Tag: catholic mom

Reflections on Parenting: Praying as a Parent

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Real talk: I don’t have all of the answers. That’s above my paygrade (it would be even if anyone were paying me!). But I do have questions. Today, I’ve got questions for you about prayer. But first, a little backstory…

Personally, I do the bulk of my personal prayer just before bed. I’ve never been great at morning prayer, and adding Mom duties to the mix – hubby takes the first morning shift before he goes to work so I can sleep an hour or two – doesn’t give me a lot of time.

I pray with my baby, too. We do morning prayers (most days, I’m working on it), we say grace before meals (I’m so used to silent grace just before I eat, so again, this is something I’m working on), and bedtime prayers. I try to use that time as well, as a moment to connect with God.

In all, I spend probably about 40-60 minutes in prayer each day (I added probably an extra 30-40 minutes during Lent). I don’t spend all my prayer time asking for things and rattling off the classic prayers (although they do take a little space in my prayer time) and I am making time in my prayers to listen, letting God speak to me through the Bible. And I know that most of the time (when I don’t feel like I’m running on autopilot, at least), my heart is totally in my prayers. So, what my prayer consists of what I’m praying for, or how much or how fully I’m praying isn’t in question, at least not this time.

The thing is, I don’t believe I am offering our Lord the best of my time, because by the time my own bedtime rolls around, I’m exhausted and some days I find myself drifting off to sleep during prayer time – even when I’m sitting up! And I do want my time with God to be quality time. Trouble is, I don’t know what time of day those first fruits are.

I spend naptimes getting things done, making bookings and other arrangements, running home admin, various chores, that kind of thing. Most of these need to be done during office hours, so they can’t be moved. Admittedly, I take a little time during the day to blog (let’s call it digital journaling), and while it isn’t strictly prayer time, I consider it to be spiritually-motivated, as it does turn my thoughts to Godly things, I get to grow in my faith as I read and reflect on Church teachings, upper and lower case T traditions, the lives and writings of saints and the doctors of the church, and my own interior life. And I sincerely hope that publishing my own thoughts will also help to bring others to Him – other moms, and their children. Practically speaking, in terms of the technology I use, unfortunately it’s not feasible for me to switch this with my bedtime prayer time. Besides, some prayer – my daily examen immediately springs to mind as an example – must be done at the end of the day.

Then again, I think of St Paul’s words…

As parents we can offer up all of our day to God. Every diaper change, every middle of the night feed, every toy we pick up, every frustration, every mundane moment, as well as prayers of thanksgiving for every smile, the things they do that melt our hearts, and all the other good things that come with being a parent. In this way, we can be a living prayer, uniting our parental sacrifices with Christ and saving souls (perhaps our children’s souls!), offering our lives to God, literally praying without ceasing.

That said, I want to have time to just sit and be with God. I know it’s just a season and that God understands. I get that I have responsibilities that mean I no longer have the luxury of just skipping off to an adoration chapel whenever something is weighing on my heart (ah, youth, less responsibility, and living less than 10 minutes from a 24 hour adoration chapel…). But I still want to do better by Him. I would like to make quality time to pray.

So my question is, how can I make that quality time for God? How do you do it? How does it fit into your day? Looking for some real answers here, hoping you have some tips for me!

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

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This is a little something I picked up from one of my former priests. After the youth mass (wow, that was a long time ago!), a bunch of us used to go out for a bite with whomever had celebrated Mass that day. One of them used to always ask us what our joys of the week were. Come to think of it, he used to ask every so often, not just at our post-Mass gatherings.

I love the spirit of gratitude it fostered, and to be able to share in one another’s joys was a joy in itself. I also think it’s a good way to acknowledge all the little blessings God gives us. And it’s encouraging to look at all the other good things we have, when some parts of our lives may not be going too well. Yes, if we are faithful, we have assurance of salvation, however, it doesn’t mean we should neglect to think of all the other blessings God gives us and be grateful for them! God is so good!

