Important Message from
West Virginia State
Director of
Family Activities Chairman
Sam Gross
DD-2
MARCH Family Alive Theme
THEME – FAMILY DIFFICULTIES
All families face difficulties. At such critical moments, it is important to learn how to suffer well and to suffer together with Christ. Suffering, if given to the Lord, can bring families closer together and strengthen their love.
Meditation
From Pope John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio
There is no family that does not know how selfishness, discord, tension and conflict violently attack and at times mortally wound its own communion: hence there arise the many and varied forms of division in family life. But, at the same time, every family is called by the God of peace to have the joyous and renewing experience of “reconciliation,” that is, communion reestablished, unity restored. In particular, participation in the sacrament of reconciliation and in the banquet of the one Body of Christ offers to the Christian family the grace and the responsibility of overcoming every division and of moving towards the fullness of communion willed by God, responding in this way to the ardent desire of the Lord: “that they may be one.”
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What are our family’s struggles? How might we work together as a family to heal these areas of hurt or confusion, without fleeing from challenges, shutting anyone out or giving in to despair?
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What difference does it make to view suffering in light of the cross of Christ? How does this perspective transform the way we approach suffering together as a family?
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How can we as a family better rely on God’s strength in times of difficulty? In what ways can we allow Christ’s love to make our suffering fruitful and deepen our love?
Scripture Reading - Psalm 34:5-11
A prayer for those who suffer to trust in the Lord
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him and be radiant,
and your faces may not blush for shame.
This poor one cried out and the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and he saves them.
Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the stalwart one who takes refuge in him.
Fear the LORD, you his holy ones;
nothing is lacking to those who fear him.
The rich grow poor and go hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Family Project
Ask each family member to think about one difficulty in the family and to pray for it every day. At the end of the month, share your prayer intentions and experiences.
MARCH Family Alive Theme
THEME – FAMILY DIFFICULTIES
All families face difficulties. At such critical moments, it is important to learn how to suffer well and to suffer together with Christ. Suffering, if given to the Lord, can bring families closer together and strengthen their love.
Meditation
From Pope John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio
There is no family that does not know how selfishness, discord, tension and conflict violently attack and at times mortally wound its own communion: hence there arise the many and varied forms of division in family life. But, at the same time, every family is called by the God of peace to have the joyous and renewing experience of “reconciliation,” that is, communion reestablished, unity restored. In particular, participation in the sacrament of reconciliation and in the banquet of the one Body of Christ offers to the Christian family the grace and the responsibility of overcoming every division and of moving towards the fullness of communion willed by God, responding in this way to the ardent desire of the Lord: “that they may be one.”
-
What are our family’s struggles? How might we work together as a family to heal these areas of hurt or confusion, without fleeing from challenges, shutting anyone out or giving in to despair?
-
What difference does it make to view suffering in light of the cross of Christ? How does this perspective transform the way we approach suffering together as a family?
-
How can we as a family better rely on God’s strength in times of difficulty? In what ways can we allow Christ’s love to make our suffering fruitful and deepen our love?
Scripture Reading - Psalm 34:5-11
A prayer for those who suffer to trust in the Lord
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him and be radiant,
and your faces may not blush for shame.
This poor one cried out and the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and he saves them.
Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the stalwart one who takes refuge in him.
Fear the LORD, you his holy ones;
nothing is lacking to those who fear him.
The rich grow poor and go hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Family Project
Ask each family member to think about one difficulty in the family and to pray for it every day. At the end of the month, share your prayer intentions and experiences.
November Family Alive Theme
THEME – THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS
By virtue of baptism and the sacramental graces of marriage, the Christian family is built into a communion of saints. Holiness is a gift given to every baptized Christian that becomes a joyful task for the whole of life.
Meditation
From Pope Benedict XVI’s General Audience, April 13, 2011
Holiness, the fullness of Christian life, does not consist in carrying out extraordinary enterprises but in being united with Christ, in living his mysteries, in making our own his example, his thoughts, his behavior. The measure of holiness stems from the stature that Christ achieves in us, in as much as with the power of the Holy Spirit, we model our whole life on his. …
What is the soul of holiness? …
What is the essential? The essential means never leaving a Sunday without an encounter with the Risen Christ in the Eucharist; this is not an additional burden but is light for the whole week. It means never beginning and never ending a day without at least a brief contact with God. And, on the path of our life it means following the “signposts” that God has communicated to us in the Ten Commandments, interpreted with Christ, which are merely the explanation of what love is in specific situations. …
We might ask ourselves: can we, with our limitations, with our weaknesses, aim so high? During the Liturgical Year, the Church invites us to commemorate a host of saints, the ones, that is, who lived charity to the full, who knew how to love and follow Christ in their daily lives. They tell us that it is possible for everyone to take this road. …
I would like to ask all to open themselves to the action of the Holy Spirit, who transforms our life, to be, we too, as small pieces in the great mosaic of holiness that God continues to create in history, so that the face of Christ may shine out in the fullness of its splendor. Let us not be afraid to aim high, for God’s heights.
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What is holiness?
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How can we live holiness in the family? How do we love God in the ordinary circumstances of life?
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How do the saints help us live out holiness?
Scripture Reading – Psalm 98:1-6
A prayer to welcome God’s rule over the earth
Sing a new song to the LORD,
for he has done marvelous deeds.
His right hand and holy arm
have won the victory.
The LORD has made his victory known;
has revealed his triumph in the sight of the nations,
He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth;
break into song; sing praise.
Sing praise to the LORD with the lyre,
with the lyre and melodious song.
Family Project
Select a few saints and learn about their time period and culture and why they are invoked for specific causes or intentions. Include a dish from their culture during one of your meals. Also, consider making a pilgrimage to a sacred place dedicated to a saint.