Spring 2019 Volume 26 Number 2
Family Link News for the friends of Holy Cross Family Ministries
Thanks to you, 250,000 moms have hope and a community. See page 5
The Family That Prays Together Stays Together
Family Link The Family Link newsletter is published by Holy Cross Family Ministries for friends and donors of our ministry. Thank you for being a part of our family.
Our Mission
A family of Catholic ministries that inspires, promotes and fosters the prayer life and spiritual well-being of families throughout the world.
Our Vision
Holy Cross Family Ministries strives to be a respected and reliable catalyst for inspiration, support and dynamic content on family life through a focus on spirituality and prayer, especially the Rosary.
Ways to Give
Online Please visit www.HCFM.org By Mail Please use the enclosed envelope and make your check payable to “Holy Cross Family Ministries” By Phone Please call 508.238.4095,x2023 Gifts of Stock or IRAs Please call 508.930.7882
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Planned Giving Please call 508.930.7882
518 Washington St. North Easton, MA 02356-1200 800-299-PRAY (7729) www.HCFM.org Cover Photo: Mother and baby spending time together at the Father Peyton Center in North Easton, MA.
Letter from the President A message from Father Willy Raymond, C.S.C., President, Holy Cross Family Ministries.
15 Minutes for the Blessed Mother The poet Gerald Manley compared Mary to the “air we breathe,” as if her very graceful presence was somehow akin to the atmosphere that surrounds us. Mary has been a facet of my life for as long as I can remember. In my earliest childhood memory, I can Father Willy recall the voice Raymond, of my mother C.S.C. speaking with Mary in French – mother kneeling, her head resting in her hands, her Rosary beads dangling from her fingers, praying, “Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâce, le Seigneur est avec vous…” This recollection of my mother’s faith, which she passed on to me, continues to animate my love of God and devotion to Mary. Venerable Patrick Peyton also had a unique devotion and admiration for the Blessed Mother. In 1939, when he was healed from tuberculosis, he attributed his regained
health to his prayers to Mary and her mercy on him. As believers, we cry out to Our Blessed Mother in times of need. Mary is our intercessor. When we are seeking the mercy of God, we bring our petitions to her, for she is a merciful mother who yearns to comfort us. Father Peyton once said, “If families give Our Lady 15 minutes a day by reciting the Rosary, I assure them that their homes will become, by God’s grace, peaceful places.” This May, I invite you and your family to grow closer to Mary by reflecting on the Mysteries of the Rosary. Now is a beautiful time to sit with her, if only for 15 minutes, to share your intentions, needs, and desires. Her wisdom always invites us to place our trust in Jesus. It is deeply comforting to know that through her intercession, He will hear our prayers. May our Blessed Mother Mary keep you and your loved ones close to her Divine Son Jesus.
If families give Our Lady 15 minutes a day by reciting the Rosary, I assure them that their homes will become, by God’s grace, peaceful places.
– Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.
World Youth Day attendee proudly carries Santa MarĂa La Antigua, Our Lady of La Antigua, the patron saint of Panama.
World Youth Day in Panama Reflection by Father Jomon Kalladanthiyil, C.S.C.
World Youth Day was an amazing experience to engage with young people coming from all over the world. During our interaction with the youth, they asked us many questions about the Catholic Church, vocations in the Congregation of Holy Cross and the ministerial engagement of HCFM. The curiosity of young people to learn more about Jesus impressed me. They want to grow in faith as pilgrim people. I observed that many of them were keen on participating in the Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation. For the closing Mass of Pope Francis, thousands of people gathered with immense joy. Renewed in their spirit, I would say that these young people are God’s agents to build up Catholic families for the future. May God bless all families.
Your donations helped to distribute more than 10,000 Rosaries to youth. Thank you.
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Panama was our destination for World Youth Day from January 20-28, 2019. Holy Cross Family Ministries (HCFM) along with Holy Cross Mission Center in South Bend and Holy Cross General Administration in Rome led a team of 14 religious brothers and priests from across the world to present our ministry and work at World Youth Day. Father Pinto Paul, C.S.C., International Director of HCFM, Mr. Clarence Gilyard, Hollywood actor and HCFM Board member, and I represented HCFM. We put up a booth with all our materials and leaflets to be handed over to people who visited us. We distributed more than 10,000 Rosaries to our visitors at the booth. We listened to the life stories of some of them and prayed with them. In our booth, we also projected the four great men of Holy Cross: Saint Andre Bessette, Blessed Basile Moreau, Venerable
Patrick Peyton, and Archbishop Marcos Gregorio McGrath. They were gifted in healing, teaching, praying, and leading respectively.
