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Benito Medrano Calderón, Director of the Holy Family Initiative at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, joins Jaime to unpack a free, scripture-rooted family formation program built through years of multi-diocese pilots and to show Catholic school leaders exactly how to bring it to their parent communities. Whether your school serves primarily Hispanic families or not, the Heart of the Family series offers a ready-made pathway for helping parents embrace their role as the first educators of their children.
What We Cover
The demographic reality Catholic school leaders can’t ignore: nearly half of all US Catholics are Hispanic, and the vast majority are second- or third-generation Americans born and raised in the US
What years of parish pilot programs revealed about how families actually grow in faith — and what keeps them coming back
How the Heart of the Family video series is structured: seven sessions, scripture-rooted, free in both English and Spanish
Why effective parent formation must begin with hope before it can move toward formation and how the program eases families in gradually
Three concrete models Catholic schools can use to implement the Heart of the Family with their own parent communities
Resources:
Access the Heart of the Family Series
Contact Benito for more information
Chapters
00:00: Introducing Benito Medrano Calderón and the Holy Family Initiative
07:26: The McGrath Institute — bridging Catholic intellectual and pastoral life
09:25: The demographic reality: Hispanic Catholics and disaffiliation
13:52: Extended family networks and faith transmission
18:45: Abuelita theology and community-rooted catechesis
20:19: Starting with encounter: evangelization before formation
28:26: The Heart of the Family series: structure and sessions
33:12: Scripture as the foundation of the program
35:00: The pilot format: meals, music, reflection, and take-home resources
42:41: Fruits from the field: parishes that took it further
46:34: Three models for Catholic schools
55:43: Why hope is the key to reaching parents
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Visit familiaris-consulting.com to learn more about consulting, workshops, and speaking engagements
God bless!
Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios
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