In the name of the Father, unto the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence.

I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My immaculate mother, St. Joseph, my father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

The challenge that we place before the Lord in our prayer today, how to create a family environment in which each person can thrive.

The topic is vast.

Hopefully each of you will find some helpful thoughts in this meditation,

even if your personal situation differs from that of husband and wife with young children.

Let us have in mind as we pray the Holy Family of Nazareth, where day after day for so many

years, joy and peace reigned.

Now just within the walls of the Holy Home, but all around Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Infectious joy constantly emanated from that home, and that is what we want.

That is what we ask the Holy Spirit to grant us.

This task is truly daunting in these times of ours.

So many distractions get in the way of the basic human socialization

that needs to take place within the family someone who works closely with young

people was bemoaning the fact that so many have not been parented what he meant by that was that even within the home,

children often have scant interaction with their parents,

starting when a toddler is sent to daycare.

No meals together, each member of the family looking at a screen,

and the result is teenagers and young adults who have not learned how to have an adult conversation,

how to look at another person in the eyes, how to concentrate.

...