May 25-31: National Family Week: “The Home is a Holy Place”

EUROPE/GREAT BRITAIN - 

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London (Agenzia Fides) – The Catholic Church in Great Britain is celebrating National Family Week from May 25-31. In honor of the event, the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have prepared a resource pack.
The Home is a Holy Place resource pack aims to help parishes celebrate the presence of God as love in all loving family relationships and proclaim the holiness of our homes as places of life, love, service, teaching, fellowship, witness and prayer. The pack includes prayer cards, group reflection materials and a DVD featuring interviews with families. It may be used in many different settings, including with parents of children preparing to receive the sacraments, couples preparing for marriage, and parish or school groups.

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Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop-elect of Westminster and newly appointed President of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, said he hoped that the pack will help families to appreciate the presence of God in their lives: "For most of us, home is the place where the foundations of our faith were laid. Home is the place where we grow in understanding of what faith means in daily practice. Home is the place where we learn how to be patient, forgiving and full of joy. But the home also needs to be the place where we learn how to pray, how to talk to God and how to see ourselves as a family living in God's presence. 'Home is a Holy Place' will help families to appreciate the presence of God in their lives and how an awareness of that presence can build up a life of faith in response to God's love."
Bishop John Hine, Chair of the Bishops' Committee for Marriage and Family Life, is encouraging parishes across England and Wales to use the resource pack during the Week. "As we celebrate National Family Week, I hope this resource pack will help raise greater awareness of God's presence at home, not only among families but also among all those who serve them within our Catholic community," he said.

(RG) (Agenzia Fides 25/5/2009)