NURTURE LOVE IN THE HOME

Catholic families differ in some ways from other families in the manner we build our marriages and raise our children. It isn’t necessary to have a degree in theology or higher education to nurture a wholesome family.  What then sets a Catholic family apart from others?

The Five Marks of a Catholic Family

1.  Catholic Families Worship Together:

As a family, we attend Sunday masses weekly and on Holy Days (and whenever we are able) as we believe the Eucharist is the source and summit of our love and the sign of the intimacy to which families are called.  We are active in parish life - our spiritual home away from home, and we go to confession regularly to seek God’s healing grace to be the loving community we are called to be.

2. Catholic Families Pray Together.

Besides individual prayer life, we gather together as husband and wife and also as a family for prayer each day. We praise and thank God for his numerous blessings and we ask for the grace to be faithful, loving people. We pray for both our needs and the needs of the Family of God. “The family that prays together, stays together.”

 3. Catholic Families are Called to Intimacy:

We recognize that families are “Schools of Love” and so we discover new ways to be more loving and open within the family.  Children are a visible sign of the loving union between husband and wife and we work to make this a reality. We cultivate marriage and parenting practices that help family members build a “community of love” and practise virtues that help us live life as a gift.

4.  Catholic Families Put Family First:

To protect this intimacy, we recognize the importance of regular family rituals such as family dinner, family prayer and worship, a family day and regular time for one-on-one communication and relationship-building. Spouses sacrifice for the sake of the family and for the sense of well-being in the home.

 5.  The Catholic Family is a Witness and Sign:

 We allow ourselves to be part of God’s plan to transform the world through our daily interactions as husband and wife, parents and children and to carry our love outside the home by serving the world at large. We respect the integrity of the family unit by committing ourselves and our families to the practice of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. 

Together with the Church, we make every effort to evangelize families and to enter more deeply into the Catholic vision for marriage and family life.