On Friday 19 March 2021, the Feast of Saint Joseph, the Church will celebrate 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 the same day, Pope Francis will launch 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 to it 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 centre 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 will be sharing more resources here as they become available.
Resources
Resource Leaflet from the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life
Download the resource leaflet introducing the year of reflection on the family here.
Video introducing the upcoming year on the Family
Cardinal Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life introduces the Year of Reflection on the Family as a special year to grow in family love, and to reflect on the importance of marriage and family in society today.
The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia)
Click here to download/read the Holy Father’s Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy Of Love).
10 Videos on Amoris Laetitia
One of the multimedia initiatives for the Amoris Laetitia Family Year will be a new series of monthly videos. Each month, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, will explain the chapters of The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia) alongside families who will share witness and testimony by sharing aspects of their daily lives.
The first video is now available to view below or by clicking here
It is inspired by this phrase from Amoris Laetitia: “Let us make this journey as families, let us keep walking together. What we have been promised is greater than we can imagine. May we never lose heart because of our limitations, or ever stop seeking that fullness of love and communion which God holds out before us.” (AL 325)
Week of Prayer from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Bishops have welcomed the Holy Father’s ‘Amoris Laetitia Family Year’ and are marking its beginning with a Week of Prayer from 13 March to 19 March (the Feast of Saint Joseph). This resource is offered by the Bishops’ Council for Marriage and the Family to assist families to participate in the Week of Prayer.
This resource comprises a page for each day of the Week of Prayer which can be easily followed in parish, school and at home. Each day has a theme reflecting on family life through the lens of Saint Joseph. The resource has at its centre the prayer from Pope Francis which he wrote for the Year of St Joseph (and some inspiring reflections from The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia).
Click here to download a PDF of the WEEK of PRAYER 13 – 19 March 2021
This Week of Prayer will also be updated so as it can be used throughout the upcoming Family Year.
World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly
Pope Francis has decided to institute a Church-wide celebration of a World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Starting this year, it will be held on the fourth Sunday of July, close to the liturgical memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, grandparents of Jesus. This celebration is part of the Amoris Laetitia Family Year. Parish Resources are available from the Catholic Grandparents Association.
Prayers
Pope Francis’ Prayer to the Holy Family
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
in you we contemplate
the splendor 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,
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.
Prayer for Families from the World Meeting of Families 2018
God, our Father,
We are brothers and sisters in Jesus your Son, One family, in the Spirit of your love.
Bless us with the joy of love.
Make us patient and kind,
gentle and generous,
welcoming to those in need.
Help us to live your forgiveness and peace.
Protect all families with your loving care, Especially those for whom we now pray:
[We pause and remember family members and others by name].
Increase our faith,
Strengthen our hope,
Keep us safe in your love,
Make us always grateful for the gift of life that we share.
This we ask, through Christ our Lord,
Amen
Mary, mother and guide, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, father and protector, pray for us. Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.
Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.
Theme for the World Meeting of Families 2022: ‘Family love: a vocation and a path to holiness’
Pope Francis has already chosen his theme for the next World Meeting of Families, which will take place in Rome in June 2022. The theme is ‘Family love: a vocation and a path to holiness’. The WMOF2022 will be organized by the Diocese of Rome and the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life. It was initially scheduled for the sixth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia and the fourth anniversary of Gaudete et Exsultate—i.e. in the year 2021—but it has been moved to 2022 as a result of Covid-19.
We will be sharing updates on the WMOF2022 here as they are made available to us.
ENDS
