Tag: catholic mom

Advent: Not Yet Christmas!

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When I was growing up, December 1st (or the weekend after) was the day we would exhume all our Christmas decorations and arrange them joyfully around the home. I loved those days! They were days where I could be creative and make things look pretty, all while listening to Christmas music and spending time with my family!

Today, in the early hours of the second of December, I look around my home. There are some decorations up, some partly done (the tree is up but bare), and some still lying in wait. I know I have much more to do before Christmas comes, but that is okay. I will go to sleep without feeling like today’s job is finished.

In our priest’s homily, he spoke about how expectant parents begin to prepare for the arrival of their child once the arrival date is calculated. Those of you who have had children (and many of you who haven’t) understand that this preparation does not all happen in one day. There is a reason God gives us nine-ish months before the baby is born!

Parents, especially first time parents, take some time to prepare for the arrival of their child. They must figure out what the new sleeping arrangements will be, they must find out the guidelines for infant care, first-timers even need to learn important procedural tips for labour and delivery! And the list goes on.

Advent is a time of preparation. It is okay, and perfectly normal, to take some time to prepare. There must be planning and effort. And that takes time.

Our priest also spoke about Advent as a time to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ arrival at Christmas. I am reminded of that hymn, My Heart is a Stable. Yet instead of the animals, hay, and swaddling bands, perhaps our hearts should be lined with the spiritual virtues we need to grow in. How can we build these virtues and make our hearts fit for Christ’s arrival? Well, just like Lent, Advent is a time of repentance. And just like at Lent, we can use the pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to ready our hearts to receive Jesus. And just like decorating, we don’t have to do it all in one day! We can take a little time each day to say an extra prayer. We can sacrifice something small here and there just as St Therese of Lisieux invites us to, offering it up to the Lord. We can put aside a little to give away, from time to time, over the course of December, all the way up to Christmas.

Anyway, every time you do a little more decorating, you can use the time to think of Jesus!

What are your decorating traditions? What memories do you have from decorating as a child? What are your tips for preparing your heart Let me know in the comments

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

Saint of the Month: Saint Pope John Paul II

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Feast Day: October 22
Patron Saint of: youth, families, and World Youth Day

Much like last month’s Saint of the Month, our October Saint of the Month was something of a global superstar in the 80s and 90s. In fact, the two of them were less than rarely associated with one another. He was the pope of my youth and holds a special place in my heart for starting World Youth Day which was a key milestone in my own faith journey.

I have chosen him as our patron saint for the month not only because he is a patron saint of families, but also for his encouraging words to mothers in his Letter to Women:

Thank you, women who are mothers! You have sheltered human beings within yourselves in a unique experience of joy and travail. This experience makes you become God’s own smile upon the newborn child, the one who guides your child’s first steps, who helps it to grow, and who is the anchor as the child makes its way along the journey of life.

The saint’s words highlight the unique role that mothers hold. First, he acknowledges our first duty as mother: to grow our children within our own bodies, providing all they need until they are (with hope) ready to leave the safety of the womb, just as God provides all we need throughout our lives. As we raise our children, we radiate joy and delight in our child, offering them a dim reflection of God’s joy and delight in them as His children. We nurture and teach our children as they grow, as God nurtures and teaches us. Mothers remain a touchstone for children in their life journey, a source of wisdom and advice, or perhaps just someone who will listen, someone who is there, just as God is ever-present for all of us.

As I type this reflection, I am struck with the thought that as mothers, it is perfectly natural to show some version of God’s maternal love our role as mothers. It follows that we should be aware of this and intentionally work on how we can bring these facets of God’s love to our children and/or spiritual children.

Each of us, male or female, is called to bring God to others, in everything we do. We so often refer to God with the masculine pronouns, but there are both masculine and feminine qualities in God. It is important to remember that outside of the person of Jesus Christ, God is neither male nor female. St Pope John Paul II’s quote really brings to mind the maternal aspects of God’s love for us. His quote compels me to consider how I am bringing these qualities to my children and others around me.

This is not to say that these qualities cannot be embodied by men, nor that we as women should neglect to also show masculine aspects of God’s love. But mothers, and spiritual mothers have a special ability to reflect God’s maternal love. Therefore, we have a responsibility to do it and to do it well.

What are some maternal qualities you see in God? Which of these do you think you’re particularly adept at sharing with others? How do you do this? Any tips for how others might be better able to bring out the particular qualities you shine? Share your thoughts in the comments and let’s help each other become better mothers to all the people around us!

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

Joys of the Week: June 23-29

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Wow, jumping back into this has been wild! I’m going to try to post regularly, but I can’t really promise anything for now. Anyway, I’m here today and I’m ready to try! So, here are my joys of the week!

