Family of the Year Award

By Family Director Bryan Noble

There’s one in every parish. That one family in the parish stands out because of the example of their faith and service. And every year a small number of these families are nominated for the Ontario State Family of the Year award by their home councils. These families are deemed to exemplify strong Catholic family values through the witness of their faith, service to their parish, and meaningful contributions to their communities. They may be renowned for being tight-knit, praying together, or attending mass as a family.

The family might be recognized for their contributions to the council, parish, and local communities. They might be held up as an inspiration for others to respect, admire, and emulate. And they probably don’t want to be recognized either; they are not in it for the glory, just the intense personal satisfaction of putting their ‘Faith in Action’ and living the precepts of our Order – Charity, Unity, and Fraternity, in their daily lives. But these families do deserve to be recognized, as council Family of the Month award recipients, and entered for the annual state Family of the Year award presented at the State Convention in Niagara Falls.

Unfortunately, only one family can win. Perhaps even sadder, hundreds of deserving families aren’t even nominated. We can only hope and pray that all of our families continue to grow in love, faith, and service, as we continue to strive to emulate the blessed model set forth for us by the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Join us at the 120th Ontario State Convention, April 28th-30th, at the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel, in beautiful 2022-2023 Fraternal Year.