Category

Family Life

Dec 19
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The Gift: Self-Donation

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Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. —Matthew 16:25  A life of self-gift deviates from the social script and that is part of why it is so difficult. We need look no further than the life of Jesus. He stood out by being present, available to, and signaling the dignity of others. So too, if we stand out, we will experience some form of rejection. The perennial crossroad of life is one where the path of comfort runs across the path of meaning, connection, and selflessness. In writing these words, the choice seems easy, but it almost never is. And yet we still know that we want to choose the way of meaning, connection, and sacrifice. In a terrible yet amusing way, self-gift is both the problem and the solution. It is the problem because it is so difficult. Selfishness is a way of life that we…

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Dec 19
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Prayers and Reflections from Draw Near: Daily Prayers for Advent and Christmas 2023

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  January 1 Monday in the Octave of Christmas Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Luke 2:19 The shepherds arriving after Jesus’s birth must have been a surprise. Mary and Joseph knew there was something special about the child, and Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, had said the same. But now, for the first time, this little life was touching complete strangers. And they must have looked strange—and smelled even stranger. These were outsiders, and they arrived with wide eyes and fantastical stories about the heavens opening up and a message from an angel. How did they know what was going on with this little family so far from home? When the shepherds left, they continued to share the news about shining angels coming in the night with tidings of joy and praise. According to Luke, everyone who heard their…

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Sep 28
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Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: A Missionary’s Heart

By | Family Life, Finding Joy, Holidays | No Comments

January 2, 1873–September 30, 1897 Patronage: Missionaries, Against Illness Memorial: October 1 THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX’S STORY Born in 1873 at Alençon in Normandy, France, Françoise-Marie Thérèse Martin was the fifth daughter of Blessed Louis Martin and Blessed Marie-Azélie Guérin Martin. With the untimely death of her mother, Thérèse’s family relocated to Lisieux, France, where Thérèse was cured from a serious illness at the age of eight. Thérèse experienced a vision of the Christ Child when she was not quite fourteen. So great was her desire to join the Carmelites that, upon being declined because of her age, she took her personal request to Pope Leo XIII during a pilgrimage to Rome. Thérèse’s entry into Carmel was marked by her development of what would become known as the “Little Way,” her personal charism of total devotion to God by completing even the most mundane and ordinary tasks with the greatest of…

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Aug 30
2

St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910–1997)

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Known throughout the world simply as Mother Teresa, St. Teresa of Calcutta was born in Skopje, Macedonia, in 1910. As a Catholic nun, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, whose mission is to care for the poorest of the poor around the world. Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work in 1979 and was given the title “Blessed” in 2003. She was canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016. Her feast day is September 5. Prayer for Our Family Heavenly Father, you have given us a model of life in the Holy Family of Nazareth. Help us, O Loving Father, to make our family another Nazareth where love, peace, and joy reign. May it be deeply contemplative, intensely eucharistic, and vibrant with joy. Help us to stay together in joy and sorrow through family prayer. Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our…

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Jun 26
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Resentment: Lord, the One You Love is Keeping Score

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Being Resentful Is Not the Same as Getting Frustrated All of us will experience times of frustration in our relationships. (This is true for all kinds of relationships, but I’m going to focus on romantic partnerships in this part of the book.) After all, we’re constantly learning how to give and accept love, and learning how to love another person as God loves them gives us daily opportunities to see where we’re lacking and where we need to improve. When a partner leaves the toilet seat up or doesn’t take out the trash in time for the morning collection, we might get frustrated. Similarly, when we leave our clothes on the floor or accidentally throw away important paperwork or track mud in the house, our partner might get frustrated with us. That frustration can lead to arguments, and it’s a bad feeling for everyone involved. Again, we’re all trying our…

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Apr 26
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Bending So We Don’t Break

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My parents have long had a wonderful saying: “Never leave one good party in search of another.” Of course, the adage applied to real parties. My mom and dad were notorious for being the last to leave any social gathering. They were the first on the dance floor and the last to wave goodbye, usually after having stayed around to help clean up. But I learned early on that their wisdom also applied to most of the important things in life: education, career, and especially marriage. When I need an example of a strong marriage, I simply look to my own parents, who have been going strong for fifty years and counting. I won’t say that they never fought, but I will say that they were partners through and through. At the core of their relationship is a mutual covenant to help one another get to heaven and to experience…

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Apr 26
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PRAYERS FOR FOSTERING UNITY

By | Communication, Family Life, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Uncategorized | No Comments

Releasing Unhealthy Attachment with Parents Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I have not fully left my parents to be joined to my spouse. I now renounce any unhealthy attachment I have with either of my parents. I release them to you, Father, and I ask you to give them the grace to release me. I declare that my primary allegiance is to you and to my spouse. I pray this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Releasing Unhealthy Attachment with Children Heavenly Father, I recognize that I have formed unhealthy attachments with my children, and that this is unhealthy for their growth and development and for my relationship with my spouse. I ask you for the grace to release those unhealthy attachments now, and to form a healthy bond with my spouse, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Renouncing Unholy…

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Mar 29
0

Falling in Love by Paul George

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What is more difficult, falling in love or staying in love? I’ve had this question posed to me a few times. The soul awakens when one falls in love. My soul awoke when I fell in love with my wife. Falling in love was easy. Sure, I had some fears and doubts, but as soon as I let go of those, I fell hard. My soul awoke too when I gave my life to Jesus. I sur- rendered. I had questions, doubts, and fears, but once I let go of those, my heart fell in love and broke open. My out- look changed overnight, but changes in my behavior and attitudes took time. I’m still on the journey of healing, growth, and conversion. Love requires more of us than falling. It’s the day-to-day process of loving that develops holy grit within us. We all know the feeling when the romance…

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Jan 26
0

Find Love in Small Deeds

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In addition to being kind to ourselves, we also need to open up to the gentle presence of others in our lives. There are so many people who, during the day, care for us through little words of affirmation or other small ways. But we take them all for granted and miss the power of their wonderful support. It may take the form of family and friends saying a kind word. They may call just to let us know they are thinking of us. Or, they may do a small chore for us so we don’t have to do it ourselves. Often these are unrecognized graces. We fail to recognize them because we are used to them, maybe too used to them. Then we miss them when they are gone. Being grateful for the wonderful people in our lives now would certainly change our behavior toward them. As in the…

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Jan 26
0

Healing for Everyone

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As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them. —Luke 4:40 Throughout the gospels, people arrive with a variety of sufferings for Jesus to heal. No type of ailment or hurt is too little, too large, or too strange for him to tend. He encounters everyone personally—touching them, placing his hands upon them, flesh to flesh, and coming close to the ill, soul to soul. And he does so for each of them. He treats them not as impersonal objects but rather as people who matter, people not only in need of his attentiveness but also worthy of it. Did Jesus fear catching a disease? Did he flinch when he saw festering wounds or smelled the stench of the unbathed? Did he feel repelled by…

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