catholic family faith

Lord's Day Faith Chat - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - February 7, 2010

"See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged." (Isaiah 6:7)

"Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." (Luke 5:10)

In today's readings, both Isaiah and Peter proclaim their unworthiness, yet God/Jesus calls them to serve God. 

God sees beyond our weakness, our sinfulness.  God sees what we are capable of doing and calls each of us to look deep within us to see the Spirit moving within us, guiding us to use our talents and abilities to proclaim God's goodness and love for all creation.

Faith Chat Question:  In what ways can you use your talents and abilities to "catch people" for Jesus?

Faith Response:  Cut some small squares of paper, one per person, and put them in a bowl on your prayer/kitchen table.  Invite household members to think about what they might need to let go of in their lives in order to follow Jesus more closely.  Have them write what they need to let go of on one of the pieces of paper, fold it, and put it back in the bowl.  Throughout the week, each person will focus on letting go of what they wrote on their paper in order to follow Jesus more closely.  At the end of the week, invite everyone to share how they did with letting go and following Jesus.

Pray:  Lord Jesus, you have called us to follow you.  Help us to put aside the distractions in our lives and use our talents and abilities to follow you more closely.  Amen.

 

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - January 31, 2010

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.  (Jeremiah 1:5)

God created each of us out of great love.  Accordingly, God has called us to speak and live according to God's Loving Word.

But sometimes when we speak, we are moved by our personal ego and emotion rather than by God's loving promptings and so can be a "resounding gong or a clashing cymbal."  We don't always act with love.  When we speak or act out of ego and not divine love, our words and actions are not effective.

And when we do speak God's Loving Word, not everyone will hear and heed what we say.  We will be rejected, as Jesus was rejected by the people in his own village.  We will experience rejection by friends and family, acquaintances and others.

Faith Chat Question:  How do you live according to God's Loving Word in your daily life so as to share God's love with others and all of God's creation?

Faith Response:  Share your love with one another this week.  Cut many small hearts out of red and/or pink construction paper.  Put the hearts in a bowl on your prayer/kitchen table.  As family members do loving things for one another through the week, have the person receiving the loving action write a thank you note on a heart and put it at the giver's place at the table so they can see the thank you heart at mealtime.

Prayer:  God of Love, move in us so that we may share your Loving Word with all whom we meet.  Amen.

 

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - January 24, 2010

He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me..." (Luke 4:16b-18a)

In the first reading from Nehemiah, we hear how Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform before the assembly of people and read from the book of the law of Moses.  In the gospel reading from Luke, Jesus reads from a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  These readings remind us of how important it is for us to read and listen to the Scriptures.  When we gather on the Lord's Day or for any liturgy, for that matter, we participate in the Liturgy of the Word, which is just as important as the Eucharistic Liturgy with which it is combined on the Lord's Day.  Through the Liturgy of the Word, our souls are fed with the Word of God, we hear God's Word and are challenged to apply it to our every day lives.

Faith Chat Question:  What is your favorite Bible story?  What does that story teach you about God?

Faith Response:  Begin a new habit of reading the Bible every day (if you don't already do so, that is.)  Place your Bible in a prominent place, on your household prayer table, a coffee table, or your kitchen table.  Each day, make time to read and reflect on a passage from the Scriptures.  You may access the daily readings on the USCCB website (http://www.usccb.org/nab/) or check your parish's bulletin for a listing of the daily readings.

Prayer:  Word of God, fill our hearts and minds so that we may live your truth in our lives.  Amen.

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Baptism of the Lord - January 10, 2010

And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.' (Luke 3:22b)

In the account of Jesus' baptism from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was baptized just like all of the other people.  Then, "after all" (v. 21) the baptisms, the people's and Jesus', Jesus was praying.  As he prayed, "heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove." (v. 21b-22a) 

Many of us were baptized as infants, so we don't remember how the Holy Spirit came upon us.  But we do have the Sacrament of Confirmation that allows us to focus on the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives.  (But of course, we have experienced the Holy Spirit long before our Confirmation as a young teenager!)  In any case, by our baptism, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, empowering us to discover the gifts that God has given to us and to use those gifts to serve God through God's people.

In addition to helping us discover and use our God-given gifts, through our baptism, we experience in a profound way, God's love for us.  Just as the Father told Jesus, "You are my beloved Son," God tells each of us, "You are my beloved Son/Daughter."  Every moment of every day, God is whispering in our hearts, "I love you...I love you..."

Faith Chat Question:  What does it mean to you, how does it make you feel, to be God's "Beloved Son/Daughter"?

