Pastoral support for family life in Menevia takes a
variety of forms and covers the various stages of the family life cycle.
November 2006 - Releasing
Formidable Energy
Families are holy, even in the midst of crisis,
tension, and difficulty concluded participants at Releasing Formidable
Energy, a symposium to explore the spirituality of marriage and family
life, held between October 20th – 22nd at St Cuthbert’s College, Ushaw,
near Durham.
David Thomas, lay advisor to the US Bishops at the 1980 World Synod on
the Family, told the symposium that homes are holy places because the
whole of God’s creation is filled with God’s presence. "Awareness is the
starting point for all spirituality. There is a clear challenge here for
families because they are so busy, yet busy people can still be
spiritual because they have developed practices for remaining aware,
being present to God, to each other. The ordinary things families do -
the way for example that they care for and serve one another - are holy
and important to God. Families are all the time bringing forth God's
life more fully into creation."
The challenge of seeing God in the midst of family
difficulties was addressed by Kathleen Chesto, another of the keynote
speakers. It’s not the mess that is holy of itself, she said, but the
people we become through the especially poignant challenges often faced
in our family lives. "There are two lasting bequests we give our
children: the first is roots and the second is wings. We root them in
our love, our tradition, our faith, our family and then we give them the
greatest gift of all: we let them go. They are free to make their own
choices and they often choose other than we would have them choose."
"We are not good parents if they turn out well – we
are good parents if we turn out well through the process of parenting.
God gave us this for our sanctification; are we becoming less selfish,
more spiritual, more in touch, more aware of the greatness of creation?
Through the process of parenting are we becoming holy? It’s through the
pain and the chaos, through the cracks in our lives, that God’s light
enters deeply within us."
Thomas Knieps-Porte le Roi, holder of the INTAMS
chair in Marital Spirituality at the University of Leuven, Belgium
called for new theological models for conjugal and family spirituality.
It was vital, he said, to differentiate between marital and family
spirituality. "In the past conjugal and family experience coincided.
Parents died much younger 100 years ago, often as their last child was
reaching maturity. That is no longer the case. Now we need to pay
attention to the spirituality of couples both before marriage and after
the children have left home."
As a new theological model, Mr Knieps – Porte le Roi
suggested a “covenant” spirituality for spouses and families, rooted in
the notion that "first of all we are brothers and sisters of Christ and
thus brother and sister to each other, before we are husband and wife or
son and daughter of our father and mother."
More than 120 delegates including married couples,
single people, priests, and theologians attended Releasing Formidable
Energy which was organised by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales
as part of their Celebrating Family: Blessed, Broken, Living Love
initiative, the response to Listening 2004: My Family, My Church, a
conversation in which 15,000 Catholic families shared their experiences
of life and faith.
"Families actually live a great deal of holiness in
the love they live but they have never named it and claimed it as such,"
said Bishop John Hine, Chairman of the Committee for Marriage & Family
Life of the Bishops’ Conference. "When you read the Listening 2004
report the generous self-giving of time, attention, love, forgiveness,
affirmation, support and so on jump out of the pages. But none of this
was identified as family spirituality! We clearly need to do more to
identify and celebrate God’s presence at home."
The symposium ended with delegates devising new
strategies for promoting marital and family spirituality in the parish.
These included the writing of new resources for priests and catechists
to help them identify and affirm the value of family at key contact
points such as sacramental preparation. Also suggested was a greater
emphasis on family-centred vocations of marriage and parenting, and
identification of volunteers within parishes who, with appropriate
support and training, could animate a greater awareness of marital and
family spirituality.
"We have a great deal of material to work with now in
preparing for the launch of Home is a Holy Place in 2007", said
Elizabeth Davies, Marriage and Family Life project officer for the
Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. "The symposium has not only
highlighted key themes in the spirituality of the home but also a number
of areas where we must focus more attention."