Let’s start with what’s probably most obvious to all of us: yes, restarting this blog has been one of my biggest joys this week. It is nice to spend time growing as I reflect on my faith and learn new things! The Catholic faith is just so rich that there will always be something new to learn and that in itself is such a blessing to give thanks for!

My husband had a day off this week as well as finishing work early! It is always nice to spend some extra time together, as a family. I am so grateful for these opportunities to create these precious memories, even if we only do simple things like going to the local park as a family or trying on a bunch of clothes at Walmart.

My boys!

I have also been blessed to spend some time with a good friend and her kids this week. I always feel blessed when I consider her friendship. And I love that despite the age difference, our kids get along really well!

Ms 11 and Ms 9 with Mr 2



What has brought you joy this week? It has been a long time since I have done this, and I am excited to share in your joys again, so feel free to name as many or as few things as you would like to share in the comments!

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

July Prayers

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I admit, have had another short break, but here I am! I come bearing an opportunity to pray. Well, my usual post tagline asks us to pray for each other, and we can’t do that unless we actually pray for each other! So… here we go!

As usual, I’ll be looking at the comment section for the entire month of July and I’ll be praying for any intentions you pop in there as the month moves along. And as always, if you have intentions you’d rather not share publicly, just say you have a personal intention (no need to divulge details, the Lord will know what it is if I mention it like that!).

As well as bringing the requests people might leave in the comments to God in your own prayers, I would also ask that you pray for the Papal intention for July:

For The Pastoral Care of The Sick: Let us pray that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, bestows the Lord’s strength to those who receive it and to their loved ones, and that it may become for everyone an ever more visible sign of compassion and hope.

As for me, we finalise our home purchase and then the house move, which is coming up in July, so please pray that everything goes smoothly!

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

To Such as These: Signs and Symbols

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I write these “To Such As These” posts every now and then to explain some aspect of the Catholic faith to children. I try to use simple language so you can just read it directly to them instead of having to put it into your own words! The category name is inspired by Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:14: “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”

Today, we will be looking at signs and symbols.

If you have any topics you’d like me to cover in this category, pop them in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!


Have you ever gone to church and looked at all the statues and paintings and carvings and stained glass windows all around? Our churches would be pretty boring without them all, but they play a more important role than just decoration. They are signs and symbols for us.

What are signs and symbols?

People use signs and symbols as a way to communicate. They are a kind of shortcut way to convey an idea that might need a lot of words to express, but that can be summarised in an image or represented by something else.

Signs are there to show the way to something bigger than themselves. For example, if you are out shopping and you need to use a washroom, you look for the signs that lead the way to the toilet. Or maybe you have seen the signs on the roads that show you where to take an exit if you want to get to a certain town. Perhaps your bedroom has a sign on the door with your name on it, telling everyone who sees the sign that behind the door is your space.

The Gospel of John talks about signs, too. What we might call miracles, John’s Gospel labels “signs”. That is because miracles performed by Jesus act as signs that show us that Jesus is God.

There are lots of symbols used in the Church as well. Symbols are similar to signs, but instead of showing the way to something, they represent something, standing in its place when the actual thing cannot be there.


What signs or symbols are there at church?

Tgere are many signs and symbols you can find in a church. Next time you’re at church have a look around and notice any signs or symbols near you!

In some churches, you might see images of a dove, which would represent the Holy Spirit. Some churches have images of lambs, which represent Jesus, who we call the Lamb of God, as John the Baptist identified at Jesus’ baptism. Sometimes people who are not God are represented by symbols too! For instance St John the Evangelist, is represented by an eagle – you might see it near where the Word of God is proclaimed! You’ll sometimes see statues of saints holding little symbols to represent what they are known for. For instance, St Peter is often shown holding keys, representing that Jesus gave him the keys to Heaven and Earth. St Patrick holds his bishop’s staff and a three-leaf clover to show that he was a bishop who taught people about the trinity. St Francis of Assisi is often portrayed with animals to represent his love of nature – some stories even tell of his preaching to birds!

Some signs and symbols are meant to be experienced in other ways. Holy water is a symbol of our baptism and welcome into God’s family. Candles represent the light of Christ. The smoke from incense represents our prayers going up to heaven.

The most important sign and symbol you will see in our churches is the crucifix, or the cross. They usually are front and centre in our churches and very difficult to miss – that’s just how important this symbol is! The cross sends a message about how much God loved us – as the Gospel of St John tells us, He loved us so much that His only Son Jesus came and gave up His life for each one of us, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life!

