“Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.” ~ Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego
Category Archives: prayer
Happy Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Books for Catholic Moms
Over the past month or two I’ve been slowly working my way through a number of books for Catholic moms. Here are a few.
Small Steps for Catholic Moms
By Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss
By Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss
I am really enjoying this daily devotional book! I admire both the authors very much so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did because it is perfect for my morning prayer time. Often my mind is filled with thoughts about the day ahead of me and I have trouble quieting down and focusing. This book makes the transition to prayer easier because it is short and concise.
Each month is dedicated to one virtue. (This month is diligence.) Each day is divided into three parts – Think (a scripture or saint quote), Pray (a short prayer) and Act (a resolution or goal to work on that day.) Sometimes I follow the material completely and sometimes I’ll adapt it to my circumstances that day. You can keep your prayer time short or dwell on your conversation with God as long as your time allows. If you don’t already have a prayer routine or if you are just starting out, this is a great place to start.
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Smart Martha’s Catholic Guide for Busy Moms
By Tami Kiser
By Tami Kiser
I’ve seen this book mentioned on a number of blogs and thought I’d read it for myself. The chapters are as follows:
1. The Toys ‘R’ Taking Over Us: Finding Play That Is Purposeful and Manageable
2. The Media Monster: Managing Our Technical “Toys” in this Media Driven Culture
3. Dinner: Getting the Food and Everyone to the Table to Feed Body and Soul
4. It’s Your Home Too: Getting the Chores and Work Done. Hint: “M” Is for Mom, Not Maid. (LOL!)
5. From T-Ball to Trombone: Keeping Track of Everyone’s Comings and Goings
6. Memories…In the Corner of Our Closet: Collecting and Storing Memorabilia
7. The Heart of the Matter: Stirring What Is true, Beautiful, and Good in Our Children
8. Babies: Bringing Out the Mary in Us
I am about Ā½ way through and I have found it really helpful with my Operation Clean and Organize. The author is a busy of mom of nine kids and if she is able to keep a clean, organized and happy family that loves Our Lord then I certainly want to know some of her secrets! And so far, so good!
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The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming Our Passion, Purpose, and Sanity
By Meg Meeker
By Meg Meeker
I bought this book a couple months ago and started reading it but frankly, I don’t think I was in the right state of mind because when Dr. Meeker gave examples of moms who were formerly in the corporate world or who were doing outside ministries along with raising their families, it turned me off. I didn’t think the book was for me since I am “just a mom” with little kids trying to make it through the day with the dishes washed, some laundry done and my sanity intact.
However, when I saw that Elizabeth Floss was gong to do an online book study of this book, I thought I’d give it another try. I’m so glad I did because now it is clicking and making sense to me. This book is just as beneficial to a mom “like me.” I have been reading along, but at a slower pace than the book discussion, and I’ve found myself rereading sections and thinking over the material so I can better apply them to my life.
I haven’t posted about what I’ve read, except for the first chapter on Habit 1. Hopefully I’ll be able to post more later. (By the way, this book can be for any mom, not just a Catholic one.)
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The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul
By Lisa M. Hendey
By Lisa M. Hendey
I’ve only skimmed through this because I wanted to get through the other ones first but it looks really good! It’s next on my list. I’ll post about it when I start it but you may want to check it out now.
Prayer Before Logging onto the Internet
I was getting ready to post the pics for {pretty, happy, funny, real} and I noticed a trackback link from someone with a picture of the Carmel Mission (my parish). I clicked it and discovered the JOYfilled Family Blog. I haven’t had a chance to read the posts yet but I love the prayer that is posted on the site. I’ll be saying this every morn. š
A Prayer Before Logging onto the Internet
Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thy image
and bade us to seek after all that is
good, true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person
of Thy Only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant, we beseech Thee,
that, through the intercession of Saint Isidore,
Bishop and Doctor,
during our journeys through the internet
we will direct our hands and eyes
only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience
all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
~Father Z
St. Leonard of Port Maurice: Apostle of the Stations of the Cross
Here is the second of two posts from my better half, just in time for Lent.
by Brian
It is not uncommon to read about saints, especially those that were priests and religious, who promoted amongst the lay faithful the practice of specific devotions. For example, St. Gaspar del Bufalo promoted devotion to the Precious Blood, while Bl. Henry Suso promoted devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. With Lent here, I would like to introduce to you a saint who was known for his fervent promotion of the Stations of the Cross, St. Leonard of Port Maurice (1676-1751).
