1 Association for Catholic Diocesan Marriage & Family Life Ministry Christmas 2017 - Issue 13 THE BIRTH OF JESUS MADE POSSIBLE NOT JUST A NEW WAY OF UNDERSTANDING LIFE BUT A NEW WAY OF LIVING IT Frederick Buechner WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HOLY, AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A PEACEFUL 2018
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Association for Catholic Diocesan Marriage & Family Life Ministry · 2019-03-07 · 4 Association for Catholic Diocesan Marriage & Family Life Ministry Christmas 2017 -Issue 13 THE
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Association for Catholic Diocesan
Marriage & Family Life Ministry
Christmas 2017 - Issue 13
THE BIRTH OF JESUS MADE POSSIBLE
NOT JUST
A NEW WAY OF UNDERSTANDING LIFE
BUT A NEW WAY OF LIVING IT Frederick Buechner
WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HOLY,
AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND
A PEACEFUL 2018
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Association for Catholic Diocesan
Marriage & Family Life Ministry
Christmas 2017 - Issue 13
FAMILIAS newsletter, November 2017
Counting our Blessings is a new scripture-based resource,
produced by the Department for Christian Responsibility and
Citizenship at the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, to
support parish and school communities as they accompany
families on their faith journey.
The word ‘bless’ in the Christian tradition holds within itself the
sense of communicating life from God – God sharing life with us.
In family life we get glimpses of ‘blessings’ all the time, great and
small, active in the joys and struggles of giving and caring for life
and facing challenges.
As Pope Francis says in The Joy of Love: on Love in the Family
(#187), “all family life is a ‘shepherding in mercy’, and our aim
in Counting our Blessings is to reveal and celebrate this
‘shepherding’ going on in the complexities of our family life.’ Foreword, Bishop Peter Doyle, Chair, Bishops’ Conference Committee for
Marriage & Family Life).
Counting our Blessings aims to help create a welcoming space
for conversation about things that matter, and through Scripture,
to help individuals, couples and families connect their love with
the sense of being blessed, finding God present with them in their
lives. There are seven stand-alone sessions, each beginning with
a ‘real question’, for example:
What’s it like to fall in love? To care for someone who is
suffering? To grieve? To feel like an outsider? To be listened to? To feel deeply joyful?
Participants are invited to talk first about their own family experience, followed by hearing God speak into
their lives through the Word of God in Scripture, and then to share the ‘blessings’ together and celebrate them
in a closing prayer. The process can help bridge the gap between ‘Church language’ about families, and
families own way of expressing and living out their love. It also enables the parish and its school(s) to affirm
the blessings that families bring to their communities, and the blessings that communities bring to families.
The resource has background notes on Blessings in the Catholic Tradition, Tips for New Leaders, A guide to
sharing Scripture, step-by-step leader’s outline and notes
Choose a session of Counting our Blessings for use at any number of points where family life intersects with
the Church, for example:
Celebrations of birth/baptism Marriage preparation Times of illness/bereavement Preparation for sacraments Points in the RE curriculum Chaplaincy settings in prisons, hospitals, care homes, special needs RCIA Journey in Faith Family Group meetings Lent or Advent reflection On-going formation for clergy and laity, parish and school teams.
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Association for Catholic Diocesan
Marriage & Family Life Ministry
Christmas 2017 - Issue 13
Instead of being just a church that
welcomes and receives by keeping
the doors open, let us try also to be
a church that finds new roads, that
is able to step outside itself and go
to those who do not attend Mass, to
those who have quit or are
indifferent. Pope Francis
“Each one of you
has to be God’s
microphone”
Oscar Romero
Handouts for each session are included in the book, and on purchase of the book, are available for free down-
load from the Bishops’ Conference Catholic Family website, http://www.catholicfamily.org.uk/related-work/
counting-our-blessings
Reflections from participants in a ‘Counting our Blessings’ Taster Session: Who listens to you?
“I had experienced being truly listened to by another who I could also trust with myself”.
“It’s difficult to put into words, but during the session, we had a sense of the truth - God knows us and
loves us; God understands us and our feelings, and draws us closer – through one another.”
“Having places to have meaningful conversations, encouraging families to be, or create and become,
homes where feelings, however positive or painful they may be, can be expressed safely is vital for the
well-being, resilience and mental health of our children and young people.”
“‘Counting our blessings’ is something we say but rarely do. This experience was a wonderful opportunity
to remember the blessings that I had forgotten to count, and to stop the world for a while and share
my blessings with another”
“Thought provoking – inspirational.” “Excellent!” “I enjoyed it as a sort of lectio divina”. “It is simple,
really accessible”. “It shows the benefit of community”. “A chance to realise the blessings I should
count!”
Counting our Blessings is being launched in England and Wales during the first week of Advent with a four
week social media campaign featuring the tagline: ‘Count your blessings not your presents’.
Counting our Blessings is available to purchase now for £9.99 from Matthew James Publishing Ltd: https://
https://amoris.ie/moments/ To read more on this article go to
Is anyone else going from England and Wales? Many families will be travelling to Dublin next summer and several Dioceses are organising pilgrimages or helping to put
families that wish to go in touch with each other. There is also a national Marriage and Family Life Ministry team travelling
to Dublin comprised of Bishops’ Conference staff, Diocesan Marriage & Family Life Ministry Coordinators and FAMILIAS
members. For more information about what is being planned in your area please contact your local Diocesan Marriage &
Family Life Ministry Coordinator. http://www.catholicfamily.org.uk/diocesan-work/find-a-diocesan-coordinator
FAMILIAS FAMILY BURSARIES
Familias Executive is delighted to announce that it will award three bursaries of £1,000 to a family from each of
its three regions (Northern, South East and South West) to support the cost of their attendance at the World
Meeting of Families 2018 in Dublin from 22-26 August 2018. Applications will be accepted from Familias Full
Members, Associate Members and Friends and from Catholic families resident in parishes in England and Wales
who are not currently Familias Members but agree to take up membership as a condition of the award. To find out more about it go to http://www.catholicfamily.org.uk/diocesan-work/find-a-diocesan-coordinator