Te whakapono o te whānau - Family Faith
Kid's Korner & Parent Ponderings
Kid's Korner
Kid's Korner is a weekly resource produced by the Faith Formation Team for families. It is a journey through the Bible through stories, prayers and song incorporating recipes and fun activities. All centred around Jesus - his life, death and resurrection.
This week: Celebrating TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY in OT
Parent Ponderings: What I really want my kids to know about being Catholic
Next week: Celebrating TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY in OT
Parent Ponderings: CHOICES a Christian Declaration
Next week: Celebrating TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY in OT
Parent Ponderings: Story of the THREE TREES
Next week: Celebrating THIRTIETH SUNDAY in OT
Parent Ponderings: Thankful for the THORNS
Parent Ponderings is a weekly resource designed to give families hope and encouragement to help on their Journey.
This resource contains thoughts and stories from others who have travelled through life’s ups and downs.
The Domestic Church
We are the living Church. The People of God creating communities of faith, reaching out to others, praying. Our Living Church is the Domestic Church.
In the Catholic tradition, the family holds a special place–especially in the formation of faith. Parents are recognized as the first formators in faith. According to the Second Vatican Council
The family, is so to speak, the domestic church. Lumen Gentium#11
This means that it is in the context of the family that we first learn who God is and to prayerfully seek God’s will for us.
The term “domestic church” is not new. It has been used to describe families since the beginning of Christianity. In his Letter to Families, John Paul II wrote,
The Fathers of the Church, in the Christian tradition, have spoken of the family as a ‘domestic church,’ a ‘little church.’
The domestic church is believing that how you live your faith has a ripple effect that changes the world. It is the imperfect, humble and joy-filled family that evangelizes through its living the life of the 'be-attitudes'.
Every family is called to be a place of prayer, service, and love – a “little Church of the home.” Families naturally do this in their day-to-day lives:
The spirituality of family love is made up of thousands of small but real gestures” (Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, no. 315).
They do this by strengthening the bonds of love among their members, and by asking the Lord’s presence into their homes. There are so many ways to strengthen our domestic Church. This page and its links has a number of starters.