HOME IS A HOLY PLACE
A challenging theme for the 21st Century
A young woman sat nursing her sick child. It was Maundy Thursday. The
child had been frequently sick and each time this necessitated a major
clean up. The tired and distraught Mother had an additional reason for
feeling dispirited today, for she had never before missed the Mass of
the Last Supper and loved the liturgy, especially the Washing of the
Feet.
As she cleaned up her little girl for the umpteenth
time, she came to the child’s feet ….. and then the connection was made!
She herself was washing the feet of ‘one of the least of my little
ones’. Her spirits were raised as she realised that she didn’t have
to be in Church to celebrate the liturgy. Her home was literally a
holy place; it was a place of prayer.
This story was told by Bishop John Hine, Auxiliary
Bishop of Southwark and Chairman of the Marriage and Family Life
Committee of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, at the
conclusion of the 3-day International Symposium, entitled ‘Releasing
Formidable Energy’, held at Ushaw College, Durham in the last days
of October and attended by 3 delegates from Menevia, among the 130+
total.
It was Pope John Paul II who first coined the term
‘releasing formidable energy’ in his great encyclical, ‘Familiaris
Consortio’, when he said that ‘the family possesses and continues to
release formidable energies!’ He loved the family and knew that families
formed the bedrock of the church and of society. He wanted to affirm
parents in their everyday task of looking after and raising the next
generation of Catholic Christians in what has become, certainly in
Western Europe, a secular society where governments seem intent on
undermining all that the family stands for.
‘Home is a holy place’ was the latest stage in
the development of the Bishops’ 3-year initiative, ‘Celebrating
family’ and was called to launch discussion and planning of Year
Two. In their report on ‘Listening 2004’, entitled ‘Not easy
but full of meaning’, the Bishops had said that ‘a broader
understanding of marital and family spirituality among both clergy
and laity will be fundamental to the success of any future work by
the church in support of family life’. They had not found much
evidence if this in the ‘Listening 2004’ responses. They wanted ‘Home is
a holy place’ to be the starting point for such a renewal. Hence the
Symposium.
The year-long project aims to develop among families,
parishes and the wider Catholic community a vision of the holiness of
the home as a place of life, love, service, teaching, fellowship,
witness and prayer and to underline the presence of God as love in all
loving family relationships.
to be continued . . .
MENEVIA FAMILY LIFE will be releasing a series of
reflections on what took place at the International Symposium in the
coming weeks and issues. The first, written by one of our delegates,
will be published in the Christmas issue of ‘Menevia News’ and
reproduced on this website. It promises to make a valuable and
challenging accompaniment to your Christmas dinner!
‘Home is a holy place’ will be the theme of our Diocesan
Family Mass, to be presided over in the Cathedral by our Bishop on
Saturday, 20 January, 2007.
Peter Macpherson
Diocesan Family Life
Commission throws a party
A very popular and well-loved member of the Diocesan
Commission for Family Life left recently to continue her work in
Ireland.
Acting also as University Chaplain from the Catholic
Chaplaincy in Uplands, Swansea, Sister Elizabeth Guidera, of the
Ursulines of Jesus had always taken a close interest in the life of the
family, particularly in the Cathedral and St. Joseph’s School.
During the last 5 years, she has been a member of the
Commission. Her contribution, based on the considerable wisdom of a
senior member of her congregation and the wide experience garnered in
her career as a Teacher, has been invaluable. In addition to her evident
spiritual awareness, her deep sense of caring and commitment have led,
no doubt, to her being called to take up this new work in Ireland. Our
loss is their gain, trite but true.
This much was articulated by Peter Macpherson,
Director of Menevia Family Life, when, on behalf of Bishop Mark and
Bishop Mullins and of his colleagues on the Commission, a small dinner
party was given in her honour and she was presented with two volumes of
the works of Fr. Daniel O’Leary, well-known Priest, Lecture and Writer,
who had led the recent day-long seminar at St. Benedict’s, Sketty, to
celebrate the launch of ‘Making Everybody Welcome’.
