catholic family faith

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.

Lent - Week Two

We're in our second week of Lent.  How did your first week go?  I have to say that I could have done better in my Lenten practices. 

It's easy for me to abstain from meat on Fridays (or any time, for that matter) because I like pasta and rice better than meat.  So that part went well.  But as for other fasting, I wasn't quite as successful. 

Did you know that the Church requires fasting only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?  The rest of our Lenten fast is on our own.  There are many different ways to fast.  We can fast from eating food between meals.  We can fast from a particular type of food or drink.  We can fast from activities that get in the way of our relationship with God and with other people.  You can even fast from different things each week.  For example, during the first week of Lent, you might fast from drinking all that Coke; through the second week of Lent, you could fast from playing so many video games; through the third week of Lent, you could fast from potato and other kinds of chips; and so on.

We have to remember, however, that fasting isn't an end in itself.  We have to reflect on the reason for our fast.  We may fast from food and drink to offer a sacrifice in alignment with Jesus' fast in the desert. We may fast from food and donate the money we might have spent to Operation Rice Bowl or another organization that feeds the hungry.  We may fast from certain activities so that we can read more from the Bible or pray more or spend more time with our families.  The action of simply fasting is good, but it becomes a spiritual practice when we consider the reasons behind the fast.

So what are you fasting from this Lent and why?

Are You Hungry?

It's Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, a day of fast.

Why is it that I can go every other day not eating between meals, sometimes even forgetting to eat meals (like working through lunch), but on Ash Wednesday, when I'm told to fast, all I can think about is food? 

Fasting, they say, is good for the soul.  The prophets fasted.  Saints through the centuries fasted.  Even Jesus fasted.  Fasting helps us to remember that we must be dependent on God.  All that we have is a result of God's love and goodness.  God blesses us with talents and abilities that allow us to work so that we can make money to buy food, clothing, and shelter for our families. 

No one ever said that fasting was easy.  It takes conscious effort not to eat those things that we want so badly.  We make this conscious effort so that we may live in solidarity with all those who fast every day because of lack of food.  We make this conscious effort to be united in Spirit with all those who have fasted before us and all those who are fasting around the world today.

I need to keep reminding myself of all of this as my stomach growls, my mouth waters at the thought of food, and I am tempted to just nibble on this one cookie. 

May our fasting be a prayer for all those who do not have food today or any other day.  May our fasting draw us closer to the God who loves us and provides for all our needs.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Celebrate the feast day of everyone's favorite Saint with food, crafts, and more...

Visit these websites for Irish recipes:

http://www.ireland-information.com/irishrecipes/index.htm

http://fp.enter.net/~rburk/stpatricksday/stpatrick'sdayrecipes.htm

http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/culture/recipes/index.shtm#top

For kid fun, visit these sites:

http://holidays.kaboose.com/saint-patricks-day/

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/patrick/

http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Holidays/StPat/StPat.html

http://www.kidsturncentral.com/holidays/stpats.htm

http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/holiday_pat.htm