August 31st.. The group members felt enriched and decided they wanted to continue to study Amoris Laetitia together. Antonette proposed that it would be meaningful to look a little further than the human family and consider THE WORLD A FAMILY OF FAMILIES and continue with extracts from LAUDATO SI as well.  As Pope Francis keeps on repeating “everything is connected.”  They listed some different views. Some were interested in a strong doctrinal approach and others a more merciful pastoral approach and some were for adopting a more ecological view. Pat was worried that this would be dividing them, but they prayed about it with the prayer of Jesus.   “’Father we pray to be one, as Jesus and you are one.’ We accept we each have our own personality, role and insights.  Help us to understand the deeper meaning of sexuality as a family gift, for the sake of your Kingdom that is to come.” 

When one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos are you not merely men? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each. 1 Cor 3: 4-5.   Pope Francis  The Family Synod process allowed for an examination of the situation of families in today’s world. The complexity  of the issues that arose revealed the need for continued open discussion of a number of doctrinal, moral, spiritual and pastoral questions. AL2