The Faith Formation office provides support and resources to assist God's people in continuing to grow in their faith and to respond to God's promptings in their lives. We aim to profess and support an experience of faith rooted in following the Lord Jesus.

For further Faith Formation opportunities, please consult the weekly "Friday Facts".

Resource Sheet

September 2019

The Joy of Love
 
Chapter 9 – The Spirituality of Marriage and the Family (Part I)
 
“Christian couples are, for each other, for their children and for their relatives, cooperators of grace and witnesses of the faith”. God calls them to bestow life and to care for life. For this reason the family “has always been the nearest ‘hospital’”.  321
 
“For this reason the family “has always been the nearest ‘hospital’ ”.   So let us care for one another, guide and encourage one another, and experience this as a part of our family spirituality.” 321
 
“It is a profound spiritual experience to contemplate our loved ones with the eyes of God and to see Christ in them. This demands a freedom and openness which enable us to appreciate their dignity.”  323
 
“As this Exhortation has often noted, no family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love.”  325
 
Prayer to the Holy Family
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
in you we contemplate
the splendour of true love;
to you we turn with trust.
 
Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that our families too
may be places of communion and prayer,
authentic schools of the Gospel
and small domestic churches.
 
Holy Family of Nazareth,
may families never again experience
violence, rejection and division;
may all who have been hurt or scandalized
find ready comfort and healing.
 
Holy Family of Nazareth,
make us once more mindful
of the sacredness and inviolability of the family,
and its beauty in God’s plan.
 
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Graciously hear our prayer.
Amen.