Today’s families are seriously threatened by the outside pressure of materialistic society. But they may suffer even more from inner problems, especially the lack of communication, understanding and acceptance among family members.
FIRES Family Communication Workshop was born with the faith that, despite all negative tendencies or experiences, there is a mysterious “thermonuclear energy” of love hidden in each family. This energy of love can be and is in fact “liberated” when parents and children truly encounter and honestly communicate with each other.
Family Communication Workshop, therefore, offers families – parents and teenage children – an opportunity of honest communication, encounter and reconciliation through a six-hour programme. Participating families are invited to listen to introductory talks by the presenting team, including a team family, followed by short periods of quiet reflection and family sharing about handout questions.
Started and conducted within the Catholic Church, Family Communication Workshop is offered to non-Catholic or non-Christian families as well. It is a special and unique one-afternoon experience for each member of the family.
As a possible follow-up of the programme in their homes, participant families are offered Around the Table, a guidebook by Fr Gabriel Calvo. This booklet contains outlines for twelve family meetings. Families who want to repeat the experience of Family Communication Workshop by using Around the Table have twelve great opportunities to listen to each other, to communicate and understand each other better, to encounter and, therefore, to grow as a family.
