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MARFAM has been promoting the cause of family life since 1994.  Your financial support helps us to operate, produce the publications, including this monthly enewsletter and maintain our website. Advertise your company or project on the website, enewsletter or various publications or send a donation to P.O. Box 2881, Randburg 2125. South Africa. Every Rand, Dollar or Euro helps to strengthen families somewhere, somehow. Send us a cheque or make a small monthly donation into our bank account.Contact us for details.

In South Africa September is Heritage Month. For most of us this brings our different cultural backgrounds to mind. There are many of these in South Africa as elsewhere, with the whole world becoming more and more a global village.  If one’s own particular perspective is people, women, families, the law, the environment, nature or animals or alternatively religion, the arts and music different aspects of culture would be uppermost in one’s mind. 
The heritage of any one person is very personal too. Where one’s family originated and when, what class of people they were, what their religion and occupations were and also their physical attributes, personalities and skills all form part of one’s heritage to the point of influencing one’s appearance, current interests and behaviour.  Of course it is also very likely that groups of people choose certain characteristics, adopt their own values and form more of a sub-culture of their own.  These can be relatively neutral e.g. peer pressure, positive e.g. a particularly health conscious group, or negative e.g. a drug or violence subculture chosen by some, mainly youth and young adults.  
At the recent Pastoral Forum one brief input given by Archbishop Jabulani Nxumalo was on inculturation. This, he said, while it is often seen to be associated with liturgy and the use of drums or music in church, is also in fact a humanization of culture, an osmotic process, adoption of gospel values and adaptation to the environment. Bringing Africa to Christ and Christ to Africa is not just an equal exchange. Western Christian culture must adapt, yes, but gospel values should be the stronger element in the osmotic process and should challenge any cultural or traditional anti-values.

As is quite clear in a discussion on culture, life of course is a process of growth and change. One natural and very constant change is the passage through the seasons. Here in South Africa spring is just around the corner and for me the heritage of spring means wild spring flowers that grow in such wonderful profusion in the Western Cape and Namakwaland which for the rest of the year is virtually a desert.   
But the flowers are subject to weather conditions; they turn their faces to the sun, they hide from the wind, won’t come out if it is too cold or curl up when it rains.  However, I and my two companions were very fortunate to have seen them bloom along the road and have at least one sunny day to revel in what for me was a virtual paradise. My photos are a little indication of the glory but a visit to the website www.south-north.co.za/flowers gives an even better picture. 
I was inspired to employ another cultural attribute, language and penned down this prayer:
Is yellow your favourite colour Lord?
You use it in so many special ways.
The sun, the myriad flowers gracing these fields of spring
shout forth your majesty and glory,
your strength and power,   
your delight in your creation,
and, yes Lord, too your impish sense of humour. 
Some are light or bright, a joy to sight.
Others stand pale or tinged with the colour of blood..
Some stand alone,
some show signs of rebirth,
and thousands cluster companionably,
entwined to the roots of their being.
Thank you Lord for the message they bring
to a world in desperate need of spring.

Toni Rowland

It is time to be putting together the No 4 issue of MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIVING as well as the 2009 calendar which is produced for the SACBC Family Life Desk.  The children’s booklet OUR HERITAGE looks at our heritage from geographical, religious and cultural angles and includes the still topical story on xenophobia posted on our website www.marfam.org.za.  See also the publications list there. 

2008 FAMILY LIFE PROJECT, THEME:  “ME AND MY FAMILY”
Each monthly theme provides opportunities for family life education and enrichment.  Some parishes do use these in preparing homilies, parish events and bidding prayers at Mass.
Family oriented reflections on the Sunday readings are published on www.marfam.org.za and in MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIVING in English and are also available in some different languages by email on request.   For the next months there is a general focus on the readings of Paul where these occur in the light of the Year of Paul.

2009 FAMILY LIFE THEME – MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, GROWING TOGETHER
One of the most important features of family life is that it is a changing, developing system, growing, and shrinking constantly as members grow older, leave and new members are added to a family. The way families change and develop can vary vastly as each family is unique, made up of unique individuals in unique relationships with one another. 
Month by month throughout this year we can consider ways in which families are growing or not. 
For those who plan their liturgy well in advance some notes are given. As the liturgical readings during this year of Mark, year B in the three yearly liturgical cycle, lend themselves to deeper reflection on marriage from weeks 21 to 27 it is suggested that communities could use this time to focus broadly on marriage from different perspectives and end with a MARRIAGE DAY celebration on 27th Sunday, 4 October 2009. Special materials for reflection and liturgical celebration will be provided by the SACBC Family Life Desk as was done in 2006 and 2003.  This marriage awareness initiative was initially a recommendation from SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar after the 1994 African Synod chose the image “Church as Family.”  

