Ruth Viens
Family MInistry Coordinator
Email 

"The ordinary lives of ordinary families are filled with the extraordinary. The sacred is just around the corner. It is in family intimacy, first of all in our families and in our friendships, that God is present and active."

(Mitch and Kathy Finley)

Parents and Parenting

Reach Out and Touch Parents

Naming Grace
in the Domestic Church

A Family Perspective (USCCB)

Forty Ways to Foster Prayer
in Your Home

Strong Catholic Family Faith

Easter Resources to Use with Catholic Children

Family Good, Sacred and Holy!!

The Beatitudes for Parents

Saint George's Family Ministry provides a ministry of welcome, family resources, education, and support and helps to build a partnership between the church of the home - the domestic church - and the parish community.

A family pespective is an attempt to put into practice what Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1981 Apostolic Exhortation On the Family (Familiaris Consortio): "No plan for organized pastoral work at any level must ever fail to take into consideration the pastoral area of the family" (n.70). A family perspective is a way of "taking into consideration" the family in a very comprehensive way. To bring a family perspective to ministry does not necessarily mean adding new programs, personnel or structures. Rather it suggests that what exists is examined with a view toward making it more sensitive to the complex reality of family life and ultimately, toward placing families at the center of the Church's life and mission.

THE FAMILY CONNECTION

In the face of escalating violence, escalate love. Some forms of violence are hard to counteract. but this need not lead us to despair or paralysis. We can offset massive violence by escalating the number of random acts of kindness we perform. Keep in mind it's not the quantity of such deeds but the quality of each deed. Jesus help us to give ourselves as fully and lovingly as we can, wherever we can. Multiply our random acts of kindness. Relindle our hope that your light has truly overcome the darkness; that love not violence is the last word. How can you escalate love this week?

GRANDPARENT PRAYER GROUP, third Friday of each month, 11:00 am in the Conference Room in the church hall, from September through May. Join us as we pray for the safety and well-being of our grandchildren and those of the parish. Prayers include those to Saint Ann and Saint Joachim, grandparents of Jesus, along with the Rosary. All are welcome. For more information send an email here. For anyone unable to attend, the prayers used at the Grandparent Group are available on the Welcome Table in the church hall. Please share copies with anyone you know who would be interested. The aged, sick and handicapped prayers from home can be a powerful instrument for the work of God's grace. Many souls have been saved through the faithful prayer of those who are homebound.

FAMILY PRAYER NIGHT every Thursday at 6:30 PM in the church.  We gather and pray for all families. We invite you to join us as we share the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Contact Sue Ovian (sueovian@yahoo.com / 508-735-8703) or Bill McSherra (508-831-0188) for more information. Though Family Prayer Night is not specifically part of St. George's Family Ministry everyone is welcome to join them in prayer each Thursday night.

How to Pray a Family Rosary

Invite friends to come dressed as a saint or with an item that would identify them with a particular saint from the Bible. At one point in the party, members stand up one by one and have the participants guess who they are and person says a little about why they picked that saint.

For families with young children the "Sugar Witch" can show up at your house just as Santa Claus does. Her job is to take away extra candy and to leave behind coupons for other gifts...a new book, video, a trip. The "Sugar Witch" may leave behind a few straws from her broom as evidence that she came.