Around the Nation
Family Commissions at Work

Let's look at what Family Commissions around the nation are doing:

Troudabours of Peace Region (Mossyrock, WA) - held a "Commissions Fair" with each commission setting up a booth.  "Fishing for Mission" was one of their games.  Each contestant gets a ticket to describe what he or she thinks a family is .

Saint Margaret of Cortona Region (Saint Mary of the Angels Fraternity) – created Saint Anthony's Bread under the leadership of their Family Commission Chair, Susan Jamison.  Her group prepares sandwiches to feed the homeless of the inner city of Washington, DC.  She started feeding about twenty men, now her group feeds about 120 homeless men every weekend.  She reached out to the youth group of the nearby parishes to help her prepare the sandwiches and deliver them to the needy persons.

Saint Mary of the Angels Fraternity Family Commission invited a resource person to talk about Mary Garden.  A Mary Garden is a garden dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God.  It can be as small as a clay pot or as a large as a city block.  A statue of Mary is surrounded by herbs and flowers, which have special significance or meaning.  The family can start a Mary Garden in their own home and encourage neighbors to do the same.  Children can be a big part of this family activity by involving them in planting and choosing the flowers or herbs they want to include in their Mary Garden.  The garden can grow in a secluded comer of your garden or backyard or in front of your house open to the neighborhood.  It can be a pot on your windowsill, on a patio or on an indoor table.  An indoor garden might be planted in a dish, planter, glass or fishbowl.  The Mary Garden is an act of faith.  The flowers are symbols of the Blessed Virgin.  For example, the cornflower is Mary's crown, impatiens is Mother love, Marigold is Mary's gold, the sweet alyssum is the flower of the cros,s or the zinnia as the Virgin.  A beautiful way to honor our Blessed Mother, Mary!

Holy Family Fraternity, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Elizabeth Hilker, Regional Family Commission Chair reports:

For their family apostolate they adopted three Burmese refugee families consisting of six adults and eight children.  They provided them bed linens, pillows and blankets.  They went Christmas shopping for these families who were not ready for the cold weather for winter clothes like winter coals, gloves, scarves, and caps.  The Catholic Charities who provided them with living quarters were very grateful for the generosity and kindness of the Secular Franciscans.

This August their region will meet in Kokomo, Indiana for "Unity Day" where all the regional commissioners will each present their mission statement.  There will be a sharing of what they have been doing and what they want to accomplish.

What about your Region? We'd love to hear from you! Please share with us your family.
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