Some of our parishioners asked me personally, “What is the difference that you feel when you are doing priestly ministry in the US?” I answered instantaneously with some explanations. I come from Kerala, one of the Southern States in India, where Catholic life is active and prominent. I could see almost similar life here, especially in our parish community where the Sacramental life is very active and people who strive to live a life of holiness, which is our basic call by our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the weekdays of November 6-10th I was in Orleans, MA for my annual retreat (personal) along with a priest from my home diocese in India. There we had a positive discussion on the topic “the transmission of Faith.” We talked more precisely on the Family prayer which is the foundation of a family and its influences on the transmission of faith. I would like to mention the structure of family prayer in our families in Kerala. We have family prayer in the evenings and each family has its own particular time for the prayer like 6.30 pm, 7 pm, 7.30 pm or even 9 pm depending on the convenience of family members. Each family has its own particular place or room for prayer where everyone gathers together. The basic structure - we sing songs, read the Bible, say the evening prayer of the Church (vespers), some families include rosary and other intercessory prayers to saints, and conclude with spontaneous prayer for various intentions. It takes up to 30 -45 minutes. No one in the family can skip the family prayer unless with a due reason.

I believe this is the best time for the transmission of faith to the younger ones in the family. The children get to know about God, prayers, Bible, Church, songs and thus they build up their faith life. (My niece, who is 4 years old now, started singing songs and saying rosary). I can easily say this formation which I received helped me to identify my priestly vocation. Since this faith formation begins in childhood itself, most of them remain faithful to the Faith and sacramental life. Still there are a few who go away from this. “The family that prays together stays together.” The Christian Family is the first place where children learn to pray. The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the family unit “Ecclesiae Domestica” - the Domestic Church. (CCC 1656). Thus, parents have a responsibility to set an example by taking time for personal prayer every day and making family prayer a regular practice. This not only sets an example for the children, but also provides them with a faith-filled foundation which brings them closer to the Lord.

We celebrate the feast of Christ the King of the Universe, on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 with his encyclical Quas Primas (“In the first”) to respond to growing secularism and atheism. He recognized that attempting to “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law” out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations. We should celebrate this feast every day in our families through our family prayers - accepting Jesus as the Savior and King of our families- which is the true celebration of the feast of Christ the King. May God Bless us all…!!!

ARCHIVES