Menevia Family Life, July
2006
POPE CAME TO VALENCIA
Vth World Meeting of Families counted huge success
Yes! In those simple words ‘the Pope came to
Valencia’ lie a depth of sensibility we find difficult to comprehend in
these days of global travel and accessibility.
But think! In the words of ‘ABC’, the leading Spanish
daily, on the morning of Benedict’s visit; ‘ this old gentleman, not
robust in body yet with a lively face and something childlike about him,
who carries the formidable and unique weight of feeling and knowing he
is the Vicar of Christ on earth …. an infinite weight, transferable to
no other human being, which cannot be shared with anyone …..’
Saturday, 8 July, 2006, was a day to keep in the
memory for ever. My wife, Gislinde and I were on the 06.55 Euromed train
(another Eurostar) from Alicante to Valencia. We had risen at 5 and were
drinking coffee in the station café, with dozens of other ‘alicantinos’,
pilgrims all, in the station café by 6.15.
By 8.30, we were on a free bus, from the station to
the place where the Holy Father would celebrate Mass at 9.30. It was
already 100F. Fortunately, we had checked out the site earlier in the
week, whilst attending the Pastoral Congress, so we were familiar with
that part of Valencia. We also had seats reserved, alongside our fellow
British pilgrims, more than 100 of whom had travelled to Spain, to
represent British families at this world meeting of families. We two
were the only ones from Wales.
Imagine a vast parkland site, framed by a spectacular
statement of modernity, a trio of buildings forming the City of Arts and
Sciences, erected as recently as 2001. The focus is a simple altar,
surmounted by a plain white tower, adorned with a simple cross, standing
proudly high – ‘in hoc signo’. Everywhere, but everywhere, the papal
colours of yellow and white predominate. Pilgrims walk steadily – and
steadfastly, no one rushes – towards their allotted area. There is a
buzz abroad, no great noise, just a buzz; in many grassy enclosures, we
can see the remains of temporary ‘sleeping quarters’, bedrolls and
sleeping bags, rucksacks, tired children, for many have slept ‘on site’
all night.
We find our colleagues and are welcomed warmly. We
cannot see the Altar, but huge screens are placed in strategic
positions; not all can understand the introduction and welcome to the
Mass by Archbishop Garcia Gasco of Valencia, but those who need are able
to use for instantaneous translation the short-wave radios we were given
during the Congress, organised by the Pontifical Council for the Family.
The Pope begins Mass; all join in the responses in
their own language; he preaches about the family; we listen attentively
and are fired by his words; the silence is palpable.
This is a miraculous, some would say
divinely-inspired visit. Three years ago, in July, 2003, at the
conclusion of the 4th World Meeting in Manila, Philippines, Pope John
Paul II announced that the next encounter would be in Valencia, Spain.
In 2004, in the immediate aftermath of the Madrid terrorist bombings,
when more than 200 Spaniards died, the present Socialist Government of
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was elected by default, defeating the
incumbent Government, which had been coasting to an easy and predictable
victory. How strange that Pope Benedict’s arrival in Valencia should be
marked by a horrific Metro accident, at a station called Jesus, which
gave him the opportunity to pause on his way from the airport, meet the
Royal Family there and pray for the victims and speak to their
relatives.
The Zapatero Government has done more in 2 years to
undermine traditional concepts of family and married life than any other
European government. A series of measures which seem calculated to break
down values which have probably been more rigidly adhered to in Spain
than in most other countries in the Northern Hemisphere, has included
legalising fast-track divorce, gay marriage, medically-assisted
fertilisation and abortion and reversing previously agreed plans to make
RE lessons mandatory in schools.
What did Benedict say? Most of it has been far better
reported in the Press, both Secular and Religious than words of mine can
convey. I have available transcripts of his 2 homilies and have
circulated the special E-bulletin of the ‘Celebrating Family’ team,
containing an impressive list of ‘soundbites’ to all PP’s and Parish
Reps of Menevia Family Life. They should be on your parish Noticeboard.
