Prayers for Family

Charles Borromeo  |  Homily Video  |  Learn more about our faith  |  family unity

Family Unity Made Possible By Prayer

By: Father Charlie McCoy, C.S.C. November 4th, 2026

At the age of 24, young Charles Borromeo faced a crucial choice. He came from a rich and powerful noble family. As the younger of two sons, he had been set on the path to the priesthood a few years earlier. But in this crucial year, his older brother died, leaving the noble title and wealth to him, and with it, the family expectation that he would forego the priesthood, marry, and produce sons to carry on the family name. Charles instead chose to forego title, fortune, and family and continue on the path to priesthood, a decision that would impact not only his life, but also the entire history of the Church, as he soon would take the lead in implementing reforms dictated by the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church’s response to the Protestant Reformation. Later in life, Charles Borromeo, then Archbishop of Milan, provided guidance for Catholics in Elizabethan England who faced their own life-or-death choice between their Catholic Faith and their obedience to the queen. When Jesus speaks about having to hate mom and dad, wife and kids, brothers and sisters to become his disciple, He’s not encouraging us to take the initiative to be controversial or destructive.