PARISH FAMILY MINISTRY UPDATE.
It is hoped that family life teams in parishes are really going to town with the September theme around family traditions and are planning some cultural event e.g. an international food or music day that will involve whole families especially children so that they can learn more about their own particular cultural group as well as that of other parishioners. Interparish mixing can also be worthwhile.
FOLLOWUP PARISH FAMILY MINISTRY WORKSHOP, Midrand parish 13 September. Those who attended the June training workshop have only experienced a taste of the whole project and so this workshop at Midrand Parish, between Johannesburg and Pretoria, will deepen their understanding of the extended  area of marriage ministry. 
PARISH FAMILY MINISTRY WORKSHOP IN KIMBERLEY DIOCESE 19-21 September. The rural dioceses in South Africa are very large geographically although not having very large Catholic populations but it is hoped that this workshop will cater for Mmabatho and Kimberley parishes even though they are over 300 ks apart.       

6th WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES – MEXICO 13-18 JANUARY 2009.
Like World Youth Day this happens every three years and includes a three day Congress and meetings with the Holy Father.  I would like to hear from people who might be interested in attending this, as individuals, families or diocesan or family life movement representatives. It is potentially a very enriching experience, although most likely not having quite the excitement and hype of the youth event.  Information can be obtained from the website www.emf2009.com
The theme for the meeting will be “The Family, teacher in human and Christian values.”   Preparatory catecheses have been prepared by the Pontifical Council for the Family and can be downloaded from the website www.vatican.va

The 2008 PASTORAL FORUM was held in KwaZulu Natal on 9th August, during the bishops’ plenary meeting.
The meeting focused mainly on the four domains that are of particular concern to the laity, i.e. political, economic, social and cultural and various inputs and discussions were held around these also in the light of elections that are to be held in the next few months in the three countries of the region South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland.  Many challenges were identified and noted for the diocesan delegates to take back to their dioceses and pass on to their people. Growing poverty, unemployment, corruption and the need for a leadership of integrity and a sound moral foundation are general concerns.  Building strong marriage and families is always among the challenges and needs to be more of a general concern than left to the Family Life Desk and its limited resources. 
The opportunity for bishops, priests/religious and laity to dialogue and debate was considered to be very valuable.  A separate laity council is not yet on the Church’s immediate agenda. 

DEPARTMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FAMILY REFERENCE GROUP.
This group meets every two months mainly for sharing of information and mutual support. I am most often the only Faith Based Organization present amongst NGOs and government department representatives but find the ongoing contact helpful. Although there is a critical shortage of social workers to cope with the many needs and statutory interventions the vision of family preservation and strengthening is what we have in common. A national family conference is being planned to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the International Year of the Family.  More on this in due course.   The Family Directorate is also concerned with promoting the Moral Regeneration programme that surfaces from time to time but does not seem to have been generally accepted for various reasons.  

Heartlines is an initiative which used stories to get people talking about values. The TV series of 8 films aired in 2007 is available on DVD together with workbooks.  There are also story books for young children.
As a Mass Media project it is supported and funded by corporates and offers its resources to educators and to FBOs too and of course to families.  
Its newest associated initiative is called “forgood.”  Every month forgood members are invited to participate in a positive action.  On 2nd August the attention was on the importance of after-school and recreational activities for children and youth.  The action for 6th September is to rescue and outside public space, making it clean, green and healthy for use.  Visit www.forgood.co.za for all the details.

Prostitution and Trafficking around the 2010 Soccer World Cup are under discussion in the public domain and also by the SACBC Trafficking desk amongst other Church departments.
The research study Sex Trafficking and the 2006 World Cup in Germany: Concerns, Actions and Implications for Future International Sporting Events at www.law.northwestern.edu/journals/jihr/v6/n1/8/
found that this was not as serious a problem as had been expected but warned South Africa to be aware and be prepared.  Some parties are calling for legalizing of prostitution, as is claimed, to have better control, and there are strong and widely opposing views about this. From a Catholic perspective, prostitution is an age-old problem, never morally right, but the reasons why some women resort to this call us to respond to the injustices of poverty too.  Both women and men are exploited by one another while children of course are so much more vulnerable. 

Just after the August FM was distributed Mgr Robert Vitillo forwarded a report from http://www.health24.com/news/Parenting_Child_health/1-937,47379.asp reporting that “An astonishing 44 percent of South African school-aged boys have been forced to have sex. And even more shocking: most of the perpetrators were women.  These findings were made by Prof Neil Andersson and Ari Ho-Foster from the Centre for Tropical Disease Research (CIET) in Johannesburg and published in the International Journal for Equity in Health.”  
 
