2008 FAMILY LIFE CALENDAR REFLECTIONS

THEME “ME AND MY FAMILY”

FEBRUARY THEME : ME AND MARRIAGE

February is seen as the month of love.  The heart is an apt symbol as love is at the heart of family life and the foundation on which to build relationships. Love is not just a feeling, or associated with the young, or something soppy or sentimental.  Red roses have thorns and love demands sacrifice, as well as acceptance, commitment, discipline, forgiveness and reconciliation. Even when family relationships are dysfunctional and possibly abusive there are bonds of love that exist and continue. This is one of the mysteries of intimacy and of family life. 
Marriage is the ideal love relationship, the foundation for a family, a sacrament of the Church, and in the words of Pope Benedict, called to be a mirror of God's love for the spouses, their family and others. 

3rd 4th Sunday of the Year A.

Our nothingness. It is not that we are nothing so much as that we recognise our dependence on God and that all we are is a gift from God that makes us what and who we are. The Beatitudes in today's gospel are a wonderful recipe for a fulfilling and successful marriage.  Reflect and share on the qualities, e.g. mercy, gentleness, peacemaking etc.  Which qualities do you see in yourself, your spouse, your parents' marriage or other marriages around you. Young people need positive examples of good marriages for their own healthy self-development.     

6th Ash Wednesday. 

The beginning of the penitential season of Lent is a day of fast and abstinence. We are reminded of our mortality, our sinfulness and the need to repent and seek reconciliation with God, who is merciful and forgiving, and with one another, especially in our families. 

10th 1st Sunday of Lent A.  World Marriage Day. Day of Prayer for the Sick.   

The theme of the readings on the first Sunday of Lent is always the temptation of Jesus.  He is presented today as the Second Adam who overcame temptation and sin. The first reading is an account of the creation of humankind, the temptation and the fall.  In the gospel, however, Jesus at the start of his public ministry overcame temptation in his task of winning humankind back to God.  Married people as individuals and as a couple are asked to reflect on their relationship. How often do they give in to or overcome temptation?  How strong is the commitment to love and life?  As a community how well do we support our married couples?   
World Marriage Day is the main opportunity to focus on marriage this year. A parish commemoration with and for couples can be incorporated. See the website  http://wmd.wwme.org/ for much more information. 

11th Our Lady of Lourdes. 

Because of the many miracles of healing performed at Lourdes since Mary's first apparition to St Bernadette in 1858 this feast has become associated with prayers for the sick that they may be healed in body and in spirit.  Offer special prayers for those who are caring for sick spouses.   

17th 2nd Sunday of Lent. A. 

Our Transfigured Lord.  In the first reading Abram is called by God to leave his country, his people and everything he has known in order to follow a new God and go to a distant land.  The account of the Transfiguration in the gospel is a foretaste of the resurrection and of the calling of disciples to follow Jesus and the way of the Good News.  For couples and families this does not necessarily mean that we must leave our homes but that we must leave our old ways behind. The foretaste of the Resurrection gives us hope in the midst of difficulties, not only that joy will come in an afterlife but that difficulties can be overcome with courage and commitment.  Reflect on this as individuals and share as couples. 

24th 3rd Sunday of Lent.   The Living Water. 

Water is a symbol of life, of cleansing and of quenching our thirst. Water is also an essential of life as without water we die. The water that was given to the people in the desert quenched their thirst and the living water of which Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman “ will turn into a spring inside a person, welling up to eternal life.”
Those who are to be baptized at Easter time reflect particularly on this mystery.  As family members reflect on this and as a family organize a celebration of the gift of water in a spirit of gratitude.  Married people could reflect on their thirst for a deeper, richer relationship with God and with one another.  How is this thirst to be quenched?