Building Thriving Communities Where Everyone Belongs - Family Week 2025 Liturgy

Family Week 2025 Liturgy Building thriving communities, where everyone belongs

Introduction Hymn: All are Welcome Please click on the following YouTube link for the hymn and lyrics All Are Welcome (All Belong)- Jesse Manibusan and Jennah Manibusan- Lyrics

Welcoming Prayer God our father, you brought your only son into this world with the help of a family that showed him love and care. Help us to understand the importance of our own family in shaping us into the people we will become out in the world. Help us to use the unique gifts you have given us to welcome others and show them the hospitality that your son Jesus, so often showed to those that were outcast and looked down upon in community. Help us to consider how we show hospitality to strangers. In doing this, we pray that our communities will be healthy and a place that all people are welcomed and cared for, as they are in our homes with our families. Amen

Scripture Matthew 25: 35-36,40 35 "I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me. 36 naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me. 37 The righteous will then answer him, 'When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38 When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you? 40 The King will reply, 'I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me!"

Breaking Open the Word - Reflection Every person possesses a fundamental dignity that comes from God, not from any human attribute or accomplishment. Each person s life is a sacred gift from God, all people have a right to a life that includes basic supports to thrive, including food, safety and shelter, to live a truly human existence. Our commitment to the dignity of every person requires special concern for those who are poor and vulnerable, whose needs are greatest, and whose lives and dignity are often threatened by hunger, poverty, and suffering.

Breaking Open the Word reflection cont. In the Gospel of Matthew, who is Jesus saying should be treated with dignity? Reflections on Hospitality: How do you welcome people and help them belong? In the classroom? At school? In your family?

Breaking Open the Word reflection cont. Who else needs to be welcomed today and experience our hospitality? Do you show hospitality to only those who are like you or do you welcome those who are very different to you? Is there someone you could offer a more genuine welcome to? How could you do this?

Breaking Open the Word Reflection cont. For Secondary Students: How do you receive hospitality is gratitude and grace involved? Is hospitality and dignity the same? What gifts do you have that help you show hospitality?

Prayer Following Reflection Let us turn our hearts to the Lord and present our prayers for the needs of those in our community. For those who need support with food, clothing and shelter, we pray that they may receive the support they require. We pray to the Lord Response: Lord hear our prayer

For those who dont feel welcomed, who feel isolated and alone. We pray that they may feel included and part of a community that nurtures their wellbeing. We pray to the Lord. Response: Lord hear our prayer For those who are sick in hospital and at home, who feel pain and anxiety, who depend on the support of others, who have illness that may not be visible and who are anxious about what the future will bring with their illness, we ask God to bring them peace and heal their souls from the anguish their illness has brought. We pray to the Lord. Response: Lord hear our prayer

For those who are in prison and youth justice centres, may they see the dignity in themselves so that they may learn to see the dignity in all people and truly reform and return to a community where they contribute and are valued and made to feel valued. We pray to the Lord. Response: Lord hear our prayer For those that are victims of crime or who have witnessed crime and are hurting from the trauma, may they feel the Holy Spirit s presence in their daily life and learn that they are not alone and walk with Jesus who too suffered greatly in his life. We pray to the Lord. Response: Lord hear our prayer

Quiet Time Pray silently in your hearts to God. Ask God to help these people in our community.

Closing Prayer Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for today s opportunity to think about the ways in which we welcome other people and make them feel valued and worthy of contributing to our community with a sense of belonging. Thank you for allowing us to consider our own unique gifts that can be used to enhance our own communities and to appreciate that everyone, including strangers, have unique gifts to offer.

Closing Prayer cont. Help us to understand that we all contribute to building thriving communities. With your help Lord, may we feel connection amongst all in our community, so that everyone knows that they are important, that they matter and that they belong. Help us to overcome any perceived barriers so that all people can feel that they belong despite any differences. We ask you to guide us as we reflect God s hospitality everyday. Amen

Closing Hymn: We will Follow Please click on the following YouTube link for the hymn. Lyrics are on the following slides (780) We Will Follow - YouTube

We will Follow - Lyrics Refrain: You re the way, you re the truth, you re the life, we will follow; every word, every deed that we do. You re the way, you re the truth, you re the life we will follow. Lead us Lord, we will follow you. In the hungry and the poor, those so easy to ignore. In the thirsty, and the weak, those who wonder and then those who seek. Refrain In the stranger on the street, those forgotten whom we meet. In the lonely far and near, those imprisoned, those who live in fear. Refrain

We will Follow Lyrics Cont. And the hopeless everywhere, those who need someone to care In the suffering through the land, those who long to touch God s healing hand Refrain: You re the way, you re the truth, you re the life, we will follow; every word, every deed that we do. You re the way, you re the truth, you re the life we will follow. Lead us Lord, we will follow you.

Happy Family Week from the CatholicCare Victoria team www.catholiccarevic.org.au