Families

"As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live."

Blessed Pope John Paul II

In the Ponderosa-Pine-lined outskirts of Cascade, Idaho, something like 70 families camped, played, ate, prayed, and shared in Family Camp this weekend. The gathering highlighted the ordinary -- kids riding bikes and soaking each other with squirt guns to relieve the afternoon sun, morning Mass complete with crying toddlers and rambunctious youngsters, parents applying sunscreen and bug repellant repeatedly, teens allowing their guard be lowered long enough to play Mafia and Ninja games, roasting marshmallows over the shared campfire to sandwich between graham cracker halves and Hershey's, curling into sleeping bags at the end of full and tiring days spent in community. And in the ordinary, something beautiful emerged.

Strong, faithful families form the backbone and building block of our Church. When families like these,  in their diversity of experience and philosophy, gather in a Catholic setting it is our church at its best. There is a strong chance the young people that respond to the current need for vocations to the religious life and to lasting marriages will come from families that attend camps like this. Seeing priests, sisters, seminarians, and committed Catholic parents from various backgrounds instills in young minds the possibility of these vocational callings for their own lives. I had the privilege of spending time with families talking over sausage and French toast, laughing around a simmering fire in the evening, hearing about the challenges and beauty of raising rugrats in our worldly society.

On Friday night, most people at the camp brought their folding chairs to the campfire pit for a family rosary. Each decade was led by different age group -- men, women, teens, pre-teens, and children. The environment could have been less distracting, the children could have paid better attention, the adults did not all engage entirely, but the simple communion of shared prayer was nonetheless transformative. Our vocations director later gave blessings for youth contemplating the religious life and to those that felt called to marriage. These are the seeds of revitalization in our Church.

Families: We need a renewal of your steadfast role in our world more than ever. Thank you to all who strive to bring the Lord and the Church into daily prominence alongside your children and spouses. You are heroes, often unappreciated but unquestioningly vital. Continue the good work and know you are loved.