Weekly MESSAGE for October 21, 2007: Families Must Form Consciences

October 18, 2007

Focus: Families Must Form Consciences

Dear Friend,

This is the time of year that we meet with parents whose children are preparing for the Sacrament of First Reconciliation.

In preparation for the 6th World Meeting for Christian Families, to be held in January 2009 in Mexico, Pope Benedict XVI recently explained his objective for the world meeting: “In these times in which it is notable that there is a frequent contradiction between what is professed as belief and concrete ways of living and acting, the next World Meeting of Families proposes to encourage Christian households in the formation of a right moral conscience that, strengthened by the grace of God, helps in the faithful following of his will, which he has revealed to us through Jesus Christ and which he has sowed in the depths of the heart of each person.”

The Pope said that families, as “domestic churches,” are called to form new generations in human and Christian values so that orienting their lives according to the model of Christ, they forge in themselves harmonious personalities.

As we begin forming our children and their parents to receive First Reconciliation, it is our prayer that our families will develop a right moral conscience and where and when they fail, to learn to appreciate the power of God’s abiding presence in the Church as a merciful Father.

Fondly,
Father Nick Amato