Day 8 Intention: For Our Community
Just as no man is an island, no family is an island either. We all need each other to be strengthened in our resolve to live a holy life. It is much easier to choose the narrow road when other families are with you. Sometimes we are the ones encouraging others to be open to life, to choose family over material wealth, to go against the world’s definition of success and live according to God’s plan for happiness in family life.
“Associations of families are to foster a sense of solidarity, living a life inspired by the Gospel and by the faith of the Church, forming consciences according to Christian values and compelling others to perform works of charity. Christian families then become a true source of light and a wholesome leaven for other families.” (cf. FC 72)
The Novena Prayer:
St. John Paul II, great champion of the family, we seek your intercession for the holiness of our communities. We give you thanks for the community in which you have placed our family. We ask you to inspire us to encourage other families, comfort them in their sorrows, and rejoice with them in their triumphs. Inspire in us a desire to be holy and do our part to make our family a holy family and petition God to grant us the favor of the following intention(s):
For the success of the upcoming Retreat for Families
(mention any family specific intentions here)
Aided in this way by your powerful intercession, we shall praise God, now and for ever, giving glory to his name by the witness of our lives. Amen.
Closing Prayer – The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.
Amen