In 1697, at the age of 21, St. Leonard joined an Italian branch of the Franciscan Order that was known for its austere way of life. With dreams of being a foreign missionary, he was ordained a priest in 1704. Shortly after his ordination, he developed a painful stomach ailment that prevented him from leaving his native country and forced him to retire to his Order’s monastery in the region of Port Maurice. After four years, St. Leonard recovered from his ailment and slowly began to give missions to the faithful in nearby towns.
St. Leonard’s reputation as a highly effective preacher grew and eventually caught the attention of Pope Cosmos III, who immediately commissioned him to give a series of retreats throughout Tuscany. His success in Tuscany reached the ears of the new Pontiff, Pope Clement the XII, who personally invited him to come to Rome and preach to the people of the city. As in Tuscany, his style of preaching touched the hearts of many Romans, bringing about numerous conversions.
What caught my attention when reading about St. Leonard’s life was his love for the Stations of the Cross. Wherever he gave a mission, he would implore the faithful to make the “Stations” regularly. The reason for this was that he recognized through this devotion a simple way for people to grow closer to Christ and to experience His Love. St. Leonard’s devotion for and faith in the Stations was so immense and complete that he erected over five hundred Stations throughout Italy. What an awesome witness to the Passion of Jesus Christ!
I am sure if St. Leonard were alive today he would encourage all of us to make the Stations of the Cross frequently, but especially during the season of Lent. The Stations are a beautiful devotion/prayer that can help us enter into the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Each of the fourteen Stations act as stepping stones to greater virtue and greater insight into the sacrificial love displayed by Christ during the final hours of His life.
If you have never prayed the Stations of the Cross I would encourage you to begin this Lent. If you are praying them, keep it up! What makes the Stations an easy devotion to practice is how they can be tailored to your particular needs and time constraints.
“We adore you O Christ and we praise You, because by Your Holy Cross You have Redeemed the world.” Amen. God bless.
Dedicate Your Day to God
Here is the first of two posts from my better half, just in time for Lent.
by Brian
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2157), “The Christian begins his day, his prayers, and his activities with the Sign of the Cross: in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The baptized person dedicates the day to the glory of God and calls on the Saviors grace which lets him act in the Spirit as a child of the Father…” Why is it important for Catholics to dedicate their day to God? I can offer three reasons:
1) By dedicating our day to God, we are giving back to God, what he gave to us – another day.
2) By dedicating our day to God, we unite ourselves to the priestly office of Jesus Christ whereby our entire day becomes a “spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
3) It prepares us, before we tackle the challenges that the new day will bring, to embrace the closing words of the liturgy – “go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.”
Two of the most attractive features about this spiritual practice of dedicating one’s day to God, is that it is simple and time effective.
Simple – When I use the word “simple” to describe dedicating my day to God, I use it in the best possible sense. In my opinion, any prayer which is uncomplicated and straight forward is the most excellent. It doesn’t get any simpler than making the sign of the cross and in your own words thank God for the new day and pray for the grace to love and serve Him.
Time Effective – Another element that makes the “dedication” special is that it is time effective. What do I mean by time effective? As a husband and father with a growing family to look after, I rarely have an abundance of time to spend in daily prayer. Therefore, to be able to dedicate a new day to God in a way which is time effective is exactly what I need.
One thing I must caution the reader about is that this prayer needs to be prayed from the heart. Because the “dedication” can be both simple and time effective, it is easy to pray it in a manner that is routine and commonplace. To avoid this, I say my “dedication” with as much devotion and reverence as possible.
There are many spiritual tools that Catholics must put into practice in order to remain close to Christ. One tool that is vital to our spiritual life is to, dedicate each day to God. If you are doing this already, I encourage you to keep it up. If you are not, I would highly recommend that you begin.
God bless.