Family life is a gift from God. It is the ordinary means through which He makes us saints but the world hates saints and thus seeks to destroy the family. Families fall into unhealthy habits due to the influence of the world, which seeks to draw them away from God’s plan for their family. When we recognize that we have strayed, we must turn back towards God and prune away those limbs that suck the lifeblood from those activities which will bring our family to a closer union with God. Your Holy Family Ministries provides practical tools, guidance and accompaniment to help your family on this journey. Sign up for our annual retreat for families.

Husband and wife are called to sanctify their married life and to sanctify themselves in it. It would be a serious mistake if they were to exclude family life from their spiritual development. The marriage union, the care and education of children, the effort to provide for the needs of the family as well as for its security and development, the relationships with other persons who make up the community, all these are among the ordinary human situations that christian couples are called upon to sanctify.
– St. Josemaria Escriva

The School of the Family

The family is where we learn to love. If we look at the state of the world, it is painfully obvious that some families are deficient in teaching their children about how to love as God loves. John Paul II referred to the family as the domestic church, the foundation of society. He mused that if the family is sick so is the Church and the world in which we live, and the converse is true. If the family is health, so will the communities in which we live be healthy. What an awesome responsibility, if only it were easy to accomplish.

The Church is a family of families, constantly enriched by the lives of all those domestic churches. – Pope Francis – Amoris Laetitia #87

The scriptures contain many references to the heart of man being like stone and that God desires to transform our hearts to hearts of flesh. We need to learn to love as God loves, to see the world and our fellow human beings as God sees them, through His sacred heart.

Family Transformation

Perhaps the task of becoming a family after God’s own heart isn’t that difficult after all. Jesus has already done the hard work. He came into the world, spent 30 hidden years in his own earthly family and then called us to repentance and declared that the kingdom of God was at hand. He showed us the path to perfection and called us to take up our cross and follow Him. Simple. Yet Jesus also told us “the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matt 7:13-14) The rich young man was given an opportunity to follow Jesus, but the Lord required that He give up what he loved first, his possessions.

Roadblocks to Transformation

What prevents us from having a family in which God’s love is learned and then transforms our family and the the world? Do we value our possessions, our status, our work, our friends, our church, our reputation or ourselves more than Jesus? Each of us has a roadblock that Jesus requires we give up in order to follow Him, it is different for each person, for each couple and for each family. As parents, we are co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord and our primary vineyard is our spouse and our children (read that again). We are called to be the helpmate of our spouse helping each other on the way of perfection and together we are called to make disciples of our children, teaching them the ways of the Lord. Another roadblock that is often overlooked are our friends and family. These are people we love and respect and they want what is best for us and may offer lots of advice to help us run our family. While the intention is good and some of the advice may help us in our journey, we need to be cautious not to assume that what may have worked for their family will be the way for our family too. Each family has their own challenges and will require their own adjustments to achieve holiness.

Cutting off what keeps us from our Mission

Seek ye first the kingdom of God in your family and the rest will be given to you as well. There is only so much time and money available, and there are seemingly endless ways to spend our time and money. It is easy to say yes to the first things that are presented to us. When we welcome children into our family we are bombarded with even more activities in which to engage. Discernment is key, yet is often overlooked. Family life is not a one size fits all situation. What may work for one family doesn’t necessarily work for another and what may work for a time in our lives may not work in a different phase of family life. We must discern our path in dialog with God. He knows what is best for us, what will bring us closest to Him and give us the best circumstances for success in raising saints, missionaries, and martyrs.

Where Do I start?

If you are convinced that now is the time to make some changes, we can help. Our ministry is dedicated to equipping parents to form Holy Families. We do this by teaching you about God’s plan for family life, providing practical tools that can be used to transform your family while providing accompaniment along the journey.