Faith Response:  Place a bowl of holy water on your prayer/kitchen table.  (Most parishes have a holy water dispenser near their baptismal font from which you can fill a small container.)  At the end of each day, at dinner or bedtime, invite family members to recall their baptisms by blessing one another with the holy water and the Sign of the Cross on their foreheads.  Then give one another hugs and tell one another, "I love you!"

Prayer:  Beloved Son of God, help us to live our baptismal call each day of our lives.  Amen.

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, Joseph - December 27, 2009

So [the shepherds] went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger."  (Luke 2:16)

I often find myself competing with the holiness of the Holy Family.  Why I do this, I don't know.  I will never measure up to the humble and total trust in God and one another that they had.  They were perfect, after all, and I am certainly far from perfect!

But wait.  Maybe they weren't so perfect.  Mary became pregnant before she and Joseph lived together.  Joseph was upset about the situation and was going to divorce her, cancel their betrothal.  Luckily, an angel interceded by sharing God's plan with Joseph in a dream.  So they resolved this issue, by the grace of God, and Joseph took Mary into his home as his wife. 

Then, near the end of Mary's pregnancy, they had to travel to Bethlehem with hoards of other people for a crazy Roman census.  They travelled the 100 miles or so from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the village of Joseph's ancestors, on foot, with Mary riding their little donkey the last few miles.  But when they arrived in Bethlehem, there were so many people - David did have a lot of descendents - the inns were full.  Then Mary's labor began, and Joseph desperately searched for a quiet and warm place for her to have the baby.  They ended up in a stable cave, where an inn keeper kept his livestock.  But it was warm and dry and the hay was fresh.  By the grace of God, they made it to Bethlehem and found a simple but quiet place for Jesus to be born.

Later, they found out that Herod wanted to kill their baby, the "Newborn King of the Jews."  So they packed up Jesus and left Bethlehem and Judea to escape Herod's killing rage.  They travelled through the desert to Egypt.  By the grace of God, they escaped in time and made it safely to Egypt.

Eventually, by the grace of God, they made it back to their family and friends in Nazareth.  Jesus grew and Joseph and Mary taught him the prayers and traditions of their ancestors, bringing him up in the faith of their people.  By the grace of God, they overcame all of their hardships, each struggle increasing their trust in their loving God.

It is good for me, for all of us, to remember that the Holy Family wasn't holy because they were perfect.  They certainly had their share of difficulties and, I'm sure, arguments.  But they remained faithful to one another and to God; this is what made them holy.  In the same way, when we express our sincere love for one another day after day, remain faithful to one another, and trust that God's grace will see us through any difficulty, our families, too, are holy.

Faith Chat Question:  To be holy does not mean that we have to be perfect; every family, even Jesus, Mary and Joseph, has its issues.  What makes your family holy?  How does your family express its holiness?

Faith Response:  Put the name of each family member in a bowl.  Have each person draw a name, making sure they don't receive their own name.  Through the week, each person will pray for the family member whose name they drew, doing random acts of kindness for that person and writing a letter thanking the person for what he/she contributes to the family.

Pray:  Loving Jesus, bless our families and help us to acknowledge our holiness by recognizing your presence with us.  Amen.

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 20, 2009

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."  (Luke 1:41-42)

Elizabeth and her baby were open to and aware of the movement of the Holy Spirit in their souls.  Because of their openness to the Spirit, they allowed themselves to leap and cry out with joy in the presence of the Lord, the Christ.

Too often, we become inhibited by events in our lives and focus on worldly things that we do not recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Rather than crying out with joy, we complain and allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by issues.

May this reading remind us to allow the Spirit to move us to joy, to move us to dance, to change our attitudes from darkness to light.

Faith Chat Question:  When Mary greeted Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit filled her and the baby in her womb.  She cried out a blessing, and the baby leaped for joy.  How have you experienced and responded to being filled with the Holy Spirit and recognizing Christ in your midst?

Family Activity:  We continue to pray Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary when we pray the Hail Mary.  Together with your family, pray a decade of the Rosary, meditating on the mystery of the Visitation.

Pray:  O come, O Lord of Love, fill us with your Spirit of hope.  Amen.

 

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Third Sunday of Advent - December 13, 2009

The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; God will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in God's love, God will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.

--Zephaniah 3:17-18a

On this Third Sunday of Advent, we light the rose colored candle on our Advent wreaths.  As we draw nearer to Jesus coming, we rejoice.  We rejoice that God took on human flesh and walked among us.  We rejoice because Christ is resurrected and the Holy Spirit is still among us.  We rejoice because we look forward to the day when Christ will return in glory.

