Catholic Women’s League of Canada | BC and Yukon Council

Submitted by: Dodie Bond

Madam President, members of the League and guests:

You will find a condensed version of my annual Christian Family Life Report in the convention booklet – if anyone would like the full report – email me and I will see that you get it.

We must continue to fight against Euthanasia; it says in the Declaration of Euthanasia on the value of life. (No one can make an attempt on the life of an innocent person without opposing God’s love for that person, without violating a fundamental right and therefore without committing a crime of the up most gravity).

We must not stop the fight to end Human Trafficking. Continue to write your Member of Parliament and educate those around you of the atrocities.

Bishop Gerald Wiesner OMI from the Prince George Diocese is on the board of directors of “The Catholic Organization of Life and Family” as some know as COLF. You can go on line for more information on this organization. Go to www.colf.ca

There is a new document from the Vatican on Bioethics entitled “Dignitas Personae”. It talks about the right to life of every human being from conception until natural death. And the right to be born from a mother and a father. It is so sad that the gift of life that God has blessed us with is referred to today as a group of cells by some. I quote from the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith found on the Vatican web site. “The Human Being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception; and therefore from that moment his rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life.”

With all the technology that is out there we are getting more distant as a family. Parents and children both are either working, watching TV, texting (instead of talking) or on the computer. I have a vision of the family coming back together. I see bringing the family back to the table. In our busy lives we are all over the place-but-not together. We need to sit at a table as a family. Studies have shown that children who eat with their families have healthier diets and teens that eat at the table with their families are twice as likely to get “A’s” in school and half likely to abuse substances and parents are more likely to grow as a unit. This is a time where we as parents can teach and listen to our children. Keep meal times pleasant. Keep the conversation positive and make sure everyone has the chance to talk and be heard. Focus on the meal and your family. If you haven’t sat down together for while, talk it over with them and make a commitment to have at least one meal together per week and stick to it. Don’t answer the phone, turn off the TV. Remember to bring Jesus to the table with you. Give Jesus thanks for all he has given to your family. As parents we must never give up on our family and prayer.

What is your vision for your family? There are possibilities out there you just have to see them and believe the vision and it will come. As women we must keep Faith and Hope alive in our Families. You are their first teacher. Trust in God.

I will continue to keep you in my prayers.