You are Called, You Matter, and You Belong: Diocese of Calgary Family & Life Week

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has promoted the National Family and Life Week in Canada during the month of May since 2012. This year it takes place from May 13-19, 2024, and concludes on the Solemnity of Pentecost. The theme for this year is “Love hopes all things”. It is taken from Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 13:7 “[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

In chapter 4 of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis offers a reflection on this passage of scripture by applying it to the lived dynamics of marital and family love so as to encourage fidelity, growth, and the strengthening of family life. A love that hopes all things does not despair of the future. This “speaks of the hope of one who knows that others can change, mature and radiate unexpected beauty and untold potential. It also means that love bears every trial with a positive attitude. It stands firm in hostile surroundings, and involves not only the ability to tolerate certain aggravations, but something greater: a constant readiness to confront any challenge.” (AL #116, 118).

In the Diocese of Calgary one of our three Diocesan Pastoral Renewal Priorities will be to focus our efforts on initiatives to Strengthen Family Life over the next five years. Specifically, to accompany people at all stages of life, to engage families and youth in meaningful ways, and to welcome families to a sacramental life in our parishes, in collaboration with our Catholic schools. This priority emerged first during the Synod listening sessions. There was an overwhelming concern for families, youth and children in the life of the parish community. The experience of family's reflected both ups and downs, and at times, quite serious challenges. Many shared their personal stories of frustration, and aggravation when they had approached the Church for support. Thus, there is a need for a greater understanding and acceptance of the unique circumstances and conditions specific to families in their striving to live a path of fidelity to family love. The challenge for our parishes is to make connections with families that inspire hope through our diocesan pastoral renewal.   

Families need parishes to make intentional efforts to foster relationships with them, help them to connect with other families in the community, and to work to strengthen these bonds. Special consideration also needs to be given in all our outreach activities to gauge how effective they are in addressing the broad spectrum of families’ and their living situations. These differences can include: ethnicity, culture, language, age, marital status, single parents, families with young children, and those without access to or familiarity with the latest technology. In addition, people and family circumstances change over time as we age, and communication modes and styles need to be adapted appropriately to each age group within the family.

There was also a strong acknowledgement that our current culture and society can pose hostility toward the family, to those desiring to live a conjugal love in promoting a culture that is open to life and children. “After the love that unites us to God, conjugal love is the ‘greatest form of friendship’. It is a union possessing all the traits of a good friendship: concern for the good of the other, reciprocity, intimacy, warmth, stability and the resemblance born of a shared life. Those who witness the celebration of a loving union, however fragile, trust that it will pass the test of time. Children not only want their parents to love one another, but also to be faithful and remain together.” (AL #123)
 
This week our Diocese will promote and encourage families to renew and deepen the reality of Christian hope within their lived experience as a family through the theme “Love hopes all things”. The CCCB Standing Committee for Family and Life and its corresponding Office have developed a pastoral toolkit specifically designed for the family, the “domestic church.” Each day of the NFLW 2024 a specific theme will be celebrated, accompanied by prayers and activities for different ages, cultures, and circumstances. The toolkit includes: catechesis; prayer intentions and daily activities for families and parishes; graphic resources with quotes on Christian hope for daily social media campaigns; as well as pastoral suggestions for a Mass to celebrate Family and Life. [Register to receive these in your inbox during the Family Week]
 
In this coming week may the grace of the Renewal in our Diocese reawaken in us, the call of our baptism to be Pilgrims of Hope, especially in the witness and support of our Catholic families. 

Written by Most Rev.  William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary
---
​May 12, 2024