catholic family faith

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Fourth Sunday of Easter - April 25, 2010

Jesus said:  "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me."  (John 10:27)

I think Jesus liked sheep.  That's just my personal thought.  Jesus is the Paschal Lamb, the new Lamb, who saves all humanity from death.  Just as the blood of lambs on the doorposts of their houses saved the Hebrew people from the Angel of Death in Egypt, the spilling of Jesus' blood in his death has saved all of humanity, all of creation for that matter, from eternal death.  Instead, because of Jesus' Resurrection, we are promised eternal life.

And then Jesus tells us that he is the Good Shepherd and will protect his sheep at all costs.  His sheep know his voice, and they follow him.

Everyone is invited to be one of Jesus' lambs.  In fact, God created each of us with the intent for us to be part of the flock.  Yet many of us wander away from the flock.  We ignore the Shepherd's voice when he calls us back to the fold.  I imagine that we break the Shepherd's heart when we walk away from the arms of his protection and love. 

Why do we walk away from the Shepherd?  Ego?  Pride?  Jealousy?  Want of control?  What keeps us from hearing the Shepherd's voice and walking back into his loving fold?

The Good News is that no matter how far we stray from the flock, no matter how long we are away from the Shepherd, he will always welcome us back.  When he sees us in the distance, limping and crying from the hardships of trying to do it on our own, he will run to us, gently pick us up, hold us to his heart, rub his face against our face, and carry us back to the flock to tend our hurts and bind us with his healing love.

It is never to late to listen to the Shepherd's voice and follow him.

Faith Chat Question:  What helps you recognize Jesus', the Good Shepherd's, voice?  What might you have to do, or stop doing, in order to hear Jesus' voice better?

Household Response:  When we hear and follow Jesus, it is natural for us to share Jesus' message with others.  This week, make cards for people you know - family, friends, neighbors - with a message about Jesus' love for them and inviting them to listen for Jesus' voice in their lives.

Pray:  Risen Jesus, help us to better listen for your voice and follow you.  Amen.

 

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Third Sunday of Easter - April 18, 2010

Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish.  (John 21:13)

Here is Jesus, the Resurrected One, God, serving the disciples bread and fish.  Instead of idly sitting on a throne with angels and others serving him, the King of Kings is making a charcoal fire on a beach and feeding his friends.  What an example for us!

Jesus goes on to stress to Peter that he should "Feed my lambs; tend my sheep; feed my sheep."  With his words and his example, Jesus makes it clear that we are to serve God's people. 

Each and every day, we have opportunities to serve others.  Some are great acts of service and love, but most are simple.  But even in their simplicity, our acts of service and love can have a profound impact on the people around us and, ultimately, our world.  Your simple smile has the potential to turn someone's despair into hope, which in turn can impact them to hug someone with whom they previously had an argument, which in turn causes the hugged person's heart to soften and then share some kind words with a neighbor, which brightens their day and...  The cycle goes on and on. 

Mother Teresa wisely said, "In this life we cannot do great things.  We can only do small things with great love."  In today's gospel, Jesus shows us that by simply preparing and serving breakfast, Peter's heart was opened to God's love so that he could tend and feed God's sheep, the people of God.

Faith Chat Question:  What helps you to know what God wants you to do in your life?  For what are you grateful this week?

Household Activity:  Sometime this week, make a meal with your family's favorite breakfast food (if mornings are difficult, eat breakfast for dinner.)  Involve everyone in the preparations.  As you share this meal, imagine that Jesus is eating with your family.  Have some fun making up conversations as if Jesus was there and participating in the conversations.  What would you say to him, ask him?  What might he say to you?

Pray:  Risen Jesus, help us to recognize and appreciate the food and family with which you bless us.  Amen.

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - April 11, 2010

Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."  Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."  (John 21:26b-27)

I love the readings of the Easter season. I am encouraged by the Acts of the Apostles and how they spread the Good News of Jesus' teachings. I am also reminded that even though I haven't seen Jesus in the flesh, he is truly risen.  I know that Jesus is risen because of the stories that have been passed down through the generations about his resurrection.  I know that Jesus is risen because of the stories of how people through the centuries have experienced his love and mercy, even if they didn't see Jesus in the flesh.  I know that Jesus is risen because I have felt his love and mercy, his power and glory in my own life.

It is not easy to believe that Jesus is risen, that Jesus is God.  Yet every time we gather for the Eucharistic liturgy, we proclaim our belief and act on our faith by receiving Jesus' Body and Blood in Holy Communion.

Faith Chat Question:  What helps you to believe that Jesus is truly risen?  How do you recognize Jesus in your midst?

Household Activity:  Jesus becomes present in our world when people live his command to love and serve others.  On this Divine Mercy Sunday, discuss what your household could do this week to help others.  You might rake a neighbor's yard, take a meal to a neighbor or relative, visit a nursing home, or do anything else that you feel Jesus is calling you to do.  Make a plan and follow through on your planned action.

Pray:  Risen Jesus, help us to recognize your presence in our lives and in our world.  Amen. 

Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter

Sister Faustina Kowalska was a Polish nun, visionary, and mystic.  She was born in 1905 and died in 1938. 