Not as good as the real thing

Statues, paintings, stained glass windows, and other artworks in our churches are signs and symbols, too. They can help us to picture our friends in Heaven, and can inspire us to get a better picture of what Jesus’ life (and death) might have been like. When we see a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or a painting of Divine Mercy, we know that this is just a statue or painting and not actually Jesus, but they can help us to feel closer to Him. It’s just like if your parents carry a photo of you in their wallet or on the background of their phone. They know they’re not carrying you and that they will still have to pick you up from school or dance or soccer or music lessons or whatever you might be doing – but while they’re waiting to come and get you, they can look at your picture and it will most likely bring a smile to their face and warm their heart.

Talking Points

  • What signs or symbols do you know from your everyday life?
  • What signs or symbols have you seen in church?
    What do you think they might mean? Let’s find out if you’re right!
  • If you got canonised 200 years from now, what would you want your symbol to be? What would it stand for?

Did you or your children learn about any new symbols or signs through your discussion? What’s your favourite sign or symbol in our Faith? I’d love to continue this conversation in the comments with you!

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

Reflections on parenting: Impermanence

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I look back at photos of my baby through the different stages of development and there is definitely bittersweet in there. It feels like only yesterday we were in the hospital, but there have been so many different faces of my child since then. Each iteration of this child has brought its own joys and concerns, and then before I knew it, gone was that child, and in its place was a new child in a slightly bigger body, with new joys and new concerns. I look back and wonder how each iteration came and left so fleetingly, without so much as a greeting or goodbye.

My husband chided me jokingly the other day for my new kitchen rosary. It’s a repurposed abacus that allows me to move the beads to mark each decade and remember where I am so I can stop and start my rosary at any given point throughout the day (as an aside, it is a very handy way for moms to fit in a rosary around their busy day!). He asked why I had to get such a colourful one, saying it attracted our toddler’s attention. My husband said, “[baby] thinks it’s theirs now… it’s on loan”. I replied, “everything we have in this life is on loan,” then turning to my child, I half-jokingly said, “practice detachment. Nothing in this world is really yours.”

This brings me to the topic of the day: impermanence. That famous saying, “this too shall pass” rings true for all Earthly matters. As much as we would love to apply immortality to things of the Earth, the reality is that it will all come to an end. Everything around us has a shelf-life. Some may have longer shelf lives than others (they don’t make ’em like they used to), but everything passes, everything fades. Even our relationships don’t last forever. Our most loving and loyal bonds could end at any moment, completely unforeseen, because of the mortal nature of our bodies. Our parents die. Our spouses die. Children (tragically) die. We all die.

Our souls, though, our souls are eternal. That, in my humble opinion, is why we seek “forever”, why we want to connect to something immortal, infinite, eternal. But the only eternity there really is, is in the Lord. To connect with that eternal nature, we must follow Him, and to do so, we obey his commandments.


We know that the greatest commandment is to love God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength (Deut 6:5, Matt 22:37-38, Mark 12:33). What does this look like? Jesus says “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” Using the tool of hyperbole, Christ says we cannot learn from Him if we don’t love Him so much more than anyone or anything else that, in comparison, it looks like our love for them is hatred.

So the right order of things is to put God first and foremost. Before your parents. Before your spouse. Before your children. Before your siblings. Before your own life. Because He alone will never fail you and He alone will never leave you. And in His wisdom, the more you love Him, the better you will love those around you.

He shows us how to give grace, how to forgive – how to truly love. And He also shows us how we actually can be with others for eternity: united in Him.

Here’s a little prayer I wrote to sum it all up:

Thank you Lord for teaching me about the temporal nature of this life through my growing child. I accept Your sovereignty over all things. All that You have given to me is not mine to keep; the people, the things, the time… all belongs to You. Let me give it all back to You, and hold only to You, with steadfast hope and love.
Amen.

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

Saint of the Month: St Monica

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St Monica
Feast day: Aug 27
Patron saint of mothers and wives

Mothers, who among you does not hope for your children to know, love, and serve Jesus? Yet this is not a choice we can make for them. Yes, we can teach them about our faith, and tell them all the great things God has done for us, but when it comes down to it, they are the ones who need to decide whether or not they will follow Christ. That can be scary, I get it – when it’s about their soul and eternity, it’s crazy important, but faith is always a personal choice.

Say it with me, ladies: conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. We can only lead our proverbial horses to water. It’s the Holy Spirit that shows them how to drink.

St Monica knew this. So while her son rebelled and fell into a life of sin for 17 years, she grieved, yes, weeping for him, but she also prayed. She prayed for his conversion daily. And the Holy Spirit worked so hard in that young man that he became a Doctor of the Church – one of the greats! If you didn’t know or haven’t guessed who her son was, it’s none other than St Augustine of Hippo.

