Are you ready for St Francis. Download the prayer and blessing for pets and animals https://marfam.org.za/prayer-and-blessing-for-pets-and-other-animals-with-st-francis/

October 3.   FAMILIES WALK THE TALK.    (From BECOMING ECO-FRIENDLY FAMILIES).  To “walk the talk” means to actively live out what we believe, to “put your money where your mouth is”.  If some of us are doing something we think is important, and also sitting together, sharing our thoughts and feelings, listening well and feeling understood we’re, “walking the talk.”  That is the meaningful dialogue which is being promoted through the Church’s Synod process. Too often our talking is hardly a conversation, as we shout, mumble, whatsapp or text one another, talk at or past each other and hardly listen with more than half an ear.  Meaningful communication is essential in building good relationships but also fixing any issues that are causing family conflict. Too often we choose to be “too busy” for one another, even as we go out to do good and help others. Why not fix family first!

Walking the talk is also going beyond just talk, but taking action and standing up for what we believe, even lobbying for a cause as simple as “don’t drink and drive.” It is good for a family to act together when it comes to saving water, electricity and recycling at home, but adopting an external cause together can be particularly good. Examples:  Save the rhino,  clean-up our town,  protect unborn life.       

A FAMILY TALK WALK is an activity for family members to take time together, ideally in nature or a pleasant setting, maybe with dog, pram or wheelchair for elderly, walking and talking as they go. No fixed distance, or time. Not a “Big Walk” fundraiser or exercise. A moment to bond that is good for family unity.   (O couldn’t resist using the giraffe pic. it is still season of creation)

Reflect, share, act. Scripture:  The 72 returned with joy saying, “Lord even the demons are subject to us in your name!”   And he said to them.  I saw Satan falling like lightening from heaven.    Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are write in heaven.”  Luke 10:17-24. Pope Francis: writing in preparation for the Synod on Synodality 2021-2024.   Co-responsibility for the common mission calls families to cooperate in building the fabric of the Church.  Let us give them space and a listening ear so that they can participate in the synodal journey, showing the family foce of the Church.  The family is the way of the Church.  The Church is in fact a family among families FT276.  The family is an agent of pastoral activity through its explicit proclamation of the Gospel and its legacy of varied forms of witness, solidarity with the poor, openness to a diversity of people, the protection of creation, moral and material solidarity with other families, including those most in need, commitment to the promotion of the common good and the transformation of unjust social structures beginning in the territory in which the family lives. AL 290.  Eco-tip.  Examine how effectively your family does “walk the talk” as becoming more eco-family-friendly. 

DAILY FAMILY PRAYER from Season of Creation 2026.  May God our Father, who brought water from a rock, sustain us in the desert. May Christ our Lord, who is Living Water, refresh us for the work of restoration.  May the Holy Spirit carry us on currents of grace until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amen. St Francis guide and inspire us on our way.