About thirty families gathered over Palm Sunday weekend to take part in the first CANA Family weekend, including 90 children ages 0 to 18! This wonderful endeavor, supported by CANA’s extensive experience, was truly guided by the Holy Spirit.
This new format, characterized by creativity and thoughtful planning, has enabled families to experience meaningful moments of togetherness through a variety of activities:
- Group games and family time: The vast majority of the time was, of course, devoted to activities that fostered family bonding. A group game on Saturday afternoon, opportunities for parent-child interaction, creative activities, and more.
- Teachings and Testimonies: Couples were able to take time to reflect on the meaning of their vocation as parents through teachings tailored to their stage of family life—parenting for those with younger children and forgiveness within the family for parents of older children.
- Worship and prayer: Times of worship punctuated the weekend—a major new experience for some! Guided family prayer, dancing and singing, Compline, Eucharistic adoration, and Palm Sunday Mass… all provided opportunities to deepen their relationship with the Lord together.
Half of the families were experiencing CANA for the first time. Praise, prayer, formation, festive moments, the simple joy of fraternal life… In short, everyone was able to experience the spirituality of the Chemin Neuf Community—a gift from the Lord!
We were amazed by Sunday morning’s reflection. The participants truly experienced the Lord’s blessings as they placed themselves under His gaze: He doesn’t wait to act! This is, therefore, a true expression of thanksgiving for this new initiative and for the Holy Spirit’s tangible work within these families.