So, with that said, I have decided to regularly share joys of the week on the blog! It’ll be another way that we can build community. I invite you to share your joys of the week in the comments below – no limit to how many or how few, just share as you feel moved to share! Here are some of mine:

For me, starting this blog has been a breath of fresh air. Even though it’s still got a focus on mothering, it isn’t that same humdrum. It’s actually a bit of a break from the baby routine of eat, play, sleep (unfortunately I still don’t get enough sleep, ya feel me, Moms?), and it’s allowed me to reconnect to one of my old passions: writing. Thanks God for the inspiration and motivation to do this! I’m also encouraged by the support I’ve received so far. It’s not a heckuva lot, but it’s a start! I hope and pray that this blog will grow to be a blessing to many families.

I’ve also had some amaaaazing food. I am so thankful God gave me my wonderful husband who, among other things, makes such tasty dinners (and a majority of our amazing food this past week) most nights while I take care of the bedtime routine. We are definitely doing life as a team, and I love it!

And of course, so many joys come from our beautiful baby! New teeth, social skills, tentative steps, so many kisses… There are always so many joys, but probably the most memorable as I write this post is the first birthday party our child was invited to just yesterday. It was so fun to watch how our baby got on in a new environment with new people. And I made some new Mom friends!

Your turn, now; I’ll see you in the comments!

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

New Life, New Blog!

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He is risen indeed! Happy Easter!

Over the course of Lent this year, I felt a call to share my journey as a Catholic Mom. I decided that come Easter, I would begin, so, here I am! I guess I should start by sharing a bit about who I am and what I want to do with my corner of cyberspace.

My name is Bernadette. As you may have guessed from my ultra-Catholic name, I am a cradle Catholic – but don’t take that to mean that I’m lukewarm! I always held a firm belief in God, but only began to take a real interest in and responsibility my faith when World Youth Day came to my hometown, Sydney, Australia. I was appointed parish representative and worked with other parish reps in the deanery as we prepared for, hosted, and partook of this massive event. It was inspiring to see how these young people were so on fire for Jesus, and I wanted that, too! Over the next few years, I began to study the Catholic faith (and let’s be honest, the Faith is so rich that I don’t think I’ll ever stop!), give more and more of my life to God, and fall deeper in love with Jesus.

I got married in 2021 and we have been blessed with a beautiful baby, who we welcomed into God’s family last year. While you won’t get to meet our child out of respect for both privacy and free will, this baby is a big part of this blog. Since becoming a mother, I have been looking for ways to impart the faith to my child, as my parents did for me. But the world looks different now than it did when I was growing up: there are new minefields to navigate, and a never-ending selection of tools at our disposal, too!

There are a few things I’d like to dedicate this blog to:

  • Building Community: I believe that community is one of the most valuable things in life, especially for mothers. However, given the decrease in faith in society in general, connecting with other Catholic moms can sometimes be difficult. Thank God for the internet, though, because we can build a virtual community here! I’d like you to be a part of this blog, too, and for us to use this platform to create a little space for us to share our joys, foster gratitude, encourage each other in times of need, and pray for one another.
  • Celebrating the Catholic Faith: there are so many wonderful saints, and celebrations in our faith, so I would like to create some content around that, with the aim of sharing it with our little Christians, of course!
  • Exploring Motherhood from a Catholic Viewpoint: we live in a world where we face many challenges in fulfilling our marital promises (and the baptismal promises we made for our children) to raise our little ones in the faith, but we are also blessed with a multitude of wonderful resources that can help us do this! God willing, this blog will be a place to explore the timelessness of Catholic parenting in the modern age.

I hope you’ll follow me as I follow Christ amidst the ups and downs of the messy, strange, sometimes frightening, and always beautiful journey of motherhood!

Oh, and the name of the blog? Well, we all need God’s help, and I would say that parenting as a vocation is one place where this becomes evident! The title is a play on Philippians 4:13, and a reminder that God is always with us, helping us along our entire parenting journey. Let it be our motto; say it loud and proud: I can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens me!

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