Some Catholic families from the Diocese of Burlington are making their contribution to The Year of the Family by creating videos on the call to holiness.

“Each video features a Catholic family in Vermont living out their call to holiness through the family,” commented Michael J. Hagan, coordinator of religious education and catechesis for the Diocese of Burlington.

The January video featured the Steve and Ann Gonyaw family of Mater Dei Parish in Newport. They explained how to do a family home blessing.

“Participating in the home blessing video was an enriching and humbling experience for our family,” said Mrs. Gonyaw, director of her parish’s Family Formation program. “The process of filming the video was a bit nerve wracking as we were all a bit self conscious on camera, but the diocesan videographer, Steve Giroux, was extremely patient with us and guided us through the process.”

Future videos will focus on topics such as the importance of confession as a family, planning free time together as a couple and praying the rosary as a family.

Each month’s topic comes from Pope Francis’ document, “The Joy of Love,” and seeks to encourage and lead families to answer the call to holiness through the family.

There will be at least 12 videos for this Year of the Family project.

“A major focus of the Second Vatican Council was the ‘universal call to holiness’ — the idea that all people, including laypeople, are called to a life of holiness,” Hagan said.

Mrs. Gonyaw said the experience was a blessing for her family because their prayer time together is a special gift from God, and they were honored to share a bit of it with other families “in the hope that they can experience connection that praying together as a family has brought us.”

The video series seeks to remind family members of the opportunities they are given to grow closer to the Lord through family.

The videos will be hosted on vimeo and shared on social media. View the entire gallery on the Marriage & Family webpage.

— Originally published in the Spring 2018 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.