Two dozen families came together at Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver for this year’s Catholic Family Summit, making time to put faith at the heart of family life.
The event kicked off with a talk by Father Richard Conlin, who introduced his family-friendly R.A.P. Lectio Divina method — Read, Apply, Pray. Children enjoyed faith-filled and fun activities while parents had time for prayer and Confession. The day concluded with a Eucharistic procession and Mass celebrated by Father Lucio Choi.
Families attending the summit were asked a simple question: How do you keep Christ alive in your home?
Here are some of their answers:
The Abaquin Family, Precious Blood Parish, Surrey
What a journey it has been for us in finding ways we can have Christ at the centre of our family life with the busyness of four kids under eight!
I remember learning so much from our relationship with Father Nicholas and Father Hien during our time at Our Lady of Mercy Parish. All kids can be unpredictable in their needs, but they both encouraged us to sit close to the front so our children can watch every part of the Mass intently.
Then this year, moving to our new home parish, Precious Blood, I was inspired by our relationship with Father Rich to begin praying the 20-Mystery Rosary daily. Tiffany had a passion to make individual Rosaries for all six of us and pray the Family Rosary a few times each week. The power of our Mother Mary is truly a gift!
I believe it is through our enthusiasm for our spiritual growth as a Christ-centred marriage that both of us see the effects of being models for the children to follow. We notice our son acting out parts of Mass during bath time, and heard our 7-year-old daughter teaching my nephew how to pray the Rosary!
We have a wonderful mealtime routine starting with prayer and reading one page from Father Rich’s books. During this meal, one cornerstone of our family is to discuss any challenges and obstacles in our family while using Jesus as an example of what we need to do to keep strong as an example of a Catholic family in our words and actions.
Ultimately, the journey of discovery and learning from mistakes continues. Just this week, I have decided to attend Daily Mass around my busy work schedule, and Tiffany has decided the same with her busy homeschool routine.
My wife and I learned none of our efforts have to be perfect, but Jesus will guide us in his perfect way. We were so happy to be a part of the Catholic Family Summit and look forward to learning more ways we can grow with our children!
The Barrero Family, Saint Anthony’s, West Vancouver
We pray everyday as a family. During the day, we practice constant thanksgiving to God for the things that happen to us. We also have an empty seat in our table where we invite Jesus to sit with us.
The Navarro Family, St. Ann’s Parish, Abbotsford
We pray and attend Mass together as a family, and we enjoy reading the children’s Bible aloud. Some of our favourite stories are Esther, David and Goliath, Moses, and Adam and Eve. We also enjoy watching faith-based movies together, such as Young David, The Prince of Egypt, and Light of the World, for some family fun.
Each day, before heading out for our errands and activities, we pray the Angel of God and the Prayer to St. Michael. These simple routines help us grow in faith as a family and keep God at the centre of our family life.
The Elbers Family, Precious Blood Parish, Surrey
One of the main ways we keep Christ at the centre of our family is instilling a sense of awe and wonder in our children and connecting that awe to God. This can look like noticing all the little critters in our garden with an attentive eye. When they pick up a little bug, we might examine it, looking closely at how intricate and fascinating God made the little critter. When we take a hike in the wilderness, we will point out the beauty and enormity of all that surrounds us.
In addition to instilling a sense of awe and wonder, we bring prayer, the Bible, and the Saints into our day-to-day, especially into our homeschool “classroom.” Each of our homeschool days begins with a simple prayer to the Lord, “open our minds to learn and our hearts to love,” followed by reading through a story from one of our illustrated Bibles. This becomes our little version of a Bible in a Year. We also celebrate feast days and each child’s name day and baptism anniversary with various related activities and some sweet treats.
The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist
Our Community’s Eucharistic dedication through daily Mass and adoration nourishes us to live the Gospel message of service in the spirit of Saint Francis and Saint Clare.
The Gruppioni Family, St. Anthony’s Parish, West Vancouver
We make sure to pray as a married couple first and as a family. We make sure that the kids learn the prayers and learn that saying a prayer is not just another thing we do, but something that deserves full attention and proper demeanour.
As a parent, I also try to make the choices that concern my family in light of proper discernment and asking God for guidance towards his will.
The Ramos-Casaje Family, St. Bernadette’s, Surrey
We start and end our day with family prayer and serve God through our parish and Catholic community. Our family — myself, my husband Adrian and our daughter Monica — serves in the Liturgy of the Word with Children at St. Bernadette’s. I am the coordinator, while Adrian and Monica are assistants. Monica is only five, she has been a wonderful helper for the past year, helping prepare and clean up the room after each session.
Our family has been serving in this ministry for more than a decade. We first began at St. Mary’s Parish in Vancouver and, after moving to Surrey in 2024, helped restart the ministry at St. Bernadette’s after it had been paused during the pandemic.
We are also active members of the Couples for Christ community, with Monica participating in its Family Ministry, Kids for Christ.
The Tran Family, St. Matthew’s Parish, Surrey
During the summer, we try to start our day by going to morning Mass as a family and, when things get hectic, we try to end our day with prayer as a family.
If it’s late, we usually pray one Our Father and three Hail Mary’s, but we always end our day by talking about something we are grateful for and what we want to ask of God for ourselves or others. After that, we collectively talk about our day.
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