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Feeling the call of God within our hearts and setting out on a mission with a team can often mean losing members along the way. There may also be times or points when co-workers or travelling companions leave us altogether and we find ourselves alone in moments when we need them most. Still, in these lonely, abandoned moments, we are not really alone. There is One who will never forsake us or leave us and He will give us strength. He will keep us from death. He, who calls us and who begins the good work in us, will Himself complete what He has begun. "...to go ahead of him to every town and place where he, himself, was about to go". We are called and sent by God according to His will and purposes for basically one thing - to preach the Good News that "the Kingdom of God has come near you" (Lk. 1:9- 11). We are to go about it with faith and courage for He is sending us like lambs among wolves. We are to be fully reliant on God and single-minded in our purposes and not be distracted along the way. We are to be peace-makers and not be pushy, despite our good will, so that God's message of love as a free gift and as an invitation can be understood. May our work bring healing so that whoever we come near to, will somehow know that the Kingdom of God has come near them. Lord, may we be You, walking upon the earth. |
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P R A Y I N G W I T H T H E C H U R C H
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That young married couples may be sustained by the example and assistance of their parents and other families
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The testimony and help that parents and other families must offer to sustain young married couples finds its place in the ambit of post-matrimonial pastoral care. Parents and other families are the most suited to offer this assistance to young spouses because clearly they have lived personally the values which they must transmit. These parents show faithfulness through living in the best possible way the commitments assumed during their marriage. One could ask, but why is it necessary for young couples to be sustained by the testimony of their parents and other families? The answer is, because today there are many negative attitudes which scandalise and discourage young people. Being new to the condition of matrimonial life they need advice, encouragement, moral support, correction and prayer. They cannot be left alone or abandoned in this phase of their lives. Couples need to take advantage of the wealth of the experience and wisdom of their parents. "The pastoral action of the Church must be progressive, also in the sense that it must accompany the family, following it step by step in the various stages of its formation and development," (Familiaris Consortio n65, 69). | |
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