Tag: christian

June Prayer Intentions

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Alright Moms, it’s time once again to advocate for one another! This post is dedicated to your special intentions for the month of June. Just put your prayer requests into the comments, even as they come up throughout the month, and keep each other in your prayers – that’s all you need to do!

As usual, the pope’s monthly intention is below for us to include in our prayers.

June: for the abolition of torture
We pray that the international community may commit in a concrete way to ensuring the abolition of torture and guarantee support to victims and their families.

Let’s send those prayers up and bring down the blessings!

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: The Ascension

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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 Christ’s last words at the Ascension and how we can be His witnesses.

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!

Today, we remember the Ascension, though many of us will celebrate it on Sunday. This is when Jesus, already risen from the dead, went up into heaven. Ascension is just a fancy word to say “going up”!

In the Bible, Jesus spoke last words to His followers at this event. He said, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

If you’re a follower of Jesus, these words were passed down from the earliest Christians through all the generations because they are for you, too. Jesus gives you the Holy Spirit and tells you to be a witness. But what is a witness?

You might be familiar with scenes from a courthouse. One person makes a claim, and to back up their story, they call someone to be a witness. This is a person who has seen with their own eyes what happened. They can show the rest of the courthouse more about the same story, perhaps in a slightly different way, but ultimately, the witness can strengthen the original message in the minds of everyone there in a powerful way.

Just like a courthouse witness, we are called to strengthen the message of Jesus. And His message is to follow Him, to love God and love other people. Pope Francis said that we are called to do this wherever we are,” right where we live, in our families, at work, everywhere, even just by giving the light of a smile, a light that is not our own – it comes from Jesus.” 

The truth is, our world is not an easy place to live for a lot of people. They experience things that make their lives lonely, heavy, and dark. By witnessing to Christ, the pope says that we bring light into the darkness of the world. The pope reminds us to be good when we are given evil, to not give in to violence and lies, to stop hatred in its tracks through obedience to God and love. He says that “in the world’s nights, these witnesses bring God’s dawn.”

What all of that means, is that we are called to share Jesus’ light that is in us, with the rest of the world. We do this through acts of love, just as He taught the first followers, and as they have taught us throughout the years.

It doesn’t have to be big. Maybe you could donate some toys that you don’t play with anymore, maybe you could comfort someone who is sad, or hold a door open for someone who has their hands full, or help other people in the family with their chores if they are tired or even for no reason at all other than to shine the light of Jesus! Like Pope Francis said, it could be as simple as a smile.

Talking points

  • Can you think of some ways that you can be a witness?
  • Have you been a witness to Christ without knowing you were a witness? What did you do?
  • What will you do to be a witness today? What about tomorrow?

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 – Apr 30 – May 6

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How was your week? My week was pretty rough, but there are always blessings to be counted. God is good, all the time! Let’s reflect and express gratitude.

Sunday started the week beautifully with a family jam… The little one started it by playing some rhythms on the high chair tray at the end of breakfast, so I broke out a couple of percussive instruments and we spent a little while just jamming together! Thank you God for anticipatory Masses (I’m beginning to understand why that was the timeslot of choice for my parents while I was growing up!).

Hubby and I got some spring cleaning done this week, and while the house isn’t completely spic and span (how often does that realistically happen with young children?), it definitely feels a lot more manageable. It was also nice to be able to donate some of the clothes we don’t use anymore to our parish thrift store. It is too easy to buy into (no pun intended) the materialistic consumerism that is ubiquitously in our faces. Fighting that is hard, but like GK Chesterton says, “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” We gotta keep striving to live counter-cultural lives!

A family member had some medical tests that we were waiting on results for, and they all came back clear! All things in God’s time, but that’s still a big relief for me at this point in time.

Alright, that’s enough of me-talk. What about you? What are some of your joys of the week?

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

May Prayer Intentions

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Alright Moms, here is where we stand shoulder to shoulder with one another! This post is dedicated to your special intentions for the month of May. Simply leave your prayer requests in the comments, even as they crop up throughout the month, and pray for each other’s requests – that’s all you need to do!

I’ve also decided to share the pope’s prayer intention for the month, so we can include it in our prayers.

May: For church movements and groups
We pray that Church movements and groups may rediscover their mission of evangelization each day, placing their own charisms at the service of needs in the world.

Let’s send those prayers up and bring down the blessings!

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

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!