The Family Fully Alive:

with Faithfulness

Fr. Pinto Paul is the International Director of the Boston-based Holy Cross Family Ministries. In this role, he oversees the programs and services at centers in 17 countries.

This month, I would like to invite you to make your families more alive by appreciating God's faithfulness to you and by becoming more faithful to Him and to the other members of your family.

First, let's clarify the meaning of the words faithful and faithfulness. "Faithful means loyal, full of faith or trust; firmly and resolutely staying with a person, group, cause, belief, or idea, without waver, despite the circumstances." (www.spirithome.com). So faithfulness is the quality of doing all these things.

God's faithfulness means that God will always do what He said and fulfill what He has promised.

Growing up in a rural agrarian family, my eight siblings and I were raised very close to nature. Almost all our food was produced at home, except salt and sugar. Those were the only items my father would buy from the market. We had a variety of foods: fruits, vegetables, rice, cassava, yam, goat milk, cow milk, buffalo milk, chicken, duck, and rabbit. We all learned to work in the field, till the land, and graze the animals. My family has a long line of green thumbs, particularly my eldest brother. What attracted me most was the way he grafted plants. He would take cuttings from the best quality rubber trees and fruit trees and graft them into strong roots. We still have one of those mango trees he grafted, producing mangoes almost all year. He would often experiment with grafting one plant to the other, but he had to know his trees because not all trees are compatible. All plants are not compatible with each other. That is why Jesus asked, "Do you pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?" He says, "by their fruits, you will know them."

God To Us

Thumbing through the Bible we can see that God is faithful to us. In the very first book Genesis, when Adam and Eve sinned and lost their relationship with God, He promised to make a way for them to be forgiven of their sin, be grafted into His family, and bear good fruit. God was faithful in keeping this promise when He told Mary she would have a son who would save His people from their sins; when Jesus was crucified, He raised Jesus from the dead and has Him sitting next to Himself in heaven to represent us to God.

Now, He promises us whom He has called to be grafted into His family; that He will protect us from evil. When we fail, He will forgive our sins and still be faithful to us so that we can bear good fruit for Him. He never cuts us off.

Our family to God

Our Mother Mary and her husband Joseph were faithful to God when they accepted God's call to be the earthly parents of His Son Jesus and provide a family for Him to grow up in. They were faithful in keeping their commitment to each other. They were faithful in protecting their Son when the king was killing babies. They found Him in the temple when they thought He was lost. And they raised Him to be a knowledgeable, fine young man, pleasing to God and the people around him.

The members of our family to each other

God and the Holy Family have set the model for faithfulness in our families. Mary and Joseph were faithful to God and to each other and their Child. Mary trusted Joseph to work and support his family. Joseph trusted Mary to care for him and their Son Jesus. Jesus trusted His earthly parents to care for Him and teach Him until He became an adult. Jesus trusted His heavenly Father to give Him courage and strength to carry out His Father's will.

Our families can follow their model of faithfulness when parents keep their promises and families read God's word, pray, and attend mass together. Children can, when they obey their parents and accept certain duties. All members can, when they know their identity as Christians and hold onto their Christian beliefs in all circumstances.

Family Activities

Play

Celebrate the summer with the ones you love. Enjoy whitewater rafting, horseback riding, hiking, or fishing. This will offer time for families to be away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to deepen bonds and reinforce faithfulness to each other and family.

Work

Identify two plants in your garden that can be grafted onto each other. Try grafting them to each other and observe the growth. Here is a tutorial on grafting roses.

Talk

Produce a copy of your marriage vows and read them aloud:

"I, ______, take you, ______, to be my wife/husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."

Discuss the meaning of each phrase as appropriate for the ages of the children and point out that the security and love of their home are based on the faithfulness of their parents in keeping their vows. Be specific about the need for chastity before marriage and for fidelity in marriage.

Pray

Prayer for the strengthening of Marriages

Blessed Mother, take into your hands

the knots that affect married couples,

and with your long fingers of love and grace

undo these knots for the glory of God.

Visit married couples with Your Grace;

renew their Sacramental covenant.

Increase God's love in them,

and strengthen their bonds of peace

so that, with their children

they may always rejoice in the gift of your blessing.

Mary, Undoer of knots. Pray for us.

Class of 2021

Sherin Tresa - Chicken Seekh Kebab

Saint Of the Month - St. Alphonsa

Back to July Newsletter

Google Sites

Report abuse