Extract from an article referring to early childhood education resources in sub-Saharan Africa sent in by John McCormick of the Catholic Institute for Education.  
“Dr. Margaret Irvine of South Africa presented on integrating treatment through psychosocial support of families. Quoting the Office of the South African Presidency (July 2007), “I want to argue that we put the family at the center of poverty eradication both as service provider and recipient. As government, NGOs, business and researchers, let us empower the family to be the first site against poverty and especially against inter-generational poverty. We need you as partners to do this, to get families and ward committees as our agents of change.”

Horatio Naidoo asks:’  I have a question on the Catholic church’s recognition of other churches’ sacraments.  If for example I am a Anglican or any other denomination of Christianity and I am baptized, obtain holy communion, confirmation and finally get married in that church. If I decide to join a Catholic church is it required that I go through the entire process again or does the church recognise these sacraments if obtained through other denominations of Christianity.

NOTICES:
CAPE TOWN
SPRING RETREAT
I am planning a day of reflection for individuals or couples on 5th October. This SPRING RETREAT will be held at EMMAUS in Yzerfontein, a beautiful setting on the Cape West Coast. (see the EMMAUS advertisement).  God speaks to us in many ways, through our human and family relationships and also through nature.  This will be a time to appreciate God’s gifts of spring flowers, quiet, fellowship and food as we share a few hours and celebrate Mass together.  For costs and details contact me, toni@marfam.org.za  or 082 5521275

Human Life International celebrates 40 years of Humanae Vitae at a mini-conference on 6 September at Nazareth House in Cape Town. Contact sallyh@hli.co.za

Metanoia Media  markets, promotes and advertise a range of Catholics resources. Visit
www.CatholicShop.co.za  or www.CatholicPortal.co.za

JOHANNESBURG
St Augustine’s College, South Africa’s private Catholic university.   Dr Michael van Heerden was installed as the new President of the College on 28th August and in addition to the post-graduate degrees two undergraduate course will be offered from 2009, a Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Commerce.
In his inaugural address Dr van Heerden spoke of the need to develop a greater culture of education in South Africa.  This is one concrete way that the Church is contributing to this.  Visit www.staugustine.ac.za for information on the college.

POSITION VACANT: Archdiocesan Justice and Peace coordinator Contact justpeace@icon.co.za

CULTURE OF LIFE group continues to meet on 1st Saturday of the month and has so far studied Evangelium Vitae and Humanae Vitae. Contact jennymike@absamail.co.za.   Jenny writes “We are still trying to get representatives from each parish, and each parish to become involved in the campaign. If you could encourage this it would be a great help. Our education programme is having an impact on many people. There is a lot of interest out there.”

After my August newsletter I received the following from an unknown person.
“Do not take life too seriously; you will never get out of it alive." Elbert Hubbard
So here is a timely bit of nonsense.
Spring is sprung the grass is ris,
I wonder where the good times is?

Apparently the usual version is “I wonder where the birdie is.”  So how about this one?
Spring has sprung; The grass has ris.
I wonder where the birdie is?
There he is, in the sky.
He dropped some … whitewash in my eye!
I am no sissy; I won't cry.
I'm just glad that cows can't fly!
And so for the end of women’s month 
“Women have cleaner minds because they change them more often”

Contact Marfam

Tel: +27 11 789 5449
Fax: +27 11 789 5449
Email: info@marfam.org.za
Web:
www.marfam.org.za

St. Luke’s Retreat Centre

10 Park Lane, Central, Port Elizabeth. P O Box 12194, Centrahil 6006. South Africa

Tel: +27 +(0)41 373 0039 Fax: +27 +(0)86 606 5307 Mobile:+27 +(0)74 376 5833

Read more about our "Directed Retreats" http://www.catholic-pe.co.za/directed.htm

Your very own Catholic Radio station in South Africa

Programme schedule on our website.
www.radioveritas.co.za

Mass every day at 12h30 and mass and magazine programme from 11h00 – 13h00 each Sunday.

Phone us at 011 663-4700 or write to us at 4599, Edenvale 1610

"So you're going away to unwind or to play
Or possibly simply to BE.
If you're coming south-west
We have to suggest
That you sample
EMMAUS ON SEA.

Yzerfontein - Western Cape

Find out more at
www.emmaus.co.za

Contact Marfam

Tel: +27 11 789 5449
Fax: +27 11 789 5449
Email: info@marfam.org.za
Web:
www.marfam.org.za