Mothers of children who have fallen away, who are falling away, or who may be tempted to fall away from the faith (ok, so basically any mother with any child), take St Monica as your example, pray for your children daily, hope that they heed God’s voice,  and leave them in His hands. In the words of St Padre Pio, “pray, hope, and don’t worry”. Remember, your children are even more precious to God than they are to you.

St Monica, pray for us!

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

Joys of the Week: July 23-29

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Happy Sunday! Let’s count our blessings. What are your joys of the week? I’ll start!

We invited a bunch of friends to come and hang out with us at our local lake on Sunday afternoon for a Christmasin July. It was so nice to just chill and enjoy the warm weather! We also had fun playing a game of dirty santa – if you’ve never played, you must try it at your next get together (it really is a case of the more the merrier) – and we ended up negotiating and trading and whatnot and everyone was happy in the end!

We made friends with a neighbor! It’s pretty densely packed in our neighbourhood, but it was lovely to be able to chat with somebody who had been through the whole motherhood thing before. I didn’t ask but I get the sense she might be Christian, too, so it might be nice to have some fellowship!

Yesterday we had some fun at a farm with one of my Mom friends. Someone who’s been through it before is good, but someone who’s in the trenches next to you is even better. And our kids got to interact a bit, too, which is always lovely to see!

Alright, your turn! Box up your joys in a little comment and send it over!

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

Reflections on Parenting: Perfection

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More often than I’d like, I find myself repeating in my evening prayers, “Sorry I missed morning prayer”. And then I think about why I missed morning prayer. And then, I start to justify it with “but we were in a rush to get to Mass, because sometimes, things that throw the baby’s schedule out just happen”. But justifying an apology negates the apology. It’s like saying “I’m Sorry I yelled at you, but you shouldn’t have left your wet towel on the bed” (Iused to internally yell at myself a lot for this). The person who left their wet towel on the bed (me, it was me) hasn’t received a genuine apology because the justification of the apology, on some level, communicates that they deserved it, at least in part.

I can’t and don’t want to negate my apology to God. He doesn’t deserve to be forgotten or relegated to lesser importance. Ever. So what am I really sorry for? I am sorry that I let Him down, that He wasn’t important enough for me to make myself find other ways to give him praise and offer Him my first fruits.

If I were perfect, as God is perfect, and as we are called to be perfect, I would have found a way to fit in my morning prayers – maybe I could have done them in the car on the way to church. Maybe I could have sung some hymns of praise while I fed or dressed the baby. There are plenty of options that I see in hindsight but that I was blind to as the morning went on, all because God wasn’t as high up on my priorities as He should be.

What I’m trying to say is, “I’m sorry I’m not perfect” isn’t always a snarky teenage response to a parent’s request that they change the way something is done. An apology for our own imperfection, even though we are not directly at fault for it, can be something that we hold in complete congruence with the acceptance of those imperfections. And it can be entirely sincere.

The real reason for our regret may be something else (in the scenario I described, it is my non-attempt at trying to find alternative ways to give God my morning and to show my baby that example), but we can also acknowledge our imperfection, which is really where those reasons stem from. I actually think it’s a very healthy thing to do and to show our children, especially in our spiritual lives. It is another reason to need God, another way to grow in humility.

Let’s bear in mind this quote from St John Fisher:

God alone is perfect, but if we follow His will and empty ourselves so that He might fill us up, we will become more like Him, and we will be perfect too, one day. This may also be an honourable and even aspirational model for our children.

Are your imperfections crosses for you to bear? What practical things help you to bear these crosses? I would love to get your tips in the comments!

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!

Joys of the Week: July 16-22

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Another week, another chance to share our joys! As usual, I’ll start, but please feel free to add your own in the comments!

Well, my baby’s growth and development never ceases to amaze, and it is a constant source of joy. More milestones, more improvement, and all in the cutest little package!

I got to go to a social dance – in the before times, I used to do a lot of swing dancing. Then there was a pandemic. And then I had a baby. So opportunities became scant. But today, I had an opportunity, and my wonderful husband volunteered to mind our baby while I enjoyed a couple of hours of afternoon dancing. It was so good to move my body and to connect with the music and other adults!

I quite unexpectedly caught up with some old friends. An old dear friend of mine, it turns out, lives not too far, and has a child close in age to mine, as well! My heart was filled with joy to reconnect.

So grateful to the Lord for these blessings and all the others He bestows on me every day. God is indeed good! What blessings have lifted you up this week? Let’s share in one another’s joys.

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!