You may listen to the novena recited in the video at the bottom of this email.
The special intention for this day is for:
For our sisters and brothers throughout the world
There is a larger circle of family members to whom we are related - the family of the World. Jesus provides for us the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE that models the universal bonding that links us together.
Let us pray:
God, Creator of the earth and all its people, grant that we may never become so self-centered as to lose sight of this larger family to which we all belong. Help us to be mindful that, as members of one family, we are all equal in the eyes of God.
We all have gifts to share, as did each member of the Holy Family - may we be generous and creative in the sharing of those gifts, whether they be material or spiritual. Together, then, we can truly build a better world. We ask this through the intercession of the family of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, model for all Christian families. Amen.
Concluding Prayer from St. John Paul II:
Lord God, from You every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. Father, You are Love and Life. Through Your Son, Jesus Christ, born of woman, and through the Holy Spirit, fountain of divine charity, grant that every family on earth may become for each successive generation a true shrine of life and love.
Grant that your grace may guide the thoughts and actions of husbands and wives for the good of their families and of all the families in the world. Grant that the young may find in the family solid support for their human dignity and for their growth in truth and love. Grant that love, strengthened by the grace of the sacrament of marriage, may prove mightier than all the weaknesses and trials through which our families sometimes pass.
Through the intercession of the Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that the Church may fruitfully carry out her worldwide mission in the family and through the family.
We ask this of You, who are Life, Truth, and Love, with the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
