October 2024
Celebrating the Gift of Marriage and Families

Praying with Icons. Windows into Heaven. Growing in Our Friendship with Christ.

         As I get older, I tend to appreciate my family more and more. My dad. My mom. (They celebrated more than 65 years of marriage before their passing!). My sisters. My brother. And their families, especially my great-nephews and nieces – they’re so precious!
I appreciate the memories of days gone by, and the memories that are still in the making, all filled with joy, hope and love, and yes, sadness and loss. And I give thanks to God for them all.

You see, it was in my family, the first church, the domestic church, that the seeds of faith were first sown. My parents, by their word and example, carried on the mission of love entrusted to them by God, sharing that love among themselves and teaching their children to love God, neighbour, and self. We all should celebrate each day the gift that our families have been for us throughout the years, and for the gift that they are to us today.

          That’s why Pope Francis invites us to pray for families, oftentimes gathering with families from around the world to celebrate the World Meetings of Families. Pope Francis also organizes regular Papal Synods in Rome on a variety of themes that focus on the mission and vocation of families and their role in evangelization.
In preparation for one of these events, Pope Francis wrote:
“[Our gathering] will reflect on the family, which is the fundamental cell of society.  From the beginning, the Creator blessed man and woman so that they might be fruitful and multiply, and so the family then is an image of the Holy Trinity in the world.
“Our reflections must keep before us the beauty of the family and marriage, the greatness of this human reality, which is so simple and yet so rich, consisting of joys and hopes, of struggles and sufferings, as is the whole of life.
“We are called to acknowledge how beautiful, true, and good it is to start a family, to be a family today; and how indispensable the family is for the life of the world and the future of humanity.
“We are called to make known God’s magnificent plan for the family and to help spouses joyfully experience this plan in their lives, as well as accompany them amidst so many difficulties.”

          Recall here our very first reflection in this series on Praying with Icons – Windows into Heaven. In January, we reflected on Our Lord’s Baptism and Life in the Trinity. We recalled there that we were baptized into the Life in the Trinity. The formula that was used to baptize us was: “The Servant of God [your name] is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Baptism is our entry into the Life in the Trinity. But not just baptism, but marriage and family!

            In January, we pointed out that the Icon of the Trinity is an invitation to Life in the Trinity. When we looked closely at the icon, we imagined the outline of a cup forming between God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, with the base of the cup at the bottom of the table, and with Jesus, God the Son, sitting as it were in the cup itself. The cup reminds us of the Chalice of the Eucharist, which contains Jesus, his Body and his Blood offered to us in the Divine Liturgy.

            Well, if we look closely at the icon of the Wedding of Cana in Galilee, in particular the one written by Ivanka Dymyd (below), we see Jesus, His Mother, and the disciples at the wedding feast, during which Jesus blesses the marriage of the young couple, elevating marriage and family life to that of a sacrament of mystery in the Church.

But once again, we can imagine the outline of a cup forming between Jesus and the wedding guests, with the base of the cup at the bottom of the table and with the young bride and groom sitting as it were in the cup itself!

        We can take this to mean that marriage is not just about a happy couple growing in love and providing for a family here on earth, but more so that in marriage a couple complement each other – coming together to embrace each other’s strengths and also to share in each other’s burdens, growing in their mutual love, and that of their family, in their heavenly goal of attaining salvation and eternal life!

And notice, that once again around the Table of Love depicted in the Wedding Icon, there is room in the couple’s marriage and family for you and me to journey with them as they enter into the Communion of the Cup and the Trinity, the very invitation into Life in the Trinity. How cool is that!

Join me in celebrating families and the great gift they are to the Church and the world, by praying this special prayer for families by Pope Francis:

Prayer to the Holy Family

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
 in you we contemplate the splendour of true love, to you, we turn with trust.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that our families too may be places of communion and prayer,
authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic Churches.

Holy Family of Nazareth,
may families never again experience violence, rejection and division:
may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing.

Holy Family of Nazareth,
may the approaching Synod of Bishops make us once more
mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family,
and its beauty in God’s plan.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
graciously hear our prayer. Amen.

Please note that this Prayer to the Holy Family has no expiry date, and can be prayed throughout the year, alone or together with your family! Praying with Icons. Windows into Heaven. Growing in Our Friendship with Christ.