‘Tis the season for engagements…and babies! What an exciting and beautiful time! For all those recently engaged, you remain in our prayers as you make your own Journey to Cana. I’m also beyond thrilled for married friends of ours who are expecting or who have recently brought life into the world. Praise God, and a sincere thank you for your willingness to participate so freely in God’s plans!
Speaking of engagements, marriages, and babies, there has been great excitement in the air for next year’s World Meeting of Families (WMOF) with Pope Francis in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. This will be the first time this event will take place in the U.S. For those who are not familiar with this global event in the Catholic Church, it was conceived in 1992 by the “Pope of the Family”, Pope Saint John Paul II. Two years later, it took place in Rome during the International Year of the Family.
Since then, a WMOF has taken place every three years in different countries…including Manila, Philippines :). At WMOF, the Holy Father invites families from all over the world to gather together to partake in prayer and dialogue to be reaffirmed on the role of a Christian family in the Church and in the world, especially in the midst of the challenges families face today. It’s no secret that families are under attack with the changes in the tide. It is in these seasons of high, changing tides that families must cling ever more tightly onto Christ, the Anchor and our Hope.
In response to the challenges we face, internationally known speakers (which include clergy, religious brothers and sisters, theologians, professors, husbands, and wives) will lead catechetical keynote and breakout sessions and activities to share with those in attendance the blessings that families pour forth into the world. It’s an event where the sacred bonds of families are reaffirmed and where families can rediscover the beauty of a life lived according to the Gospel, a life of holiness. Pope Francis revisits the words of The Family Pope at WYD 2013: “It is very important to reaffirm the family, which remains the essential cell of society.”
Three months ago, Jon and I completed our Engaged Encounter. I’ll spare you from all the details, but I mention this because a priest was giving a talk about the current challenges of marriage today and two points have stayed with me since then. There were about 60-70 engaged couples present in the parish hall spread throughout the room, seated in round tables. In a starkly manner, he said that half of the marriages in this room will end in divorce. How does he know? That’s what statistics show us today. Up to 50% of marriages end in divorce. That statistic was revealed to me through a different lens when the priest used the very room we were sitting in, and the people who were participating in that same Encounter, as a visible reality of what our world is experiencing as far as marriages go. It was really sad. God forbid that that would actually happen, but man, what a rude awakening.
I’m not here to intentionally be Miss Debbie Downer. I write this because I so desire a change in our generation. Why keep going this direction when there is an opportunity to change?
As someone who is preparing for marriage, and who believes in the power and grace of this beautiful sacrament, I deeply desire change.
As a Church that is in need of great healing and restoration from a past of brokenness, we need more married couples that strive for holiness. We need more families who want nothing more than salvation for our loved ones. We need more families that pray together and we need more parents who make their faith the center of our families’ lives. But not families that just want this, but families that are committed to do so. We need married friends who are great models of faith who can challenge and encourage other married people. We need married friends who can advise and pray for those who are discerning their vocation. We need more married people and families who frequent the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation so that we may be revived, renewed, and cleansed of our frail, human nature. We need God.
As we approach this event next year, which serves as the reminder we need, let us pray for hope, healing, and strengthening of families in our country and in our world. We must not settle for mediocrity or the happiness and comfort that the world offers. As the beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI once said, the world promises us comfort, but we were not made for comfort. We were made for greatness.
Dear engaged and married friends: let’s not settle on the world’s ideals, but aim for the highest ideals of the Gospel of Christ every single day. This world is not our home. We are just on a journey passing through. Don’t settle here and don’t let your family settle here, either. You deserve Heaven. They deserve Heaven.
Finally, as we approach the Christchild at the manger soon, let us reflect on the Holy Family and also the roles of Christ’s mother (and our Mother), Mary, and foster-father, St. Joseph.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Holy Family of Nazareth… pray for us!
—Fatima
As the family goes, so goes the nation, so goes the world in which we live. —JPII
More information on the World Meeting of Families: here.
Fatima + Jonathan 