Essentially, his message was unchanging: the family,
founded on an indissoluble bond between a man and a woman is not
something haphazard, but part of God’s loving plan. It is a ‘necessary
good for peoples, an indispensable foundation for society and a great
and lifelong treasure for couples’. The whole theme of the Pastoral
Congress and the Papal Mass was centred on the importance of the family
in ensuring the transmission of the faith. Pope Benedict emphasised that
families have a duty to ensure that the ‘Good News of Christ reaches
their children with the utmost clarity and authenticity’, by themselves
consistently ‘living out His values of love and and charity’.
But what these reports cannot convey is atmosphere,
ambient. As I said at the beginning, it was an unforgettable and
unmissable experience. Those of us who were privileged to be in Valencia
experienced a sense of renewal. The whole encounter confirmed everything
we know about the problems of the family in modern society and gave us
renewed faith to trust in the Holy Spirit to help us continue in our
work in family life ministry.
Let me finish with a little anecdote. As we walked
for two hours back to the station, in torrid heat, through streets
deserted except for the dispersing pilgrims, we came to a road block.
Word spread that the Pope would pass there, on his way to the airport …
which he did, our only actual sighting of His Holiness…, brief but
memorable. Then, as we got on the train, a young man spoke to me, in
English. I asked him whether he’d been at the Mass. ‘No’, he said, I’ve
been in Valencia on business, but I actually saw the Pope …. and I feel
quite privileged!’ What a lovely note to end on!
The next World Meeting of families will take place in
Mexico in 2009'
Peter Macpherson.
March 2006 -
Marriage & Family Life E-Bulletin
No 6 (link opens in a new window, close it to return to this
page)
February 2006
Celebrating Family: Blessed, Broken, Living Love
The Bishops of England and Wales launched a major
grassroots initiative, on 10th January, to support Catholics in their
family life.
Celebrating Family comprises three separate
initiatives over the next three years addressing key areas in which the
Church will offer more support to family life. These local parish-based
initiatives are based on the specific local needs identified by 15,000
families from every diocese in the country who responded to an
invitation from the Bishops, entitled Listening 2004, to
tell them how they could offer more support.
A central aim of the initiative is to include all
ages and resources, available on a dedicated website including
information packs, leaflets, tips and courses, and have been developed
to support families from cradle to grave. Diocesan co-ordinators will be
able to help local parishes in using these resources while also
developing ways of supporting families.
The first stage, which will provide the focus for
2006, is entitled `Everybody's Welcome'. This addresses
the need for welcoming, family sensitive, friendly parishes. The aim is
to offer understanding, friendship and support to all, to be a source of
help in times of need, to help everyone in the parish feel that they
belong there and to encourage and celebrate all family life whether
married, widowed, single, divorced, separated, with or without children.
In addition to the central resources available on the
website there are a series of events this year, starting with a
conference for families between 20 and 22 January at High Leigh in
Hertfordshire.
"This initiative is based upon what families have
told us through Listening 2004," said Bishop John Hine, chair of the
Bishops committee for Marriage and Family Life.
"Families talked about how important the parish was
to them. It is a community in which they want to feel known, accepted
and loved for who they are. They want to experience their parish as a
place where they can find friendship and to experience their parish as a
wider family to whom they can turn in times of joy and sorrow. They
would love their parish to be a place where their values are shared and
reinforced and a place where they find spiritual nourishment. They also
expressed a desire for practical help, including information and
skills to help them become better family people.
"Sadly we heard from families who did not experience
any of these things in their parish communities. Some felt quite
isolated and alone.
"A great deal of work has been done already on these
issues in so many parishes across the country, and in our programme 'Everybody's
Welcome' we aim to share the ways that have been discovered and
tried out. These are ways of being sensitive to family needs, ways of
being welcoming, ways of being family friendly and we hope that local
parishes are able to benefit from this work so identified needs are
addressed and parishes become the focus for the family."
