More than 250 people participated in the annual meeting of New Families, held from April 24 to 26 at the Mariapolis Luminosa Center (Madrid). Under the motto «"Back to basics"», Families with very diverse backgrounds shared three days of prayer, training and testimonies to rediscover that closeness, communion and love lived in everyday life continue to be the heart of family life.
How can we experience closeness within the family today? This was the central question at the annual meeting of New Families, inspired by the first three aspects of the Spirituality of Unity: union with God, communion, and witness. Through meditations, life experiences, and dialogue, participants deepened their conviction that the family can be a place where the Gospel is lived out and made concrete.
The presentations didn't offer ideal models, but rather real stories: families marked by illness, separation, with children with special educational needs or diverse sexual orientations; adoptions, marriages where the spouses live their faith differently… All shared how they have discovered that God continues to act precisely in the midst of fragility. Closeness—it was emphasized during the meeting—is not a strategy, but a way of life that stems from putting God at the center and is expressed in listening, forgiveness, acceptance, and care. In this way, the family, even with its limitations, can become a credible sign of hope.
One of the most significant moments was the round table discussion dedicated to these different family realities. From it emerged expressions that summarize the spirit of the gathering: "Welcoming children as they are and not as we think they should be," "God's love reaches children through our love," and "God dwells in our homes, even when they are under construction.".
There was also a time of Eucharistic adoration in which children, teenagers, and adults prayed together for peace and for families suffering the consequences of war and so many forms of violence. This moment of prayer reinforced the experience of communion shared throughout the weekend and the common desire to bring that same closeness into the environments they frequent in their daily lives.
The meeting also served to present some of the support initiatives promoted by Familias Nuevas (New Families), aimed at couples in difficult times, families with children of diverse sexual orientations, and support for international solidarity projects. These are concrete expressions of a communion that seeks to translate into mutual support and close attention to the needs of families.
Among the numerous final testimonials, one powerfully summarized the experiences of those days. A participant, attending for the first time, shared:
«"I'm here for the first time after a lifetime of not believing in God. A few months ago, I went to a holy hour out of curiosity and had a supernatural experience. A friend invited me this weekend, and my husband and I experienced something unique that made us think: we want what these people have.".
At the end of the gathering, many returned home with a renewed conviction: returning to what is essential means rediscovering God as the center of family life and allowing His love to transform everyday relationships. From this experience, an open, welcoming family is born, capable of offering hope to those around them.
