The third dialogue session of Ilkoll Aħwa is taking place on Friday 18th March with the theme chosen being ‘The family in a changing society’ and will be led by Jesmond Schembri. The talk will start by looking at statistics that shed light on the contemporary Maltese family, followed by some reflections. This will serve as an introduction to the various related themes which Pope Francis spoke about, especially in the document Amoris Laetitia.
First of all, Pope Francis sets the general attitude in which this document is to be understood, namely that of having a new look at the family, full of compassion. Rigid doctrinal principles alone do not help us to do this, but we also need to be merciful. The pope also speaks of various situations which are challenging the family today on a universal scale. These include migration, less respect for the elderly and domestic violence.
Various themes mentioned by Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia will also be presented and discussed, which include the importance of the families being open to other people besides its strictest members. Such openness is not only beneficial for the other persons who feel the love of the family but also for the family itself.
Other important themes are the holistic education of the children within the family and how parents should approach it without harming their own children and what constitutes the spirituality of the family and how this is realised in the family’s daily life. The final part of the talk will be devoted to ways about how families could minister to other families.
Time will be allocated for further discussion among those present.
The dialogue session will take place as St Anne’s Parish, Marsascala at 7pm and will be streamed live on Church.mt and on the Archdiocese of Malta’s Facebook page. For further information kindly contact [email protected].
Click here for more information about the other dialogue sessions.
About Jesmond Schembri
Jesmond Schembri has been married for the past 28 years, is a father of two adult sons and a grandfather. He is a social worker by profession and has a long experience working with persons going through addiction-related problems and with their families. He is currently completing a Licentiate degree in Pastoral Theology at the University of Malta. He is also involved in the coordination of the recently set Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) of the Archdiocese of Malta.