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CFF Family Projects: Practical ways to grow your Domestic Church
The family is the Domestic Church, the smallest unit of the parish community where the faith is taught and lived out day to day. During the 2022-23 CFF program year, your family will be invited to do five simple projects that will help you grow your Domestic Church.
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- FB5: Hallow your Holy Week
- FP1: Family Prayer Space
- FP2: All Hallows Tide
- FP3: Advent Devotion
- FP4: Lent Begins
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CFF Family Project 5: Hallow your Holy Week
Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday and ends with the Paschal Triduum (three days) that includes Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. This is the holiest period of the church year, as we live the mystery of Jesus’ death, burial, and Resurrection. Holy Week is a short period rich with opportunities to grow in faith as a family. In addition to Mass on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, do one or more of these 10 options:
Good Shepherd offers these special liturgies and events during Holy Week: Click here1. Penance Service – Monday, 7:00 pm in the church – Multiple priests to hear confessions, in English & Spanish. (Also, see bulletin for additional extra Confession times during Holy Week)
2. Foot Washing – Thursday, 5:30-6:30 pm at the Mary Grotto – Bring your family to wash one another’s feet, a powerful way to give and receive the love of Christ
3. Mass of the Last Supper – Thursday, 7:00 pm in the church – A special commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist and of the priesthood. Father washes the feet of adults entering the Church at the Easter Vigil.
4. Adoration at the Altar of Repose – Thursday, 8:00 pm (or after Mass) to midnight – At the end of the Mass of the Last Supper the church is stripped of decoration and the Eucharist is taken from the Tabernacle to the chapel. Jesus asks, “Can you not watch with me for one hour?”
5. Stations of the Cross – Friday, 3:00 pm in the church – Reflect on Christ’s Passion
6. Easter Vigil Mass – Saturday, 8:00 pm in the courtyard moving to church – The highest celebration of the year, includes lighting of the new Easter Candle, Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion for adults entering the Church. (Note: 2+ hours)
Here are some ideas of ways to hallow your Holy Week from home: (Click links for instructions)7. Spy Wednesday: Hide 30 quarters and learn the difference between Judas and Peter. Click here
8. Last Supper: Celebrate with foods Jesus ate with his disciples (or keep it simple with
a loaf of bread and bottle of grape juice.) Click here
9. Tenebrae: a short (and engaging, and momentarily LOUD) funeral service for Jesus. Click here
10. Passion “Lunch”: Read the Passion story from the Bible and partake of a simple food item that represents each moment. Click hereSubmit your project: Submit Here
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CFF Family Project 1: Family Prayer Space
This project has four quick and easy components:
1. With your children, read Lesson 21 on the Church Year and Lesson 28 on Ordinary Time OR Read and share this article from Sadlier Religion: https://www.sadlier.com/religion/liturgical-seasons (If you have multiple children, you can do just one reading, and discuss with the whole family.)
2. Create or update a Family Prayer Space in your home. Click here for ideas and photos.
3. Submit your project (photo optional) on the google form linked below; alternatively, email your photos to [email protected]
4. Regularly use your Family Prayer Space to pray together and individually.
Click here to submit
Family Project #1 - Family Prayer Space
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CFF FAmily Project 2: All Hallows Tide
What is All Hallows Tide? It is the unofficial “triduum,” or three days, in which Catholics honor those who have gone before us.
October 31 is All Hallows Eve, a day to remember our own mortality.
November 1 is All Saints Day, a day to honor those who died and are in Heaven.
November 2 is All Souls Day, a day to remember and pray for the souls in Purgatory.This family project has four components with many options!
