Familia anchors families in faith

Regnum Christi Movement's course gives parents a practical rudder for family life

By BILL GLEN
WCR Staff Writer
St. Albert

He met future Legionaries of Christ priest Shane Lambert who had established a pro-life ministry on campus before entering the seminary. They became close friends.

He also found his future wife Colleen.

After they wed and began a family, LaGrange wanted to know how to solidify the family's strength through the Church. He contacted Lambert who told him about Familia, a new program of formation for parents spearheaded by the Legionaries, as part of its Regnum Christi Movement.

"He asked if there was any way to start Familia in the area. Colleen and I thought someone else would do it because we were not sure what it was or how it worked," LaGrange said.

A Legionaries priest paid them a visit telling them what they wanted was Familia.

A journey of faith

He and Colleen were asked if they would direct Familia in Edmonton. Armed with little more than a flip chart, they called their friends to invite them to take the program.

Almost 90 people have completed Familia in the Edmonton Archdiocese. For the moment, mainly women take in the sessions because "women naturally seem to want to nurture the family," said LaGrange, who attends Holy Family Parish in St. Albert.

"It feels as if we have more of a rudder helping us travel along in the direction we have set." - Tony LaGrange

"Familia was put together from what Pope John Paul II said about family."

The program is just as important for husbands and fathers to help them balance responsibilities to their Church, their family and their careers.

"There is give and take to make a family work," LaGrange said. "It is not a good idea for a man to focus solely on his career and neglect his family.

"Nor should he concentrate too much on his prayer life while neglecting his career and his family. Familia helps him find concrete ways to find and live within that balance."

Familia is an international Catholic lay apostolate of the Regnum Christi Movement that strives to strengthen the family. It attempts to counteract the increasing assaults on the family - such as same-sex marriage, divorce, teen pregnancy and violent crime. It looks to enrich the dignity of the human person.

Mothers of young children, wives, husbands and fathers move through four years of study, committing to one year at a time. Catholics and non-Catholics are welcome.

Familia provides an opportunity for spouses to enter into a deeper understanding of the sacrament of Marriage. This enriches their vocations and their responsibilities to God, their families and to themselves.

Tony and Colleen are Familia directors for the archdiocese, meeting with people who become trainers. The trainers then meet with people in local areas training them as animators. Animators conduct the local Family Life Team meetings.

At a typical meeting, eight to 15 members who share the same vocation, form a Family Life Team. Wives and mothers meet in one team while husbands and fathers meet in another.

With the pastor's approval, meetings usually take place in a parish.

Space for prayer

This is followed by a 10-minute catechism review where participants understand how to find answers to their own questions as they arise.

A 50-minute study follows focusing on the writings of the popes.

Everything is reviewed to establish what the Church is teaching. Questions are developed that will lead members to apply the teaching. Members are then asked to describe a way they will live this teaching for others.

"A lot of Familia is based on passing the information onto children while they are still at home," said LaGrange. "Colleen and I have definitely noticed a difference in our own family.

"It feels as if we have more of a rudder helping us travel along in the direction we have set."

Annette Kos is a cheerful parish council member at St. Anthony Parish in Drayton Valley. Married for 30 years, Kos has five children and four grandchildren. Given her busy life, when she was asked eight years ago if she was interested in learning more about her faith, she admitted a four-year program scared her.

She went to the first meeting and got hooked.

"For many years I taught catechism in Evansburg at St. Elizabeth Parish, but it was at the children's level. I felt I needed something more for myself," Kos said.

"At the first meeting, there were seven ladies from Wabamun, Gainford, Niton Junction, Drayton Valley and Evansburg. It was what I needed.

God's plan

Kos is now a Familia trainer. Nine women she called will graduate this year.

Six other women in Drayton Valley recently completed their second year.

"I think Familia is so popular here because it is God's way of having something for mothers and families. I think it helps them realize what an important vocation a wife and mother is. And Father Andrew (Bogdanowicz) is very supportive."

Her children are adults, so Kos is looking forward to using Familia for her grandchildren. Familia has affiliated programs that give boys and girls their own opportunity to share their faith with their peers.

Children participate in activities that develop strong team spirit, cultural identity, with a knowledge of and love for the Church.

Familia's goal is to build up the family by supporting every aspect of each person's vocation as husband and father, wife and mother or child and student.

Encouraging spouses to deepen their faith and knowledge of the Church has a residual effect that forms their young children as Christians in a unified family setting.

For more information about Familia, contact Tony and Colleen LaGrange at 459-5166.

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