We have a lot to celebrate.  May this third Sunday of Advent remind us that we have great cause to be joyful.  Even if we are experiencing difficulties and struggles, we know that "the Lord, our God, is in our midst."  May we rejoice in the life and love that God bestows on us.  And may we share our joy with others in our words and actions:  A simple smile, a joyful "Hello," letting someone go before us in line at the store.  May our joyful words and actions help to plant the seeds of God's love in our world.

Faith Chat Question:  What acts of kindness can you do in the name of Jesus this week?

Faith Response:  On this third Sunday of Advent, a day to rejoice, do a fun activity with your family, such as going sledding, baking cookies, driving around together to look at the lights of the season, or anything else just to celebrate being together.

Prayer:  O come, O Lord of Joy, help us to celebrate your coming.  Amen.

"Whoever wishes to come after me...must take up his cross..."

In the Gospel of Mark for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2009, Jesus says, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it."  (Mark 8:35)

As I reflected on this during Mass this weekend, the thought struck me that the idea of the cross would have been very difficult, painful, confusing for the people of Jesus' time.  Crucifixion by cross was the primary method that the Romans used to torture non-Roman dissenters.  The roadways around Jerusalem often had rebels hanging from crosses, rough crossbeams nailed to trees.  These crucifixions were very public, to attempt to dissuade other rebels.  So for Jesus to say that to follow him meant to take up one's cross would be very challenging for his listeners.

What would I have felt if I lived then as I heard Jesus say, "To follow me, you must deny yourself and take up your cross?"  I don't want to be nailed to a tree!  I don't want to die a horrible, suffocating death!  Why would I have to do that to be a disciple of Jesus?

While we in the 21st century do not have to literally carry a cross, be nailed to and hang from a cross, we do have crosses that we can, and should, bear in Jesus' name.  Our parish priest asked the congregation, "What crosses do you bear?"  I immediately thought of all the parents who deny their own wants and needs for the best interests of their children:  sleepless nights staying up with a frightened or sick child; eating macaroni and cheese at least three times a week; staying home rather than going out with friends; driving all around town rather than sitting quietly at home...the list could go on and on. 

Parents are such a profound experience of God to their children.  By their unconditional love, they express God's love for their children.  By their sacrifices, taking up their crosses, they show their children that they are the most important thing in their lives, just as God showed us that we are the most important things in God's life by coming to earth and becoming human.

Parenting is such an overwhelming responsibility, an amazing ministry.  May all parents find strength in the example and love of Christ Jesus, as they take up their crosses and sacrifice themselves for their children.

The Prodigal Son, the Forgiving Father, and the Jealous Brother

This story can be found in Luke 15:11-32.

We all know the story of the prodigal son, the son who asked his father for his share of the inheritance so that he could go off and see the world.  We know what happened when the son ran out of money and decided to return home and ask his father for forgiveness.  We know how, when the father saw his son returning, he ran down the road to greet him back.  Then he dressed his son in royal clothing and threw a party.

We know that this part of the story is a reminder for us parents to be forgiving of them even if they go against our wishes.  We also should be like the forgiving father in that we need to let our children make their own mistakes, just as we did, despite how difficult it is to let them go.  Our love for our children should be unconditional.

We know what happened with the prodigal son and the forgiving father.  But what about the jealous brother?  Did he accept his father's invitation and go into the party or did he hold a grudge against his brother?  And what happened after the party?  Did the prodigal son stay on the straight-and-narrow?  Did they all live happily-ever-after?

How would you respond if your child was the prodigal son or daughter?  Would you be as tolerant and forgiving as the father in this parable?

How do you think your kids would respond if they were the brother or sister who stayed while their sibling went off to see the world only to return after losing everything? 

While we hear this story in the cycle of Mass readings of the Liturgical Year, often we don't take the time to really ponder it and apply it to our lives.  This story is rich with conversational pieces for parents and children, especially teens.  Take some time to ask the question of yourself, your spouse, and your kids:  What would you do?  How would you react?

The Bible contains all kinds of conversational items for families.  I am hoping to offer a Bible story each week for at least the next year as a conversational piece for families.  I hope you enjoy the stories and the conversations you may have with your family members as you explore these stories more.

Parent's Prayer

"I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ...may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know God, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which God has called you, what are the riches of God's glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of God's power for us who believe, according to the working of God's great power."  (Ephesians 1:17-19)

This is one of the readings for today, May 21st.  St. Paul prayed this for the community in Ephesus.  I think it is a beautiful prayer for parents to pray for their children.  What great gifts to pray for:  Wisdom and knowledge of God, the hope for becoming the person God created you to be, the "riches" (greater than money & stuff!) and blessings - peace, joy, love - of being counted as God's own child, and the gift of God's Spirit to empower you in all that you do.