July is for Grandparents
Working with family themes month by month has been quite useful for me to reflect more deeply on the domestic church, or the little church of the home, on how God is present in...
Author: Toni Rowland
Mercy in All Areas of Life
I had never been a very dedicated follower of the popular Divine Mercy devotion. But around 2016, the time of the Year of Mercy, and even before when I got hold of a copy...
How to Make ‘Sacrifices of Love’
Someone said to me the other day that your Lenten sacrifice should be your secret with God. That sounds fine, to a point. I also know that in my family over very many years,...
Every Family Matters!
It’s quite a number of years now that I have been submitting this column under the heading “Family Friendly”. Apart from the feedback I get from time to time, I do sometimes wonder whether...
Is Ubuntu is Jesus’ Worldview?
This will be the last of my columns for 2018, a journey that has attempted to “Catholicise” the concept of ubuntu. At a conference early in the year I asked sodality members if ubuntu...
Joy of Families is the Joy of the Church
The Australian writer and gender activist GD Anderson observed of that empowerment: “Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.”
Family: What More Can be Done?
Participating in a conference of the Department of Social Development was enlightening and for me also affirming. I know that those in the DSD Family Directorate and the family services forum understand and base their...
May: Month of Mary and Mom
Ideally two parents belong together, ideally too a dad and a mom. But this is not necessarily the case today as more children are being brought up by single moms than in two-parent families.
Do Families Have Rights?
Rights and responsibilities balance one another out, but when it comes to rights and respect, which comes first? Do rights flow from respect, or do rights lead to respect, or both?
A Family Liturgical Cycle?
Christmas may be over, but before we know it, it’ll again be Advent and Christmas again. And then it will be good to remember that the 12 Days of Christmas are those after the feast of the Nativity, not before.
Our Christ-Centred Traditions at Christmas
No doubt traditions at Christmas, like much else in life, has changed. My own childhood memories are of setting up our family crib, without the baby until Christmas night of course, as well as music and singing.
How Do We Deal With Death and Loss?
Do you and I feel at peace with those we have loved and who have died? What about us who are left behind after a death or a separation or divorce?