The three year initiative will continue next year and
following an international symposium at St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw in
October, Celebrating Family will focus on marital and family
spirituality in 2007, under the banner `Home is a Holy Place'.
The final part of Celebrating Family in 2008 will focus on helping
parents and grandparents pass on faith in God.
Dioceses were launching the initiative throughout
January. On Sunday, the Archbishop of Birmingham Vincent Nichols, wrote
in a pastoral letter that the Christian family is a true representation
of the Church and the smallest unit building up the great universal
Church, the family of God.
"Being a welcoming, family-friendly parish means more
than ensuring that there is a kindly face to greet people as they arrive
for Sunday Mass, important though that is. It means discovering the
needs of those around us and finding ways that those needs can be met.
It calls everyone to review their deepest attitudes towards other
people, especially those who, in some way, may be different to them,"
said Archbishop Vincent Nichols.
"In this family of God, as lived in each parish,
there are many diverse needs and many different talents. The invitation
of the Lord is to ensure that we use the gifts he has given us as best
as we can, thereby ensuring that the different needs are met. Being a
truly welcoming and family-friendly parish means just that."
August 2005:- Whatever
happened to LISTENING 2004?
Bishops’ Conference initiative judged great
success
It’s in your Parish now? A full-colour leaflet which sets out a
brief, but detailed analysis of the responses you sent in after last
year’s distribution of questionnaires.
In answer to the question ‘What did families say during ‘Listening
2004?’, the Bishops of England and Wales say… “In 2004, we asked
families to talk about what life is really like for them, their joys and
sorrows, their hopes. Over 15,000 families responded. Every Diocese
listened to them at specially convened meetings. So what did families
say?
You can read the full details in the leaflet, which you will find in
your Parishes from this Sunday. Here is a flavour of what YOU said . . .
Family Life in a Changing World
‘Families are under a lot of pressure: too little time, too much to do
just living, working and caring for each other, not enough
understanding, help and appreciation from society or the church. We
heard a lot about loneliness and not being welcome. Materialist values
portrayed on TV and in the newspapers don’t help. But families said that
faith in God and a prayer life does. So too do patience, humour,
tolerance and good family communication. Families are grateful for
today’s health, social and educational benefits. But their greatest
blessing by far is that of simply being together as a family.
Family Life and Living the Faith
Families talked a lot about faith in God and how it provides structure
and strength, meaning and hope in their lives. But they also said that
faith and religious practices are difficult areas, especially where
families disagree, children reject the faith and family members are
excluded from full participation in the Mass.
Our Beliefs and Pastoral Practices
Church teaching, especially on divorce and remarriage, was talked about.
Some families requested greater generosity, forgiveness and welcome from
the church. Others asked for more information and clearer teaching. Most
recognised the importance of the parish as the place where we should all
be known, loved and welcomed for who we are, where different experiences
of family life are respected and where moral and practical support is
available.
What were the principle areas covered by your responses?
Again, full details are in your leaflet (or, better still, why not
invest in a copy of the full report? ** see below for how to get one).
Here are some of the key points:
Asked to comment on ‘Families in a changing world’, you mentioned
problems of media and materialism, of balancing family work and home and
hurting families.
‘Family life and living the faith’ produced comments covering six
important areas, including ‘valuing faith in God, the lost generations,
family spirituality and family faith at home and in the parish’.
The last section of the questionnaire dealt with ‘Our beliefs and
pastoral practices’. Your comments in 7 specific areas picked out
valuing difference, single people, inter-church families and divorce and
the Eucharist, amongst others.
Bishop John Hine, of Southwark, who led the project, in an interview
with the Catholic Herald, said; ‘I and my fellow Bishops have listened
hard and we are going to do something about it’.
So, what next? What are they - and we - going to do about it?
Once again, the published leaflet gives full details, but here is the
nub of the main proposals. Starting NOW, there is to be a 3-year
programme, each year of which will feature a key, critical stage.
