Families of Mercy: 10 Practical Ways to Get Families Excited During the Year of Mercy

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1 Families of Mercy: 10 Practical Ways to Get Families Excited During the Year of Mercy

2 The Year of Mercy Basics: As families, we can be a bit overwhelmed on how to live out an extraordinary jubilee year! God is offering us an opportunity for grace and transformation through this gift of an extraordinary Year of Mercy. This special year begins with the feast of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th, 2015 and closes with the Feast of Christ the King which falls on November 20th of 2016.

3 Misericordiae Vultus Pope Francis writes: It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty. And let us enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God s mercy. Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy in his preaching so that we can know whether or not we are living as his disciples. We cannot escape the Lord s words to us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged

4 The Works Of Mercy There are 14 works of mercy in all: seven corporal, based on the bodily needs; and seven spiritual, which attend to the needs of the soul. The ancient roots of the corporal works of mercy can be traced to the Gospel of Matthew 25:34-40 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed you, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.

5 The Corporal Works of Mercy Feed the hungry Give drink to the thirsty Clothe the Naked Shelter the homeless Visit the sick Visit the imprisoned Bury the dead (see Tb 1:17-18)

6 The Spiritual Works of Mercy Counsel the doubtful Instruct the ignorant Admonish the sinners Comfort the afflicted Forgive offenses Bear wrongs patiently Pray for the living and the dead

7 10 ways to help families live the works of mercy! Parents are overwhelmed they don t want more on the to do list yet they want to teach children a life of service Parents don t know much about Year of Mercy, and often ask what can I do? People don t even know the works of mercy especially converts As chairs of our schools catholic identity team, these are 10 easy and community building ideas to live the works of mercy Helpful to have parishes provide opportunities for families

8 Feed the Hungry/Give Drink to the Thirsty #1 Year of Mercy Jar

9 Sample letter

10 Feed the Hungry/Give Drink #2 Soup Suppers to the Thirsty Community building and work of service Can be a one time, monthly, or weekly event Organizations within the parish sponsor the event and provide soup, bread, butter and do set up and clean up (ie School, PSR, Youth Ministry, Music Ministry etc) Families are invited to talk (bring in speaker or have parishioner give testimony) or prayer (stations of the cross, evening prayer)and join together for dinner Make a donation for what they would spend on dinner for churches choice of a charity

11 Shelter the Homeless #3 Blessing Bags Organize meet up Have families bring: Baggies Snack foods Socks/hats/gloves Water holy cards Homemade cards Include numbers for Catholic Social Services

12 Visit the sick #4 Connect families with homebound parishioner - adopt a new friend! Many families are out of of touch with those who are not at church because of illness or infirmity Bring them to mass and other parish events Visit with them in the nursing home or in their homes Make cards, include them in your family! Prayer list

13 Visit the Imprisoned #5 Do a collection to get Catholic resources into the prisons or Cookies for Kairos I can t tell you how much the women appreciated the cookies. They were moved to tears to think that people care about them. There were many women on the retreat who were in for murder or other offenses that keep them in jail for so long. No one visits or writes them, and definitely no one makes them cookies. They were overwhelmed with love.

14 Bury the dead/comfort the Sorrowful/ Pray for the Living and the Dead #6 - Teach about Mass cards a Mass offering card, memorial card or a remembrance card, is a greeting card given to someone to let them know that they, or a deceased loved-one, will be remembered and prayed for in the intentions at a Mass. Many people don t know about this practice Also a financial benefit to your parish! If your parish wants cards to give to people who order mass cards check out pioprints.com

15 Mass Card Offering Why Offer a Mass for a Person or Intention? "The grace of mutual love among the living, strengthened and increased by the sacrament of the Eucharist, flows, especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the Mass], to all who belong to the communion of saints. For the communion of saints is simply the mutual sharing of help, atonement, prayers and benefits among the faithful, those already in the heavenly fatherland, those consigned to the purifying fire, and those still making their pilgrim way here on earth. These all form one city, whose head is Christ, and whose vital principle is love. Faith teaches that although the august Sacrifice can be offered to God alone, it can nevertheless be celebrated in honor of the saints now reigning in Heaven with God, who has crowned them, to obtain their intercession for us, and also, according to apostolic tradition, to wash away the stains of those brethren who died in the Lord but without yet being wholly purified." - From the 1902 encyclical Mirae caritatis of Pope Leo XIII

16 Instruct the Ignorant # 7 - Virtue Club Extension of VBS includes kids and parents! Once a month for both school and PSR children Learn about a virtue, saint and scripture VBS format stations for music, crafts, games & snack Older kids serve as mentors help parents lead stations, do skits on saint and demonstrations on the virtue Parents who teach learn as much as the kids

17 Virtue Club October - Prayerfulness - St. Dominic (founder of Dominicans) November - Gratitude - St. Mary Magdalene December - Meekness - St. Therese of Liseux February - Trustworthiness - St. Bernard March - Self Control - St. Kateri Tekawitha May - Justice - St. Francis of Assisi

18 Virtue Club Resources Education in Virtue - Cat Chat coming out this fall with complete program - Behold Publications Little Flowers & Blue Knights program - home/

19 Instruct the Ignorant #8 Support Catholic Men s & Women s Conferences (or start one if you don t have them in your diocese!) Strong parents/families who know the faith is important Our diocese has 3,000 women and 3,000 men attending conferences People learn about their faith, opportunities for service within the diocese, faith sharing Many people who are away from the faith or considering the faith come to learn. Many return to the sacraments attend confession for the first time in years. Excellent tool to share with those in RCIA celebrate being Catholic!

20 Catholic Men s & Women s Conferences

21 Catholic Men s & Women s Conferences Interested in starting a conference? Facebook group /

22 Counsel the doubtful #9 Start or support Men s & Women s Faith Sharing, moms groups, men s groups for younger families Families and parents feel isolated often times bible study groups are only attractive to retired parishiners That Man is You great for men Divine Mercy for Moms is a great study group for moms!

23 Divine Mercy for Moms I have been faithfully watching your YouTube videos and reading your awesome book and feel enormous amounts of grace from the Holy Spirit during this Advent season. Actually it s the best advent season study I have yet to do. I am so grateful that you listened to Christ s call to make this book happen. Brenda, mom of 4, Powell, Ohio I love the book! This is something I need. Michele, mom of 2, Columbus, Ohio What a great study! I left each session feeling refreshed and inspired. I have really enjoyed the book and all the great ideas. Denise, mom of 3 I benefited so much from this study! First of all it was a reminder of what a beautiful, fulfilling and inspirational life we can live by making the corporal and spiritual works of mercy part of our daily life. Divine Mercy for Moms is a great tool that I will use to see every day as an opportunity to bask in and spread Gods love and mercy. The other part of the study I loved was how it was an avenue to meet, learn from and share with some very amazing women! Chrissy, mom of 2, Dublin, Ohio

24 Works of Mercy #10 Start a Works of Mercy Club Families together do a work of mercy each month Ideas under each work of mercy in our book Divine Mercy for Moms; Sharing the Lessons of St. Faustina and categorized on Other works of mercy books: Fr. Michael Gaitley You Did It to Me

25 Other Helpful Resources Free Downloads of the Divine Mercy for Moms Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy for Busy Moms (and can be busy dads too!) - great to run in bulletins Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy Examination of Conscience Guides -

26 Print and share! Recommend hanging on door exiting home reminder to live the works of mercy as we enter our homes and also to take them out into the world!

27 Thank You!