This is an initiative of the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council, and aims to strengthen families and married couples through prayer.
Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Armidale, Michael Kennedy, gave this invitation:
“Married life and family life is a real blessing. It’s a source of much love and great joy for so many of us, but we all know from our experience that family life can be messy. It comes with daily struggles and daily hardships that families have to face and so on behalf of the Catholic bishops of Australia I invite you to join us this October in a month of prayer for marriage and for families. All families need our prayers and need God’s grace. Our scriptures and our church’s history are full of so many examples of the miraculous results that can be achieved when a community prays together.”
You can get involved by praying for your own family, and for all families worldwide. Resources and suggested prayers can be found here.
Pope Francis on families
Pope Francis had this to say on families: “Perfect families do not exist. This must not discourage us. Quite the opposite. Love is something we learn; love is something we live; love grows as it is ‘forged’ by the concrete situations which each particular family experiences. Love is born and constantly develops amid lights and shadows. Love can flourish in men and women who try not to make conflict the last word, but rather a new opportunity.
“An opportunity to seek help, an opportunity to question how we need to improve, an opportunity to discover the God who is with us and never abandons us. This is a great legacy that we can give to our children, a very good lesson: we make mistakes, yes; we have problems, yes. But we know that that is not really what counts. We know that mistakes, problems and conflicts are an opportunity to draw closer to others, to draw closer to God.” Said Pope Francis (Prepared for Festival of Families September 2015)
Prayers for upcoming Sundays
JOY OF PURITY
SUNDAY 21 OCTOBER 2018
Heavenly Father, Give us the graces of purity and chastity. Help us to guard our thoughts and desires from impurity. Give us the courage to cleanse our lives of all harmful images and influences. Help us to remember that all people are created in your image and likeness and have profound dignity. May we carefully respect the whole being of all those we encounter. Amen.
JOY OF COMMITMENT
SUNDAY 28 OCTOBER 2018
Heavenly Father, we know that all things worthwhile require courage and perseverance. Fill us with the strength we need to fulfil our vocations with all the commitment they entail. Help us to honour our promises to one another faithfully through good times and bad. May we embody the humility and holiness of Jesus, especially in the presence of those who need us the most. Amen.