Year One (starting in the Autumn) will focus on ‘welcoming,
family-friendly parishes’, so as to ‘build highly loving and supportive
communities for all within our parishes’. Some will say, ‘but we’ve
already got a welcoming parish!’ Of course, but some are more ahead than
others. We can all learn, we can all improve and there will be a joint
learning process across each diocese, which will benefit all.
Similarly, Year Two will feature ‘marital and family-life
spirituality’, with the same objective of spreading good and common
practice across our Diocese.
Finally, Year Three will home in on ‘helping parents and
grandparents to pass on the faith’.
How many of us are wont to lament the loss of the knowledge and practice
of our wonderful faith, the gift of which we were privileged to have
passed to us by our parents? Well, this will be our chance to do
something about it!
WHAT NEXT then?
What are we at Menevia Family Life going to do about it?
Well, first of all, ample supplies of the full-colour leaflet will be
available in your parish from this Sunday; secondly, you can obtain a
copy of the full report from this office for half-price, two pounds,
postage paid and delivered; thirdly, plans are actively afoot to stage a
launch conference early in November, in two locations, Swansea and
Haverfordwest.
The key question is: what are YOU going to do about it.
The whole thing has to be a collaborative effort between Priest and
People. To paraphrase the immortal words of Lord Kitchener: ‘Your Church
needs you’. Let’s face it, last year’s efforts have only now been
translated into an action programme. Now, we are at the end of the
beginning.
Will you help to make ‘LISTENING 2004’ and its
results become a reality?
Peter Macpherson
June 2005:-
Papal Reflections
on Marriage and the Family
(Acrobat pdf file -
If
Acrobat Reader is not installed on your computer, click here to download)
VATICAN CITY, JUN 7, 2005 (VIS) - Last evening at St. John
Lateran Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the ecclesial congress
promoted by the diocese of Rome on the theme "The Family and the
Christian Community: Formation of the Person and Transmission of the
Faith."
The Pope offered some reflections on "the meaning of marriage and the
family in the plan of God, Creator and Savior."
The Anthropological Foundation of the Family:
He starts by saying that "the human being has been created in the image
and likeness of God and God Himself is Love. Thus, the vocation to love
is what makes man the authentic image of God. ... From this basic link
between God and man comes another: the indissoluble link between spirit
and body."
"The totality of man," he continues, "includes the dimension of time and
man's 'yes' ... means 'always', it is the space of fidelity. Only within
it can one grow in faith." He adds that "the greatest expression of
freedom ... is the capacity to choose a definitive gift in which
freedom, giving of itself, fully finds itself. Concretely, the personal
and reciprocal 'yes' between a man and a woman ... is destined to the
gift of a new life" and it is also a "public 'yes' with which the
spouses take on the public responsibility of fidelity."
Benedict XVI underscored that "the various forms of dissolving marriages
today, as well as the free unions and the 'trial marriages', including
pseudo-marriage between people of the same sex, are, rather, expressions
of an anarchical freedom, which passes itself off, wrongly, for a true
liberation of man. Such pseudo-freedom is based on making the body
banal, which inevitably includes making man banal."
Marriage and the Family in the History of Salvation.
The Pope recalled that "biblical revelation, in fact, is above all the
expression of a story of love, the story of the covenant of God with
man; therefore the story of the love and union between a man and a woman
in the covenant of marriage was able to be assumed by God as a symbol of
the history of salvation."
"In the same way that the Incarnation of the Son of God reveals its true
meaning in the cross, authentic human love is the giving of oneself and
cannot exist if a person wishes to rid himself of the cross."
The Holy Father underscored several negative tendencies that are in
opposition to "the profound link between God and man, between God's love
and human love. ...The depreciation of human love, the suppression of
the authentic capacity to love is revealed, in fact, in our times as the
most adept and efficacious arm to remove God from man, to distance Him
from man's gaze and from his heart."
Children.
