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“At Home” Family Retreat  

For the Year of the Holy Family (3rd Grade)
Part of The Way: Youth to Young Adult Initiative  

This resource is for use by parents of 3rd-grade students and their families. 

How to Use These Materials

Parents, thank you for your willingness to do this retreat as part of your child’s religious formation. Your role is irreplaceable in the eyes of the Church.  We hope that this resource will be of great benefit to your entire family. 

The “at home” format of this retreat is unusual. Parents: you will lead this retreat.  All you need to do is use the materials to the best of your ability and let God multiply your effort. 

You don’t have to do the retreat perfectly for it to bear fruit, and you don’t have to know everything about your faith to direct your family through prayer, learning, and activities. 

Your Family’s Call to Holiness

It is a chance for your family to learn more about the call to holiness that comes from God to each one of us individually and to discover together what God is calling your family to become. 

The Christian family is called to share in God’s holiness and together to follow Jesus Christ in our pilgrimage to heaven. This is the calling, or vocation of the family. 

Finding Your Path

Our diocesan Youth to Young Adult Initiative, of which this retreat is one part, is called The Way, because it can help us to imagine our family vocation as an actual pathway or trail used to hike from one place to another. 

As we travel together, we find that a trail map helps us to plan the best route to our destination. 

This is what you will do in this time of retreat.  Together you will identify and make your own choices about the best “way” for you to travel on this pilgrimage as a family. 

The general goal is Heaven, and there are general principles to help you arrive at that destination, but only you know your family’s particular needs and how to best navigate them. 

How to Schedule the Retreat

Please set aside time to work through each section, which will include prayer and learning experiences.  The amount of time needed for each section will vary greatly for each family. 

We recommend that you plan for at least 45 minutes (it may take you less time) for each section and expect section 4 to take more time than the others.

You may wish to do this retreat quickly, over the course of a day or two. You can also do it weekly, taking a break when needed if you have a busy week or illness. 

A third option is to take your time and space it out over several months.  You should plan to complete this retreat before the end of your child’s 3rd grade school year. Remember, you can do this with your entire family. 

Your Family Mission and Rule of Life

At the conclusion of this retreat, you will have written a first draft of your Family Mission. You will also develop your Family Rule of Life, and you will cap it all with the Act of Consecration to the Holy Family. 

Once you have finished all of the 5 sections of the At Home Family Retreat, you will complete a survey about your experience using the link on the website.

This will record your completion and provide us with feedback to help us improve this experience for others. 

If you have questions during the retreat and would like assistance, please email the Family Life Office at family@diocesekcsj.org. 

May God bless your efforts and make them fruitful! 

Contents 

1. Set Apart for God: The Meaning of Holiness
2. The Holy Family: Icon of Family Love 
3. Your Family Mission 
4. Your Family Rule of Life 
5. Consecration to the Holy Family 

Download the Retreat Guides and watch the video below to get started! 

Family Retreat Parent Guide (PDF Download)

Family Retreat Child Participant Guide (PDF Download)

Prayer to the Holy Family

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love; to you we turn with trust.  

Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families too may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic churches.  

Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience violence, rejection and division; may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing.  

Holy Family of Nazareth, make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family, and its beauty in God’s plan.  

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, graciously hear our prayer. Amen.  

-Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia 

Prayer cards and Holy Family Icon print provided by funding from the MO State Knights of Columbus R.I.B. Fund. For information about the Knights of Columbus programs or to join the organization visit mokofc.org.

You may obtain the prayer card and Icon print from your parish/school.  If you have difficulty obtain them from your parish/school please contact us family@diocesekcsj.org.