New Study Guides Coming for The Dating Project Dating is a hot issue in our culture today, and The Dating Project continues shaping the conversation with newly prepared group study guides. Recent articles on dating have appeared in major national publications, including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, indicating that over 50 percent of people in the United States are single. While some may be called to the single lifestyle, others lament the lack of opportunities to meet and get to know potential spouses. The emptiness and heartbreak of the hook-up culture and the validity of the mobile app scene wears on people over time.
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The Dating Project, a documentary produced by Paulist Productions in association with Family Theater Productions, offers hope. The film follows five single people, aged 18-40, in their respective relationship challenges. The film also features Boston College Professor Kerry Cronin, who challenges her students to date differently by returning to some timehonored practices. She encourages people to meet another person, go on a first date, and see if there is a common interest in moving forward with the relationship. She proposes some simple and effective rules, such as: ask in person, go to a public place, no longer than 90 minutes, and so forth. Students who have taken her classes enthusiastically share their experiences of giving real dating a chance. Family Theater Productions is developing curriculum which outlines how to use The Dating Project film. The young adult version is out now, and coming soon, we will offer versions such as high school group, college, family, and a special fathers and sons edition. A number of colleges are using the film to promote a conversation about building healthy and meaningful relationships. Group licensing information and the guides, in downloadable PDF format, will soon be available at TheDatingProjectMovie.com.
Visit TheDatingProjectMovie.com to learn more.
The film is available for personal viewing by download on Amazon, Fandango Now, VUDU, Google Play, Christian Cinema, and iTunes, and in DVD format from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Best Buy, Christian Book, and Walmart. If you are not single yourself, you probably know someone who is. The Dating Project is a great gift to offer hope and begin a conversation about rethinking our approach to dating today.
Catholic Mom Q&A What does it mean to be a Catholic Mom? Every woman’s vocation is different, but for those of us who identify as “Catholic moms,” I think our faith is an integral part of our identity. It’s something that’s important to us personally, but also something we hope to share in our marriages and to teach our children about. What is CatholicMom.com’s mission? Our mission at CatholicMom.com is to encourage and support women in Catholic motherhood. That means not only nourishing them spiritually, but also giving them the practical resources they need to find balance and joy in marriage, parenting, homemaking, work, and community service. CatholicMom.com has grown into a highly praised resource for over 250,000 subscribers. How did it all begin? More than 18 years ago, our founder Lisa Hendey created CatholicMom.com as a way to find and connect with other Catholic women. Those connections spread and grew into a fantastic network of women who encourage and support one another in the important work we do every day.
Danielle Bean, brand manager at CatholicMom.com and co-host of the Catholic Momcast podcast.
Tell me about the CatholicMom.com Mother’s Day campaign. Our Mother’s Day campaign is an opportunity to encourage and support the work we do at Catholic Mom with a monetary donation. You might consider giving to Catholic Mom as a way to say “thank you” for resources you have used and appreciated, or you might consider giving in honor of your own Catholic mom, or another valiant woman of faith you love. We are so grateful for your support! Stay tuned for more info on CatholicMom. com and our social media.
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What resources are available through CatholicMom.com? Our daily Gospel reflections, a quick, inspirational read based on the daily Gospels, is a perennially popular resource available every day for free on our website or delivered to your inbox. We also offer weekly Gospel activity pages for kids and daily blog articles from our more than 130 contributors covering topics women care about most: faith, family, work, and relationships. Finally, our newest addition has been the Catholic Momcast, a weekly podcast hosted by Lisa Hendey and myself.
How can I get involved? Just come visit us at CatholicMom.com. Browse our huge archives of content, or just check out the newest articles and offerings. Anyone can subscribe to our email lists to stay up to date on the latest from Catholic Mom, and we are, of course, always open to new contributors. You can also check us out on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram for more daily content and inspiration.
Notre Dame Students Continue Father Peyton’s Legacy Father David S. Marcham, Vice Postulator/Guild Director, interviews Mackenzie Kraker, Student Chapter Leader of the Father Peyton Guild at the University of Notre Dame How did you learn about Venerable Patrick Peyton and become the Chapter Leader at the University of Notre Dame? My good friend Luke Donahue, a seminarian of the Congregation of Holy Cross, worked with HCFM for six weeks for his summer ministry placement. We both helped run a Marian group on campus called Notre Dame Militia of the Immaculata (NDMI) as well as the 11 pm nightly Rosary at the grotto. As he dove deeper into his ministry and learned more about the story of Father Peyton, he shared what he learned with me, and we started a chapter of the Guild here.
