternal life. It was a sense of calling and of a mission to do something good, for God. Is that what missionaries of today have in mind? Some men and women do still leave their home environment, in fact Africans are now going to Europe as missionaries too. But the Church calls everyone today to be missionary disciples. The calling is to evangelise and according to Pope Francis there are 3 aspects. To the uninformed, to the lukewarm and lost and to support the regular churchgoers and help them deepen their faith. The calling is not just to spread the word but, as is becoming ever clearer, to an encounter, to build a relationship with Jesus, the Father, the Trinity, a relationship of love.
Where and how do we learn how to love? In his document AMORIS LAETITIA/THE JOY OF LOVE Pope Francis refers to the Blessed Trinity as our model, a family model. (AL 11) He also holds up the Holy Family as a model to become a holy family. Family is about love. God is love, love is the essence of relationships, and the first and most intimate one is our families, our mothers are possibly closest, right from the first eginnings. With fathers, siblings, and with other relatives there is a definite biological bond deeper and most intense in the closeness of marriage and parenting. General discussion, even in church circles, is recognizing the lived reality that is not always marriage, but often single parenting where there is undoubtedly a unique bond of love.
Last Sunday’s gospel had the famous passage of the Two Greatest Commandments. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, body, the first, and then love your neighbor as yourself. Pope Leo preached about the close link between these two. You can’t truly love another person unless you love God and your love of God needs to reach out to others. What is not often clearly expressed is that the closest neighbor is the one who shares your bed, your home and your daily life. The MARFAM model for the Church is the Family and each family is a little church. That is our calling. Pope Francis in Dilexit Nos spoke of the human and divine love of Jesus, and the saints even though he does not relate it to the family. Pope John Paul II’ ‘ definition is a helpful description, family is an intimate community of life and love bonded together for life by blood, marriage or adoption.” (FC). Family love is unique, because of what the family stands for, and what it’s purpose for existence is; to be co—creators with God and so continue creation. Family love need not or should not be exclusive or discriminatory and that can be a risk and a danger. True love, life-giving God-love, is not closed in but a reaching out from an internal resource of being fed and nourished. If this does not exist the person is limited in their potential, handicapped, as is a psycho-spiritual view. Is that not possibly a reason for the violence and abuse that exists?
So if family is the heart of society, the school for relationships, the mission should be to promote this, whether in our own home, a nearby parish or in a far-away country, wherever missionaries are.
So then… It is interesting that the US Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) has used this in a number of pastoral documents. “Made for Love.” “The Way of Love.” The way of love of St Francis has been a focus this year and MARFAM’s Advent and Chrismas booklet takes this up too “Love came down at Christmastime,” is based on the life of S Francis and how his love of Jesus came to be expressed in the first Christmas crib. St Francis is a model for us for his joy and his love.
Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) is in the news at the moment on its 10th anniversary with webinars and meetings. Are these maybe too abstract, about theology and canon law and what the Church’s doctrine and teaching magisterium tell us, about the rules for divorce, annulment etc? Pope Leo is very outspoken about the importance of love, even puts it above doctrine. In Magnifica Humanitas, he speaks about a civilization of love, a theme which I am using constantly. In the way forward love should feature strongly. MARFAM has been on that path for many years, but in the last nearly 10 the love of God has also broadened to the love of God’s creation with Laudato Si. However, even if we love nature,the initial and particular form of love is in the human family and promoting and developing that should be our first mission. How do we fulfill that mission? “The family that prays, and stays and plays together stays together.” the Rosary and family prayer used to be a much more common practice than it is today, but there are prayer campaigns e.g. The Children’s Rosary. Our individual lives are too busy, with work, school, sport, TV, phones and computers and sometimes our pets too, and relationships do suffer. When we don’t talk our paths diverge, we create hurts that fester. We need healing but especially the willingness to forgive in order to make peace. Relationship-building includes sharing – and we need to learn the synodal way, of careful attentive listening and open sharing, not only for problem-solving or conflict management but for the joy of living in a committed family. Peace – so much a need in society – begins at home in simple daily living. On a personal level I want to share an Agnus Dei reflection. How often do we reflect on the words and meaning of that simple part of the Mass we repeat so often?
Let love be at the heart of our mission as families, in families and reaching out to the world that is so much in need of love and peace. May tha be something to consider when voting on 4 November too. TR October 28 2026
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.
October 28. SEE. The Narrow Door. The matrics continued their discussion after the debate. “I don’t think that Luke is very “merciful” in this gospel. If you don’t buy into the values of this Kingdom of God, you’re out in the cold.” “Plus the only way in is through a narrow door. Is that because only a few would wish to enter or to make it difficult for people?” Their teacher shared an insight from her experience. “The small door into the church in Bethlehem’s Manger Square is like that narrow door and I was told it was like that because the big main entrance was bricked up to prevent soldiers on horseback from riding in. Makes one think.” Mr Bozzoli said, “Jesus taught that the wedding feast of Life or of the Kingdom, presided over by the Master of the House, is open to all peoples of all nations. We must seek diligently however to enter by the narrow door, which definitely does indicate a degree of difficulty.
JUDGE. Reflect, share, Scripture. Strive to enter by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Luke 13:22-30. Pope Francis: Whether believers or not we agree that the earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone. For believers this becomes a question of fidelity to the Creator, since God created the world for everyone. Every ecological approach needs to incorporate rights to the poor and the underprivileged. LS 93. Pope Leo: A closer analysis of history confirms that even in the darkest nights, the Lord raises up men and women who refuse to give up, who persevere in doing good, who protect the vulnerable and open pathways to reconciliation. The memory of the saints, righteous people and the oft-forgotten peacemakers, show us that grace does not magically eliminate conflict, but instead it inspires active resistance to evil and an astonishing creativity in doing good. Christians see the darkness and acknowledge it for what it is, yet they do not merely gaze upon it passively, for they know the light and understand that the darkness has not overcome it and cannot defeat it (cf. Jn 1:5). For this reason, even when suffering seems to have the last word, Christians serve the good and are sustained by a theological hope that gives reality both meaning and direction. MH211
Daily Prayer for Mission Month October, Year of St Francis and upcoming Local Elections in SA.
Heavenly Father, during this Mission month, we praise and thank you for the gift of your love and the riches of your creation. As missionary disciples we answer your call to walk in the way of peace. We lift up to you all leaders of nations. Grant them an open heart and a listening ear to hear the cries of the poor and the needy. Bless all missionaries, protect them from harm, strengthen their hearts in times of trial, and fill them with the joy of your Spirit. As we prepare for the elections and a renewal of society for the common good we acknowledge our shortcomings and faults. We hear the needs that call for help to build a united country under God, as a family of all the families of creation. Mary, Mother of the Church and of the Rosary pray for us. St Francis, our model and patron saint of all of creation pray for us. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen
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