1. Learn! (Choose 1)
a. Read the Catholic All Year article: Memento Mori for Kids: Other People Died and You Will, Too. Or, A Very Catholic Hallowtide
b. Watch one or more videos about how to honor the Catholic origins of Halloween. Here are some suggestions (click on link below):- EWTN: Origins of Halloween
- Life Teen: Don't Take Halloween too Far
- Beyond the Pew: The Catholic Roots of Halloween
2. Celebrate! (Go to Mass, and choose 1 more option below)
a. All Saints Day Mass: Oct 31 at 7 pm, Nov 1 at 6:45 am, 9 am, or 7 pm
b. Share something you learned in step 1 with someone outside your household.
c. Discuss the story of the Pumpkin Patch Parable (click here) while carving your Halloween pumpkin.
d. Update your Family Prayer Space with pictures, statues, or quotes from your favorite Saint. Pray for his/her intercession this month.
e. Update your Family Prayer Space with a photo or memento of a loved one who has passed away. Pray for his/her soul and all the souls in Purgatory this month.3. Record! (Choose 1 or more)
a. Take a photo of your family outside after Mass.
b. Take a photo of your family cleaning and carving your pumpkin, or the finished product.
c. Take a photo of your family using your updated prayer space.
d. Write a sentence or two describing what you learned about All Hallows Tide from step 1.4. Click here to submit your project.
Optional photo submission: We will be creating Family Project slideshows, to be displayed in the lobby of the Parish Center or at family events at the parish. If you would like to submit a photo to be included in the slideshow, please email it to [email protected] with a short description that will accompany your photo in the slideshow. Please send with "Family Project 2" in the subject line.
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CFF Family Project 3: Advent Devotion
Submit online by December 11
Learn (choose one or both):- Click here for a 3 minute read: What is Advent anyway? From Catholic News Agency
- Click here to watch the Busted Halo video: Advent in Two Minutes
Celebrate (choose one or more):
Click Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced for details.
Beginner
(options for the new or overwhelmed)- Catholic New Year’s celebration on Saturday, November 26.
- Nativity Countdown: Move Mary and Joseph, Add Baby Jesus, Move Three Kings
- Light candle/s on your family’s Advent wreath each Sunday, spend a few moments in discussion, reflection, or prayer
Intermediate
(options for families ready for something a little more)- Daily Advent calendar (not the chocolate kind) (emphasizes waiting and a slow progression)
- Pray the St. Andrew’s Christmas Novena (grow in discipline and faithfulness to daily prayer)
- Straw for Baby Jesus (promotes kind deeds for others)
Advanced
(options for those experienced at liturgical living)- Pray a Jesse Tree devotional: anticipate the Messiah from Adam and Eve to Jesus with one scripture reading and reflection per day (usually 24 days)
- Celebrate the Saint’s Feast Days that occur during Advent (There are several to choose from, or celebrate them all!)
- Participate in one or more service projects as a family during Advent. Choose one from the parish or another charitable organization in town.
Record:- Take a photo or write comments about your Advent experience.
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CFF Family Project 4: Lent Begins
Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and giving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Saturday before Easter Sunday. It’s a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter.
- Learn! (Choose 1 or more)
- Watch video “Lent Explained” by Theo Matters (2:39). CLICK HERE
- Watch video “Ash Wednesday and Lent in 60 seconds” with Lego (1:14). CLICK HERE
- Watch video “What is Lent? The Christian festival before Easter” by Behind the News (2:42). CLICK HERE
- Celebrate! (Go to Mass, and choose 1 more) CLICK HERE or CLICK HERE
- Celebrate Fat Tuesday.
- Attend Ash Wednesday Mass: 6:45 & 9:00 AM, 4:30, 6:00, & 7:30 PM.
- Bury the Alleluia. (Did you know we don’t say “Alleluia” in Mass during Lent?)
- Decorate your family prayer space with purple cloth, burlap, rocks, cactus plant, to represent the desert time of Lent.
- Lenten Devotions (Choose 1 or more as a family and as individuals)
- Pray: daily or as often as you can; start each day with a 3-4 word prayer such as Come Holy Spirit or Jesus I trust You; pray a decade of the Rosary as a family several days a week; attend the Stations of the Cross as a family.
- Fast: replace a food or activity that is an indulgence with a food or activity that reminds you of God. Write out Matthew 4:4; put it on the fridge/pantry door.
- Give: Do paid chores around the house and donate the money to your Rice Bowl. Do small services for others in your family, school, or community.
- Submit your project at the Family Projects webpage CLICK HERE
- Learn! (Choose 1 or more)