“What a joy it is to be a part of this program! The blessings are just multiplying. Thank you for all you and your team’s hard work.” -Spiritual Director for Family Matters
As the season of Advent began, so did the first of our four Family Matters’ journeys – “Prayer and Faith Sharing.” We kicked off this journey in late November with in-person or virtual gatherings for each participating parish or online cohort. There, the families received their “Prayer and Faith Sharing” box, filled with various activities for parents and their children to do together at home, and they met their mentors.
Each family’s box contained three main activities they would journey through over the next three months, beginning with an Advent ritual called the Jesse Tree activity. Then in the beginning of January, families were introduced to the Examen as a daily prayer practice they can use at the end of each day. And next month, they’ll begin using “The Meal Box” cards to guide them through the practice of faith sharing.
In addition to the activities in their box, each family has been paired with a mentor to accompany them throughout Family Matters. Mentors are parents or caregivers themselves, either from the parish or online community, who feel called to support and walk with these parents and their children. Goodfaith encourages and guides the mentors to lean into their own experiences as parents, caregivers, and people of faith as they journey with the families. We have received so many words of encouragement and affirmation about this program, both from the parents and mentors. Below is a testimony from one of the mentors who’s been accompanying four families.
I have learned that each of the families are on their own chosen paths in their journeys of faith. Two of the families are finding it hard to set aside a specific time for prayer due to their workload and spending time with their families. I suggested that instead of carving out a specific amount of time for prayer, to just pray spontaneously whenever they have a little bit of time, be it 5 minutes as they take a short break from whatever they may be doing or while driving to and from work. I also assured them that anything that is done out of love is a prayer in itself, be it changing the diaper of their child or taking out the garbage or doing the laundry.
One of the projects for the families this past Christmas season was to build a Jesse tree. Each family said that their children enjoyed these sharing sessions, so much so that in one of the families, it was one of their children who would remind them that it was “sharing time”. It was so spiritually satisfying to see the faith of the parents come alive in their children.
I feel blessed and privileged with each family’s openness and their willingness to share with me where they are in their journeys of faith and the challenges that they are experiencing in their prayer life. I am there to listen to them, to encourage them, to guide them as best as I can and to try to answer any questions they may have. The main characters in this project are God and the families. I only play a supporting role.
I look forward to more time with the families and I know that we will end up nourishing each other spiritually as we journey together in our faith.
Our team is inspired by these stories and looks forward to continuing to see where the Holy Spirit guides this program and the families who are with us this first year!