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What do you and your classmates find inspirational about Father Peyton’s life and ministry? Father Peyton’s boldness to dream big and continually work to reach millions of souls to bring them to Jesus through Mary. As students, we naturally have the disposition to dream big, but what makes Father Peyton’s example so important for us is that he grounded all of his ministries deeply in prayer. He reminds us that we must always keep prayer as our priority and focus, and that entrusting all of
Members of the Student Chapter of the Father Peyton Guild at the March for Life event in Washington, D.C.
our efforts to Jesus through Mary makes them so much more effective than we could by ourselves! What was it like to participate in the March for Life this past January and how did you incorporate the intercessory prayer and prayer for Beatification of Venerable Patrick Peyton into the experience? Notre Dame Right to Life sent 16 buses to the March for Life this year, and each bus prays the Rosary en route to D.C. We gave each bus captain enough Venerable Patrick Peyton prayer cards for their bus and encouraged them to share his story with special focus on family prayer. Would you tell us about the Rosary Rally you are working on with Father Tim Mouton, C.S.C., for this spring? We’re excited about this! Father Tim and I are also embracing some of Father Peyton’s Six Mountains for Our Lady in preparation. ND Campus Ministry runs Adoration 10 am-5 pm Monday-Friday, so we’re encouraging students to offer their holy hours or holy half hours for the intention of families, increased devotion to the Rosary, and the success of the Rally. We want to focus our efforts around the message, “The ND Family that prays together stays together!” to encourage students to pray the Rosary with their friends when they are at school away from home.
Prayers Requested Please pray that my wife and I will be healthy in thought, word, and body…George, China Prayers for me as I discern a vocation to the priesthood… Dean, United Kingdom Please pray for my financial freedom…Gigi, United Arab Emirates Please pray that my daughter’s condition goes into remission… Yvonme, Trinidad Please pray that my son’s brain surgery is successful… Philip, Malaysia
Prayer for the Beatification of Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.
Please pray that my neighbor Chad is found…Rita, United States
Prayers for my family to be healthy and safe…Edna, Singapore Please pray for my family’s finances and provisions, because we have five little ones to feed… Alicia, Australia Prayers for an increase of faith, love, and peace within my family members…Khalida, United States Please pray for my father who is weak from kidney disease… Leslie, United States Please pray for the health and fast recovery of Myrna... Michelle, Philippines Please pray for the soul of my brother who passed of stage four cancer…Robert, United States
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Please include the following special intention through the intercession of Father Peyton in Holy Cross Family Ministries’ daily Rosary and Mass.
Name Street City/State Zip Email Phone
Please send a donation to support The Cause of Father Peyton along with your prayer intention. Thank you and God bless you. Complete and return in the enclosed envelope.
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Dear Jesus, Father Peyton devoted his priestly life to strengthening the families of the world by calling them to pray together every day, especially the Rosary. His message is as important for us now as it was during his life on earth. We beg you, therefore, to hasten the day of his beatification so that your faithful people everywhere will remember his message that The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, imitate him in his devotion to your Mother and ours, and be inspired by his holy life to draw ever closer to you with childlike confidence and love. Amen.
Please pray that my parents get back together… Christina, United States
Please pray that I get a new job… Anand, India
518 Washington St. North Easton, MA 02356-1200
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Because of your support, more than one million Rosaries are sent each year to families, schools, hospitals, and prisons around the world. Thank you.
School children experiencing the power of prayer at Family Rosary’s Chapel of Mary in Lourdes, France.
Rosaries for the World
Family Rosary France
The need for families to have their own Rosaries to pray together is critical in our world today. Father Peyton had a vision of “weaving a web of Rosaries around the world.” Thanks to extraordinary donors like you, we get closer to Father Peyton’s goal each year. It is through your gracious support that we are able to send out one million Rosaries each year to many families in need. We could not do it without you. Thank you for your commitment to Holy Cross Family Ministries. If you have not made your gift yet this fiscal year (ending on June 30), please consider sending your donation in the enclosed envelope or by visiting www.HCFM.org to give online. Thank you for your continued generosity, and please keep our ministry in your prayers.
Day after day, young people, families, people with illnesses, and pilgrims all come to pray the Rosary at Family Rosary’s Chapel of Mary in Lourdes, France. We welcome more than 12,000 visitors annually from many countries including Poland, Russia, Spain, Cameroon, Togo, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, England, Australia, Mali, Korea, Iraq, and Canada. Thank you for helping us to educate families about prayer, share more than 20,000 Rosaries annually as well as Father Peyton’s message “A World at Prayer is a World at Peace.”