Monthly Archives: December 2018

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

29 Saturday Dec 2018

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Holy Family 09

Each year, on the first Sunday after Christmas, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. We are invited to ponder and imitate the love of the Holy Family in our homes and families. Mary and Joseph are models of holy, faithful, obedient, and fruitful love. By their example, may we too put Christ at the center of our families.

Today also marks a milestone for the Calling Couples to Christ Apostolate. This is our 200th blog post. We launched this apostolate because we have a passion for the permanence and sanctity of marriage, as well as a desire to help others experience the joy that comes from living a Christ-centered marriage. If you are touched by what we write here, please share it with others. Our culture is so in need of examples of holy families living out the Gospel in everyday life. Let your light shine in the darkness.

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The Mystery of Christmas

24 Monday Dec 2018

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Adoration of the Shepherds by Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1646

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

The following is an excerpt from St. John Paul II’s Urbi Et Orbi Message, Christmas 2002.[1]

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A Reflection for the Fourth Sunday in Advent: The Family Evangelizing the Culture

22 Saturday Dec 2018

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Families volunteering with Our Lady of Good Counsel PB&J Ministry to feed the homeless on the streets of Detroit

If we allow the love of Christ to change our heart, then we can change the world.[1] Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

The family is the bedrock of our society. It is where children learn love and virtues. When families are healthy and whole, a society is healthy and whole. When family breaks down, civil society breaks down. In the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelization in the Modern World), Pope St. Paul VI reiterated the church’s mission to evangelize. He stressed the importance of the family in carrying out this mission …

One cannot fail to stress the evangelizing action of the family in the evangelizing apostolate of the laity… In a family which is conscious of this mission, all the members evangelize and are evangelized. The parents not only communicate the Gospel to their children, but from their children they can themselves receive the same Gospel as deeply lived by them. And such a family becomes the evangelizer of many other families, and of the neighborhood of which it forms part.[2]

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A Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent: Christ at the Center of Your Family

15 Saturday Dec 2018

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Family Praying Catholic Church

The love between husband and wife…is the foundation and soul of the community of marriage and the family.[1]

As the journey toward Bethlehem continues, we shift our focus to making Christ the center of our families. We began the journey by focusing on the importance of making Jesus the center of our lives. Last week, we discussed making Jesus the center of our marriages.

Pope St. John Paul II in his epic work Familiaris Consortio (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World), states that “the family finds in the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer not only its identity, what it is, but also its mission, what it can and should do…family, become what you are.”[2]

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A Reflection for the Second Sunday in Advent: Christ at the Center of Your Marriage

09 Sunday Dec 2018

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Bride Groom Facing Cross_03

Advent is a journey toward Bethlehem to find the Christ child, to embrace Him, to make Him the Lord of every aspect of your life. Last week, we began the journey by focusing on the importance of encountering Jesus personally. This week, we will explore why it is important to make Jesus the center of your marriage. Next week, we’ll discuss making Christ the center of your family. We’ll conclude with the mission He has called you to carry out in your neighborhood and in the world.

Why put Christ at the center of your marriage?

In Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis explains that. “Promising love for ever is possible when we perceive a plan bigger than our own ideas and understandings, a plan that sustains us and enables us to surrender our future entirely to the one we love.”[1]

In other words, the more we put Jesus at the center of our lives and our marriages, the more completely we are able to give ourselves to our spouse.

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A Reflection for the First Sunday in Advent: Encountering Jesus

02 Sunday Dec 2018

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Jesus Healing Blind Man_El Greco

Healing of the Man Born Blind, El Greco, c.1573

One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see. John 9:25

In the account of Jesus healing the man born blind (see John 9), the blind man encounters Jesus and his life is forever changed. The Gospels are full of stories of people who encountered Jesus and had their lives turned upside down. Examples are Jesus Calling the First Disciples (Mt 18-22), The Call of Matthew (Mt 9:9), The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52), Jesus and Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10), Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (Jn 4:1-30), and The Conversion of Saul (Acts 9:1-22).

This Advent, we invite you on a journey toward Bethlehem where you will find the Christ child waiting for you to embrace Him. Along the way, you will discover the importance of encountering Jesus personally. You’ll also discover why it is important to make Jesus the center of your marriage and the center of your family. Finally, you’ll discover the mission He has called you to carry out in your neighborhood and the world.

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