Catholic Family Life

Every single one of us is called to participate in the Church’s mission to restore all things in Christ. Most of us are called to do this primarily through our marriages and family life — but how??

Below you will find concrete suggestions for rediscovering and living out the Faith together as a family.

Marriage Enrichment
Refresh your marriage with a Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekend retreat, observe a milestone anniversary at the annual diocesan Wedding Anniversary Celebration, or heal a troubled marriage through Retrouvaille. For information about Familia, a program to strengthen families by helping men and women live their vocation to marriage and parenthood, see familiausa.net.

World Meeting of Families – 2028

Location to be determined

Worldwide Marriage Encounter

The Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekend offers married couples an opportunity to learn a technique of loving communication. It is a chance to look deeply into their relationship with each other and with God. Presentations are made by a team of couples and a priest. There is no group sharing. Rather couples return to their rooms after the talks and discuss how the topic relates to them and their marriage personally. It is a time for couples to be alone together, to rediscover each other and together focus on their relationship.

Register online at the Worldwide Marriage Encounter website.

Retrouvaille

For couples in troubled marriages Retrouvaille is a program of healing and renewal, consisting of one weekend and six follow-up sessions over the course of three months.

To register, or for more information go to the Retrouvaille website, or call 513-922-6045.

LEARN THE FAITH AS A FAMILY

A Family of Faith Program:

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So many young people are losing their Faith today—what can we do about it? The Faith is primarily “caught” through Family Life. Consider exploring some kind of Faith Formation Program together as a family this year. We recommend the program: A Family of Faith.

You can use the Family of Faith program on your own or you can get other families to join you.

For printable “Guide to Launching A Family of Faith” click HERE.

Catholic Movie Nights:

Consider having Catholic Movie Nights a few times a month. Eat snacks and watch an engaging Catholic movie, documentary, or video series together. Stay up late afterwards to discuss what you watched! Check out our Catholic Movies page: covdio.org/family/movies/. Great video resources can also be found on Formed.org and WordOnFire.org.

Click image for movie night ideas!

LIVE THE FAITH AS A FAMILY

Live Liturgically:

Discover and create family traditions and activities based on the seasons of the Church: A bonfire on Pentecost! A concert on St. Cecilia’s feast day! A Zoo trip near St. Francis’ feast day! Use the opportunities to teach some aspect of the Faith.

Click HERE to discover ideas for the whole year long

Engage the Sacraments Together:

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Consider going to confession together as a family once a month. Go out to dinner or do something special afterwards to celebrate forgiveness and God’s grace. Sign up for an hour of adoration to spend time together as a family in the Presence of The Lord. Most importantly, reclaim Sunday as a day of worship, rest, and family time every week.

Adoration and Confession times in our Diocese

For adoration times in the Diocese of Covington, Click HERE

For confession times in the Diocese of Covington, Click HERE

***Call parish beforehand to make sure the times have not changed.

PRAY AS A FAMILY

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Pray Together:

The family that prays together stays together! Pray together before meals and use the opportunity to pray from the heart—show your children how it’s done! Pray before bed together every night and consider praying the rosary as a family. Allow each family member to pray a section and suggest intentions for beads or decades.

For more ideas of how to pray together as a family, click HERE

Create a Prayer Corner at Home:

Create a special place in your home that is dedicated to prayer. Make it a private place, if you can, and fill it with sacred art, flowers, candles—anything that helps you pray! Place a Bible and prayer books in the space. Pray together there as a family. Most importantly, let your children see you using the space so they know they can also “visit God” there whenever they need to.

SERVE AS A FAMILY

Serve Others Together:

Plan service activities to do together as a family! Perform a surprise act of kindness for a family member. Visit the elderly or infirm. Volunteer at a local, diocesan ministry. Use Matthew 25:34-40 or the Church’s list of Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy to help you come up with ideas.

Featured Articles

Year of the Family

Christmas

The Holy Family: An icon of Catholic life

By Father Conor Kunath. In the eighth century, the Church was shaken by a controversy that continues to impact her devotional and liturgical life more than a millennium later. This controversy was about the use of images. The earliest Church had discouraged the veneration of icons because of the Old Testament prohibition against them, but […]

During Year of Family Pope Francis asks faithful to reflect on moving ‘towards a better education of children’

By David Cooley. The seventh chapter of Pope Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation, “Amoris Laetitia — On Love in the Family” is entitled “Towards a Better Education of Children.” In that segment the Holy Father explores in great detail how adults — especially parents, but also teachers and other role models — influence the moral development […]

Changing the world — It’s a family thing

By Brad Torline. Salvation came into the world through a family. Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit before she was married. When St. Joseph discovered what had happened, the two of them almost separated — but God intervened, telling St. Joseph to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife. (Matt 1:18-20) Why did God […]

PRAYER FOR THE FIRST WORLD DAY FOR GRANDPARENTS AND THE ELDERLY (July 25, 2021)

I thank You, Lord,
for the comfort of Your presence:
even in times of loneliness,
You are my hope and my confidence,
You have been my rock and my fortress since my youth!
I thank You for having given me a family
and for having blessed me with a long life.
I thank You for moments of joy and difficulty,
for the dreams that have already come true in my life and for
those that are still ahead of me.
I thank You for this time of renewed fruitfulness to which You
call me.
Increase, O Lord, my faith,
make me a channel of your peace,
teach me to embrace those who suffer more than me,
to never stop dreaming
and to tell of your wonders to new generations.
Protect and guide Pope Francis and the Church,
that the light of the Gospel might reach the ends of the earth.
Send Your Spirit, O Lord, to renew the world,
that the storm of the pandemic might be calmed,
the poor consoled and wars ended.
Sustain me in weakness
and help me to live life to the full
in each moment that You give me,
in the certainty that you are with me every day,
even until the end of the age.
Amen.