Just a Catholic Mom

Praying at Meals & Cultivating Gratitude: With Thanksgiving drawing near, I started thinking, how many times does my family take the food we have to eat for granted? Do we stop to think how blessed we are to have the food in front of us? To have the availability of so many foods at grocery stores nearby, and the financial means, to not just buy healthy food for our bodies, but often cookies and other treats because we can? Growing up, my family prayed before eating dinner, and my husband and I are teaching our children to pray at breakfast and lunch as well. It’s good to be thankful and express gratitude, and helping our children appreciate and be grateful for what they have is something we see as a valuable lesson. I know, as a busy mom, eating breakfast often takes place in rounds at my home, and by the time I finally get to eat, I sometimes start eating and then with the bite in my mouth realize I’ve forgotten to pray. So, if you haven’t prayed before meals in a while or, like m...

Amen:  How many times have you said the word “Amen?” If you think about it, you’ve probably said it thousands of times in your life, but have you ever stopped to wonder what the word “Amen” means? I know I never did until recently when my daughter asked me what it meant after praying, and I had to admit that I didn’t know, but it’s always said at the end of prays. When I looked up the word “Amen,” I discovered that its origin is from the Hebrew language and that in English it translates to “it is so” or “so it be” ( Dictionary.com/amen ). So, when we prayer a pray, such as “The Our Father,” and resound “Amen” at its conclusion, we are in fact declaring our confirmation of the prayer—that the words we have spoken are indeed true and, therefore, the truth.  Words have power. The  Bible tells us, in the Gospel According to John, that “In the beginning was the Word; the Word was in God’s presence, and the Word was God” (John 1:1), and “The Word became flesh...” (John 1:14). F...

Surrender: How Will You Live Today?  All our lives, we think and plan. What will tomorrow bring? What will I be when I grow up? Where will I attend school? Who will I marry? Where will I live? Questions. We have countless questions, thoughts and plans. But have you ever thought about what God wants you to do? What His will for you is if you would just let go of yours and listen for the quiet whisper of his voice within your heart? When you surrender your will, your true will and freedom will be found. How will you allow God to lead you and help you live your life today? Here is a prayer I wrote in 2011 that might help you start this conversation with God.  Prayer of the Willing Servant  In my free will, I freely will, the free will that you gave. To do your will, to give my life to whatever will you may. To be your servant, though not worthy, please use my life for good. And change my heart, my mind, my tongue, my soul to listen to your word. Please let my hands reach out...

Adoration:  What exactly does the word adoration mean? If you look the term adoration up in the dictionary, the following are the definitions you will see: deep love and respect, worship and veneration. These are powerful words and emotions, yet their true power lies in the action of humility, for to adore, one recognizes that the object or person being adored is more important than themselves or anything in the world. What or whom do you adore and bestow upon adoration? Has the definition and meaning of adoration been misplaced in today’s society? I wonder... In the Catholic Church, the term adoration is given to honor Jesus in the Holy Eucharistic—Eucharistic Adoration. I was born a cradle Catholic, but honestly I didn’t understand or appreciate the beauty and devotion Eucharistic Adoration expresses until I was in my early twenties. It was when I started sitting quietly before the Lord, present in the Holy Eucharist, on a weekly basis during graduate school, that I came to reali...

Finding the "Extraordinary" in Ordinary Time As Catholics, Ordinary Time is the part of the liturgical season that is not Advent, the Christmas season, Lent, Triduum, Easter or the Easter season. As a season, it can be 33 to 34 weeks long, making it the longest liturgical season in the church calendar! So, what do you do during this long liturgical season? Ordinary Time is the perfect opportunity to grow in your own spirituality and help your family’s domestic church flourish and grow in faith. You can, in a sense, view Ordinary Time as the “preparation time” offered to you and your family to help you prepare your hearts, minds, and souls as you enter the most important liturgical seasons of the church.  So don’t shrug Ordinary Time off just because it’s not Lent or Easter, because Ordinary Time is not really “ordinary” at all, but rather important and an “extraordinary” gift for growth and preparation. Jesus spent time preparing before his public ministry began, and by doing...

Passing on Prayer & Praying Throughout the Day: When I was a kid, my mom taught our family two prayer traditions she had growing up. The first: Praying three “Hail Mary” prayers as a family when you began a road trip together, and the second: When you hear an emergency vehicle pray, “Jesus and Mary we pray, bless them on their way.” I remember not only feeling comfort by saying these prayers together growing up, but also feeling like I was helping, even if it was only in a little way, by praying for those helping others and those needing their assistance.  Now, as a wife and mother, I realize just how important it is to teach your children prayers and praying together as a family. I didn’t know it then, but as a kid my mom and dad were helping my siblings and I build a solid prayer foundation that has helped us continue to grow in prayer as adults. I’ve passed the two prayer traditions from my childhood on to my family, and hearing my daughter recite the “Jesus and Mary prayer,...

Sunday—The Lord’s Day: Celebrate every Sunday as a celebration! Attend Mass together as a family, spend time together as a family—and if possible extended family—enjoying each other’s company, taking it easy, and just relaxing. God rested on the 7th day not only because he knew we as humans would physically and mentally need to rest, but I believe also to show us the value of just slowing down and enjoying the company of those around us. My family has been doing Sunday brunch with my sister and her husband for over a year now, and when my parents moved nearby this summer, they too have been joining our Sunday brunch tradition. We attend Mass together, and then rotate whose house we go to brunch at each week. We help each other in the kitchen, our kids get to spend quality time with relatives, and we talk, laugh and relax in one another’s company. Having brunch together has helped us all slow down and appreciate the beauty of keeping the Lord’s Day holy. Try having brunch, playing board...

Celebrating Baptismal Anniversaries:  When my husband and I went through our baptism prep workshop for our first child, one of the recommendations that was made, to help us and our child remember the importance of their baptism, was to celebrate the anniversary of their baptism every year like we would a birthday. What a beautiful way to remember that at the Sacrament of Baptism you are given new life in Christ! This year, we began this beautiful new tradition with our children, and they loved getting to made cupcakes, have us sing "Happy Baptism Day" to them, and get to blow out their baptismal candle. I hope you and your family are able to start this beautiful tradition too!

Praying for Priests:  Sometimes, it's easy to forget that we should pray for our priests, seminarians, and for men to have the courage to answer the holy call to the vocation of the priesthood. Here is a praying for priests craft that is an activity that not only helps your children understand the liturgical colors of priestly vestments, but encourages them (and the family as a whole) to pray for men in this vocation. We took this activity a step further in our home, by adding the pope and all priests, seminarians and future seminarians to our list, as well as all the priests that our family knows. We then arranged our pictures into the shape of a cross and put a holy card of Jesus as the good shepherd at the top. We hung our picture on our basement door and now every day when we see it, we are reminded to pick a certain priest or group of men to pray for. We found this activity to be extremely worthwhile and important in helping our children practice how to pray.