Throughout the 1930's, Sister Faustina reported seeing Christ in purgatory and having spoken to Jesus and Mary several times.  She said that Jesus appeared as the "King of Divine Mercy" and encouraged her to spread his message of Divine Mercy, including painting a picture of Divine Mercy and praying a Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

In the year 2000, at the canonization of Sister Faustina, Pope John Paul II proclaimed that the second Sunday of Easter would be designated as Divine Mercy Sunday.  In a homily he had prepared for Divine Mercy Sunday, that was presented posthumously, the Pope said, "To humanity, which at times seems to be lost and dominated by the power of evil, selfishness, and fear, the risen Lord offers the gift of his love that pardons, reconciles and opens the soul to hope.  It is love that converts hearts and brings peace...How much the world needs to understand and accept Divine Mercy!"

As Catholics and followers of the "King of Divine Mercy," we are called to live in the spirit of mercy, sharing love and forgiveness with our family, friends, and neighbors, as well as our enemies.  We share Christ's mercy through our prayers, words, and deed.

As we celebrate Christ's Divine Mercy this Sunday, pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy with your family.  Download the prayer here: 

Download Chaplet_of_DivineMercy.pdf (85.9K)

A Guide to the Easter Season

Even though the stores are putting away their Easter merchandise, and the chocolate bunnies have been eaten and the colored eggs made into egg salad, as Catholics, our celebration of Easter has just begun.

The celebration of Easter lasts 50 days, ending with the feast of Pentecost (May 23, 2010).  Throughout the next seven weeks, we will continue to hear the stories surrounding Jesus' Resurrection and how the disciples continued to share Jesus' teachings with both the Jews and Gentiles.

To help your family continue the celebration of Jesus' Resurrection, download this Guide to Easter: 

Download Guide_EasterSeason.pdf (205.2K)

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Faith Chat for Easter

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.  They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.  They said to them, "Why do you seek the living one among the dead?  He is not here, but he has been raised..."  (Luke 24:2-6a)

I imagine the women at the tomb asking themselves, "How can this be?"  They knew that Jesus had been buried, but where was his body?  Then these two men in dazzling garments appear and tell them that Jesus is living.  How can this be?

In Luke's account, the women try to tell Peter and the other men about Jesus' resurrection, but the "story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them" (Luke 24:11).  The men, too, were thinking, "How can this be?"

2,000 years later, we still ask the question, "How can this be?"  If the eyewitnesses didn't quite grasp what had happened, how can we who have not seen come to believe that Jesus is once again alive?

We believe out of faith.  We have faith in the family stories that have been handed down through the generations.  Just as our household families have stories that have been shared from great-grandparents to grandparents to parents to children, our faith family has shared the stories of Jesus down through the centuries.  Even if they have been embellished a bit over the years, there is truth in the telling.

In the next 50 days of the Easter season, we will hear about Jesus' appearances to his disciplies, more proof of his resurrection.  As you listen to these stories, I pray your faith grows.

Faith Chat Question:  Why do you believe that Jesus was truly raised from the dead?  What does Jesus' resurrection mean for you?

Faith Response:  Gather together with family.  Light some candles.  Go through photo albums.  Tell some family stories.

Pray:  Risen Jesus, as we hear the stories of your resurrection, may our faith grow and challenge us to truly live as people of the resurrection.  Amen.

Celebrate the Triduum with Pope Benedict XVI

Check out this website:  http://pope2you.net/

To hear the Triduum liturgies from the Vatican, click on the Celebrate Easter with the Pope icon.

Triduum begins...

At sunset tonight, Lent ends and the Triduum begins. Besides being the holiest three days of the Church year, the symbols and rituals of the next three days are the richest in our Tradition.

We say that the Triduum is the holiest time of our Church year.  This is because the basis of our Christian faith, Jesus' passion, death, and Resurrection are commemorated in these three days.  If Jesus hadn't died, he wouldn't have resurrected.  If Jesus hadn't resurrected, he would have simply been counted among the great prophets of history.  But Jesus was more than a great prophet; He was - and is - God.  God shed blood out of love for all of humanity and creation.  God died, laid down His life, out of love for His friends, all of us.  God rose from the dead to new life, opening the door to eternal life for all of us. 

It is fitting that we celebrate the Paschal Mystery of Christ's death and resurrection with great symbolic ritual.

I often hear parents saying, "The Holy Week Masses are just too long for my children.  They get restless, and I get frustrated."  I want to say to them, "Take them anyway."  I suggest that as the rituals unfold through the liturgies, parents should point out the symbols and rituals that are happening.  Sit up front so the whole family can see what's happening. 

Pay attention to the stories.  Older children may jot down words or draw pictures about what they hear in the stories.  Younger children may read along in children's Bibles or story books.

Look for the signs.  As the rituals unfold, watch for the symbols being used:  water and towels as the priest washes feet; bread and wine on the altar; inscense; the sacred oils to be used through the year; candles; the cross; colors...  Again, invite children to note what they see by writing words or drawing pictures.

I believe that if parents are intentional about helping their children enter into the mysteries of our faith by experiencing the symbols around us, children will naturally allow their imaginations and curiosity to keep them engaged throughout the liturgies.

How will you help your children enter into the mysteries of our faith through these wonderful celebrations of our faith?