National Families Week: May 13-19, 2024

Each year, we celebrate National Families Week (May 13-19, 2024) – Australia’s annual celebration of families. The aim of National Families Week is to celebrate the vital role that families play in Australian society.

National Families Week is celebrated to coincide with the United Nations International Day of Families on May 15. The Australia wide theme for 2024 is “Celebrating Family Diversity & Connections”. This week is a time to appreciate and celebrate our families, friends and the communities we live in. Resources are available from the National Families Week website.

CatholicCare’s theme this year is “Building Compassionate Families and Communities”. The week is a perfect time to come together to celebrate the power of family relationships in all their diversities, and the importance they play in our lives and community. Resources are available from CatholicCare Victoria website..

Let’s take the time to reflect on the critical role that families play in teaching, supporting and nurturing children especially as they grow.

Prayer for Families

O God,
you have created us in love and established the family,
and willed that it should become
a sign of Christ’s love for his Church.

Give blessings on all families.
Enable those who are joined by love to support one another.
Make us responsive to the needs of others
and witnesses of faith in all we say and do.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

We are a community of communities from the Murray to the sea.
Inspired by the Gospel and nourished by the Eucharist, we follow the example of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, reaching out in joyful and humble service, caring for all of God’s creation, growing in love day by day and looking forward to life with God forever.

Diocesan Vision Statement

In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands in which the Diocese of Ballarat sits. We would like to pay our respects to Aboriginal Elders past, present and future. Their wisdom can help us care for the earth, our common home.

- Acknowledgement of Country -