"Even in generating children marriage reflects its divine model, the
love of God for man. In man and woman, paternity and maternity, as the
body and as love, do not let themselves be limited to the biological:
life is given entirely only when, with birth, love and the sense that
make it possible to say yes to this life are also given. Precisely in
this way does it become clear how contrary to human love, to the
profound vocation of a man and a women, it is when the union is closed
to the gift of life, or worse yet, suppresses or manipulates unborn
life. ... For this reason the building of every single Christian family
is placed within the larger context of the great family of the Church,
which sustains it and bears it within itself."
The Family and the Church.
"Benedict XVI affirmed that "from all this comes an evident consequence:
the family and the Church, concretely the parishes and other forms of
ecclesial communities, are called to the closest collaboration in that
basic duty which comprises, in an inseparable fashion, the formation of
the person and the transmission of the faith."
The Threat of Relativism.
"Today an especially insidious obstacle to the work of education is the
massive presence, in our society and culture, of a relativism which,
while recognizing nothing as definitive, establishes as a final measure
only one's 'I' with one's own desires and which, under the appearance of
freedom, becomes for each person a prison. Within such a relativistic
horizon it is not possible therefore to have a true education: without
the light of truth, sooner or later every person is in fact condemned to
doubt the goodness of his own life and the relations that comprise it,
to doubt the validity of his commitment to build, with others, something
in common. It is therefore clear that not only must we seek to overcome
relativism in our work of forming people, but we are also called to
fight its predominant place in society and culture."
Priesthood and the Consecrated Life.
The Holy Father concluded by pointing to the need to pray for many
vocations to the priesthood and to consecrated life and to pray that
priests and religious "give witness to the joy of having been called by
the Lord."
May 2005:- Summary of the Report
on Listening 2004
(Acrobat pdf file -
If
Acrobat Reader is not installed on your computer, click here to download)
Menevia - Read the report from our
Diocese at
www.catholic-ew.org.uk/listening2004/index.htm
Click on 'Listening 2004 in your diocese' on the left.
MENEVIA FAMILY LIFE MINISTRY
Life President: Emeritus Bishop Daniel Mullins
Director: Peter Macpherson
Tel: (01792) 651888
E-mail: peter.macpherson@barbicanmarketing.co.uk
This is one of the key mechanisms for providing family support.
A programme of family ministry has been underway in the diocese since
1994. It was 're-launched' in Carmarthen, in mid November, 2001,
at a meeting attended by 65 delegates including Emeritus Bishop Mullins,
founder of Menevia Family Life Ministry and by Bishop Mark.
The present Director works nominally on one day each week, voluntarily
and without secretarial help. He has four objectives. First,
to maintain the equilibrium which had been established and seemed to be
functioning reasonably satisfactorily, if a little hesitantly; secondly,
to retain the best features of the previous administration; thirdly, to
check out and, where necessary improve those structures and extend its
programmes and fourthly, to provide for succession.
In January, 2003, Bishop Mark formally invited members to form the
nucleus of the new Diocesan Commission, initially for a period of two
years.
At the end of 2001, an Action Plan was presented to Bishop Mark.
This document sets out a series of 'hopes and aspirations'. It is
pleasing to report that, to date, most, if not all of the issues have
been dealt with gradually, even though some have only been touched upon
lightly, leaving further detailed development to follow.
At a practical level, at the grassroots, the role and function of the
Parish Family Life Ministry Representative is constantly being examined
and explored. Initially, the appointment of two representatives
per parish was requested by Bishop Mullins. Strenuous efforts have
been and continue to be made, with the support and goodwill of the
clergy, to reinstate this functional tool as the key to successful
delivery.
In an attempt to raise the profile of Family Life Ministry in Menevia
Parishes, fairly regular features have been prepared for and published
by 'Menevia News', the Diocesan newspaper, with the active and
helpful co-operation of the Editor.
It is planned in 2003 to extend this promotion by producing an 'in
house' Newsletter, funded by private subscription, for dissemination
either as an insert into 'Menevia News' or as a direct mailshot into the
homes of active Catholic people, as well as those who have lapsed.
