{"id":3334,"date":"2025-08-01T08:46:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T03:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/?p=3334"},"modified":"2025-10-24T09:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T03:30:02","slug":"day-of-family-apostolate-31st-aug-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/day-of-family-apostolate-31st-aug-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Day of family Apostolate (31st Aug 2025)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>\u201cThe family is the first school of human values, where we learn the wise use of freedom.\u201d \u2013 Pope Francis<\/em><br>On this special day, we turn our hearts and attention to the Family Apostolate\u2014a gentle yet powerful reminder that<br>our families are the first and most vital mission fields entrusted to us by God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Day of Family Apostolate is not just a celebration; it is a call. A call to strengthen bonds, rekindle prayer at home, and become living witnesses of faith, hope, and love in our everyday family life. Whether we are parents, children, grandparents, or single members of a wider family, each of us is called to nurture an environment where Christ is at the center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Here in Goa, the D&#8217;Souza family from Margao offers a beautiful example. For over two decades, their home has opened each day with the Rosary at dawn\u2014a habit started by the late Mr. Xavier D&#8217;Souza and lovingly continued by his children and grandchildren. When Xavier passed away last year, his family decided to keep the tradition alive. \u201cEven when we&#8217;re away, we still call in on video to pray together,\u201d says his daughter Lianne. \u201cIt keeps us grounded and united, no matter where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Quoting Pope Francis: \u201cThe Church is invited to listen to families and involve them in pastoral care.\u201d Fr. Albano Fernandes,<br>Director of the Diocesan Family Service Centre, echoes this call with honesty and hope: \u201cMarriage should be joyful \u2026 perfect marriage doesn&#8217;t exist \u2026 marriage is an everyday business \u2026 As the family goes, so goes the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have resources like the Diocesan Family Service Centre at St. John Paul 2 Complex in Margao and Maquinez Palace in Panjim which help our community with timely advice and counselling \u2013 let us pray for them to be blessed while they continue this noble service. St on this day of family apostolate (31 August) let us recommit ourselves to family prayer, shared meals, open conversations, and acts of love that reflect Christ&#8217;s presence among us. After all, a family that prays together, stays together. God Bless!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Louella Santimano Dias<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe family is the first school of human values, where we learn the wise use of freedom.\u201d \u2013 Pope FrancisOn this special day, we turn our hearts and attention to the Family Apostolate\u2014a gentle yet powerful reminder thatour families are<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pormoll"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3334"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3342,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334\/revisions\/3342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}