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This was so common in the parish phase that the synod team included it as a separate topic for discernment during the Archdiocesan Discernment Event. One area for mission to families regards healing. We are called to embrace the messiness and suffering of family life. Many families experience shame because their situation does not live up to "the ideal" and need accompaniment and healing. No family is perfect, however, every family needs accompaniment. There was and continues to be a strong desire for the Church to lead families to a place of healing so that the family members themselves could work to restore strained or broken relationships. Another area where we are called to minister to fam- ilies regards formation. Parents are the primary forma- tors and educators of their children, but many are lost and confused as to how to carry out this role. There is a desire, especially from parents, to receive formation and accompaniment, especially through "families mentoring families." There was a call for ongoing formation for new- lyweds and formation for parents to know what it means to be Father and Mother. The confusion of the world has resulted in a loss of a sense of the necessary complemen- tarity of father and mother, man and woman, and the unique genius and gifts of each, all of which are critical for the family and the proper formation of children. Over the course of prayer and discussion at the parish level and the archdiocesan event, the Holy Spirit made it abundantly clear that our first mission is to divine intimacy with the Trinity, then to other missionary endeavors. However, as one representative noted, "Like Martha, we in Denver can be anxious about many things." To remain rooted on the vine of Christ, we must pray to identify where we have prioritized the work of mission over living in a relationship of love with God and others. The second key theme was a call to remember your first love as Christ urged the Ephesians in the Book of Revelation. One key theme surrounded the family, its formation, and its mission. 30 SEPTEMBER 2022 | DENVER CATHOLIC