Plans are currently being laid to utilise this year's Feast of the Holy
Family to launch International Year of the Family (IYF) 2004, on
Saturday, 17 January, 2004. There will be a concelebrated Mass in
St. Joseph's Cathedral, Swansea, followed by a celebration and
entertainment for the children. It is hoped that they and their
parents will come from all over the Diocese.
A renewed and improved resource is gradually being assembled in the
newly-created Diocesan Resource Centre at the Curial Offices in Swansea.
It will feature both loan and saleable materials, under the supervision
of the Librarian.
'Rainbows' is a developing initiative in Menevia, led by an energetic
Director, based at Aberystwyth. Its mission is to provide training
and programmes for establishing peer support groups for children,
adolescents and adults who are grieving a death, separation, desertion,
divorce or any other painful loss in their family. It is known
that three programmes are at present either running or in process of
launching, in St Illtyd’s parish Swansea; in Bishop Vaughan
Comprehensive School, Swansea; St. David's Primary School, Swansea and
St Mary’s Primary School, Carmarthen.
Marriage Care was established to support Marriage and Family Life.
It provides a free, confidential counselling service for adults.
In Menevia it has a centre based in Swansea. In 1997, Marriage
Care Swansea Centre consisted of only six members, two of whom were
Counsellors and two were Marriage Preparation Providers. Although
Marriage Preparation was taking place, the Counsellors had very little
work to do and the Centre was largely dormant.
Following appeals and pulpit talks in our Parishes, the membership rose
to fifteen.
Members were sent for selection to be Counsellors and the first new
Counsellor began training, and qualified in 1998. The counselling
hours increased as awareness of the Centre increased, from 31 hours in
1998 to 77 hours in 1999, 135 hours in 2000, 146 hours in 2001 and a
further increase in 2002 to 268 hours. As people become aware of
the Centre’s presence continue to increase. In 1999, a second trainee
qualified and in 2001, a third qualified. In 2002, an experienced
counsellor joined the Centre from Relate when the Swansea Centre for
Relate closed down.
Simultaneously, the Marriage Preparation courses continued. Eight
providers were given accredited training in 2000. At first, there
were two Centres for this, Swansea and Briton Ferry, the latter changed
to Margam. Annually, two four-week courses are delivered in
Swansea and two in Margam. In addition, one-day courses were added
as they were needed to cater for those working shifts and unable to
attend for four consecutive weeks. Both in 2000 and 2001, Marriage
Preparation courses were held in Haverfordwest. A need for
Marriage preparation West of Swansea was identified and so appeals were
made and Marriage Preparation providers were given accredited training
covering Carmarthen and West Wales. Initially, five providers were
trained in Carmarthen and one in Porthcawl in 200 1. In 2002, a
further three were trained in Carmarthen and two more for Porthcawl.
With the support of the local Clergy, two Marriage Care Sub-centres were
initiated under the main Centre at Swansea. (Although Porthcawl
strictly comes into the Archdiocese of Cardiff, geographically, they
were trained by and are working with the Swansea Centre)
Meetings now take place at Our Lady Star of The Sea, Mumbles as do the
Swansea Marriage Preparation courses. The Margam courses are at
Our Lady of Margam, Port Talbot. At Carmarthen, they are at St.
Mary's and at Porthcawl are at the St. Clare's Prayer Centre.
Counselling takes place in the CISS Centre, Bryntnill, Swansea.
It will be seen, thus, that much activity is undertaken in the Diocese
of Menevia at present, which subscribes to the ethos and daily practice
of good family life. Yet, the only people who can promote these virtues
are Parents themselves and Parish Priests, through their attention to
pastoral care of their flock. What Family Life Ministry can do is
to promote the vision, co-ordinate resources and encourage the
dissemination of new thinking and implementation of solutions across the
Diocese. The success or otherwise of family ministry programmes at
parish level is largely dependent on the enthusiasm of the parish priest
and/ or his willingness to support family ministers in their leadership
roles.
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