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Bishops celebrate National Family Week


The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales are marking the first-ever National Family Week (25 - 31 May) by drawing attention to a new resource to promote the holiness of family life. The Home is a Holy Place resource pack is now available free of charge to all Catholic parishes across England and Wales.

The 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.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop-elect of Westminster, 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 collect their complimentary pack from their diocese and use it in whatever way suits them best. "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," said Bishop John Hine.

Many dioceses have already begun a systematic programme of introducing the pack to parish contacts and catechists. "The feedback we've had so far indicates that the Home is a Holy Place resource pack is an incredibly useful tool, not just for spirituality but also for encouraging families who may feel on the margins of our parishes," said Elizabeth Davies, Marriage and Family Life Project Officer.


For more information see: www.catholicchurch.org.uk/ccb/catholic_church/events/national_family_week_2009

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