By AFLC
KOTA KINABALU — The second day of the WMOF was held via virtual conferencing and broadcasted live by Kekitaan FM of Keningau Diocese via YouTube channel, hosted by James Patrick as moderator.
Rosary prayer led by the Archdiocesan Family Life Commission (AFLC) members, followed by an explanation of the WMOF logo, preceded the first catechesis.
Fr Michael Modoit, spiritual adviser for AFLC and Sr Suzana Guntabid, head of the AFLC bid a warm welcome to the participants.
The first catechesis on ‘Nazareth – Rending Love Normal’ was delivered by couple Julita and Mario Domingo. The catechesis touched on rendering love in the family as a common or normal daily activity, leading family to live more harmoniously as a communion of persons that can contribute to the peace and joy in any family institution.
The speakers underscored that rendering love in the family does not require any materialistic cost; it only needs commitment, humility and generosity in loving.
Making room for Christ in one’s heart and in the midst of our family is utmost crucial, stressed the speakers, and therefore needs to be sustained.
They continued, spending quality time with the family, storytelling, sharing their daily experiences, their concerns, playing indoor or outdoor games with the kids, watching movies together and all kinds of ordinary acts are great ways to making this love flows naturally in our heart.
The Domingo couple insisted that love should be shown and expressed naturally and therefore is normal. “It’s a precious act that can change the world. It should not be hidden and we should not feel ashamed to do it. We just need to make this love grow and flow beautifully in our family,” stressed Julita and Mario.
After the catechesis, a short time for reflection on ‘How can we render love normal in our family’ was given to the families in attendance virtually.
Members of AFLC, who participated in this discussion, shared a few pointers on making this act of love normal in their own family and why it must always be sustained. In sum, it is a culture that cannot cease, but should be maintained, and practised in the simplest way, such as saying ‘I love you’, ‘good morning’ and spending more time together and to be present on any given occasion.
AFLC member Sr Lucy Embayan shared that she must first be ‘normal’ if she is to “make love normal in my life or in my own family”. She explained her statement “I share my experiences in encountering Christ’s love every day and apply it to my family members or people around me, earnestly and naturally, sustaining this communal act so that others will learn too on how to make this love normal, which also naturally flows and is rooted in them personally.
