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Gather these sons of mine together. This is the time for them to get to know each other, to meet each other, to love each other.
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959 In the one family of God. “For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy Trinity – all of us who are sons of God and form one family in Christ – we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church.”501 (Catechism of the Catholic Church)
These days as the secular culture drifts further and further away from the ways of God, we need now more than ever to come together. We need entire families; fathers, mothers and children interacting with other spirit minded families, priests and individuals in order to be strengthened in the faith. This is the time for the Cenacles to flourish.
I remember similar gatherings in my early childhood. I was born in the Azores, and in preparation for Pentecost, families would host the ‘Holy Spirit Crown’ in their home, all the neighbors in the village would gather each night to pray the rosary together and then have some socializing afterwards. In my day (back in the late 60’s), pretty much everyone we knew was Catholic…some may perhaps may have strayed a little, but everyone participated and helped each other out when needed. The world is much different these days, there is more pulling our children and even ourselves out into secular society than drawing us in. So much so that perhaps the majority of self proclaimed Catholics don’t even attend Mass regularly. They are missing out on life giving spiritual food. A sincere effort needs to be made here.
Only after we have fortified the troops can we then set out to bring more in to the fold. But right now as it stands we barely can even agree on the basics. We have a president who calls himself Catholic and yet supports the murder of innocent children right up to the hour of birth. That is atrocious. We’ve obviously have been doing something wrong. Many Catholics don’t even have a minimal idea of what the faith they profess even entails. It’s truly sad. We need to change this. It needs to start with us, strong Catholic families coming together in prayer and unity, and then supporting each other and drawing others back to the Sacraments.
This is the refuge needed for these times!