Family Faith News
Holy Family Parish
Sunday, August 8, 2021
Amoris Laetitia Family Year: Reflection on Summer with our Family
As we turn the calendar to August, we hope your family is enjoying time together without the stress of school and other September-June events! This special family time is recognized and appreciated in our Catholic faith.
On Friday 19 March 2021, the Feast of Saint Joseph, the Church celebrated five years since the publication of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) on the beauty and joy of love in the family. On that same day, Pope Francis launched the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, which will conclude on 26 June 2022, on the occasion of the Tenth World Meeting of Families in Rome.
Speaking about the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, Pope Francis referred Amoris Laetitia Family Year as a special year to grow in family love and an opportunity for a renewed and creative pastoral drive to place the family at the center of both Church and society. Pope Francis also shared his hope that "every family may feel in its own home the living presence of the Holy Family of Nazareth, that it may fill our small domestic communities with sincere and generous love, a source of joy even in trials and difficulties”.
We hope you can enjoy these last few weeks of summer together with your family, as described by Pope Francis in this Amoris Laetitia Family Year.
Mass Readings for Sunday, August 8: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In this weekend's Gospel, Jesus is making us aware of the divine relationships that are a foundation of our life. More is going on than we see: we are being made into the children of God! There is more to us than meets the eye, no matter how we perceive and live our lives.
Our Father in Heaven is always drawing us into divine life, because he loves us limitlessly. He does this through Jesus, who is one like us and who tells us what the Father has in mind for us. If we live within these intimate relationships with God, we are already sharing in eternal life. How wonderful is God's gift and relationships with us!
Activities for Family
Heavenly Bread Family Activities
Below are fun family activities to help children better understand Jesus' words, "I Am the Bread of Life." As a family, read and discuss each activity. Have your children choose one of the Heavenly Bread activities below to complete as a family. Send us a picture of your family's "Heavenly Bread" project!
- HEAVENLY BREAD NECKLACES: Have the children draw, color, and cut out a picture of a small loaf of bread. String elongated plastic beads onto a plastic string and add the bread picture and more beads to make a necklace as a reminder of today’s lesson.
- HOPSCOTCH BREAD: Using sidewalk chalk or contraction paper with tape, create a HOPSCOTCH board. On each space, write words from this weekend's Gospel message. (Examples: LIVING BREAD, BREAD OF LIFE, JESUS, LIVE FOREVER) As children hop on each space, have them shout out the words!
- BREAD TASTING CONTEST: Have many kinds of breads and let children do a taste test. Blindfold the children and see how many different kinds breads they can identify! Let children know that today’s lesson will let them know that there is only ONE “BREAD OF LIFE!”
Heavenly Bread Necklaces
Hopscotch Bread
Bread Tasting Contest
Project IMT
1. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
2. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
Come back next week for the answers!
Share Your Work!
Snap a Picture & Share Your Crafts With Us!
Anthony & Kevin's Basket Case of Jesus
Anthony and Kevin Flores
Aileen's Basket Case of Jesus
Aileen Lugos
Patsi & Karla's Basket Case of Jesus
Patsi and Karla Diaz Velazquez
Uplift Video of the Week!
US Navy Officers Parachute Into Central Park
The US Navy Leap Frogs stunned New Yorkers in a skydiving demonstration over Central Park on Thursday, August 5, as parachuters dove from 7,500 feet above the Big Apple into the park.
The skydivers jumped from a C-130 military plane, some unfurling the American flag with smoke streams behind them as they plunged toward the ground with the Manhattan skyline and blue skies as a backdrop.
Visitors to Central Park took videos of this spectacular sight. Below is one spectators video. To watch these amazing US Navy Leap Frog parachuters as they land in Central Park, watch this video beginning at time 2:00.
Holy Family Parish
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OR
- Text holyfamilyforall to 84576 (or 202-765-3441 in Spanish)
Email: catherinek@holyfamilyforall.org
Website: holyfamilyforall.org
Location: 56 Throop Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Phone: (732) 545-1681
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Twitter: @holyfamily4all