St. Francis of Assisi Church, Jebel Ali organized their quarterly 'Faith and Light' programme for the special children of the parish on 01 November, commencing with the holy mass followed by a social gathering.
A seminar on the topic 'Theology of the Body' was also conducted from 9 -14 November in the parish.
A training for the trainers of the Marriage Preparation Course was conducted by Fr. Arul Edward at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Ruwi, Oman from 8 - 9 November.
The highlight for the month was the 7
th Annual Family Ministry Seminar held on the 29th & 30th of November at Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali respectively. It had been received extremely well by the attendees. Around 560 people attended the seminar with an approximate distribution of 360 at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Abu Dhabi and 200 at St. Francis, Jebel Ali.
Bishop Paul Hinder’s opening video message on 'family love nourished by the love of God' set the tone for the day. It exhorted all who were present and inspired them to renew the warmth in their families by the habit of eating and praying together.
Fr. Leo Patalinghug, fondly referred to as the 'Cooking Priest' was the key-note speaker at the seminar. He hosts a weekly cookery show
Savouring our Faith on EWTN. He is also a best-selling author, radio and podcast host and an internationally acclaimed speaker who has founded the movement, ‘Plating Grace’ & the non-profit group, ‘The Table Foundation’.
With a cookery demonstration during his first session,
Plating Grace: Recipes to Strengthen Married Life and a talk for the afternoon session on
How to Get Your Family to Heaven coupled with a unique presentation style, Fr. Leo had the audience riveted throughout.
The theme of the seminar was '
Family Love: A Vocation and Path to Holiness', borrowed from the theme of the next World Meeting of Families in Rome 2021. With various topics centered around this theme, other speakers of the seminar also engaged the audience.
A married couple, Bridget and Anthony who are doctors spoke on 'The Joys and Challenges of Parenting Today' addressing the physical, social, spiritual, and emotional well-being of the family.
Fr. Reinhold’s talk dealt with vulnerabilities within the different age-groups and across different sections of the society and on how to build bridges for open and honest communication for better understanding.
In his talk about
Making Time for Prayer in a Digital Age, Fr. Chito clarified to the audience how easy it can be to set aside time to pray despite the busy schedules of our digital age, and he mentioned that prayer truly is the ultimate wireless connection.
Concluding the seminar, Fr. Arul Edward, Director of AVOSA Family Ministry encouraged the participants to consider attending the next World Meeting of Families in Rome which will take place from 23 - 27 June 2021. It will focus on ‘family love’ as a vocation and a way to holiness. Marriage and family provide an opportunity to live the commandment of love in a concrete way to manifest the value of relationships by sharing joys and struggles of daily life, and help in encountering God. He quoted Pope Francis' words:
Christian family life is a vocation and a way to holiness, an expression of the ‘most attractive face of the church.’
Each day concluded with the evening holy mass con-celebrated by Fr. Leo along with other priests. It ensured that the participants were also spiritually nourished in addition to being physically and mentally fed, as they headed back to their respective homes to reflect on the parting thoughts from the seminar –
What changes am I taking home to help my family / community grow in holiness and my feelings about it.
The monthly activities of the Marriage Preparation Course, Wedding Anniversary Mass, Baptism Seminar etc. continued in the various parishes of the vicariate.
The family groups and movements under the banner of the AVOSA Family Ministry had a busy month with their various activities and programmes:
Marriage Encounter (ME)
The second successful weekend was conducted in Oman on 15 -16 November at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Ruwi – Muscat.
ME couples met in different parts of Dubai, Oman and Abu Dhabi for the monthly Love Circle meetings.
ME Families met as usual on the first Saturday 05 October at St. Mary’s Church - Dubai to pray the Holy Rosary and later to plan for the Annual ME Christmas Get-Together.
Couples for Christ
CFC UAE celebrated its 27th anniversary at Sharjah Expo Centre on 29 November.
CFC Mission Core Assembly and Teaching was held at St. Paul’s Church, Mussaffah on 01 November.