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Daily Lenten Meditations

«  March 2010  »

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
  • Pray Light a candle. Every time you pass that candle today, offer a prayer of thanks. Don’t ask for anything. Just thank him.
  • Fast Don’t cut corners. Even if no one will know, complete today’s work thoroughly.
  • Give Touch is a powerful thing. Make an effort today to touch your children: a hug, a shoulder rub, a tousled head -- especially the bigger ones
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  • Pray Make five minutes in the morning, at midday and in the evening to be still, silent, and alone, only asking God to infuse your soul with his will.
  • Fast No noise today. Turn off the TV, the radio, the iPod. Find God in the silence.
  • Give Pay particular unsolicited attention to your least demanding child today.
2
  • Pray Begin a gratitude journal. At the end of the day, jot down five things for which you are grateful. Think upon these things.
  • Fast Remember the first time you had a moment alone with your first child. What did you promise him? Do that. Be that.
  • Give We can only expect what we inspect. For every task you assign today, follow through and before it’s truly finished ensure that there is praise from you.
3
  • Pray “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me." -- John 10:27
  • Fast Every time a child interrupts you today, stop what you are doing and look into his eyes as he talks.
  • Give “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” -- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Speak kindly all day long.
4
  • Pray Ask God to show you how weak and small you are. Open your heart to see it.
  • Fast Don’t argue today. As much as possible give up, give in, give way.
  • Give When you are tempted to put on the TV for kids today, pull out a stack of favorite picture books instead. Invite the kids to join you on the couch.
5
  • Pray Take a walk, even if it’s cold or raining. Leave your iPod at home.
  • Fast Think of someone whose life you are tempted to envy and then choke out these words: Thank you, God, for the blessings you have given to X. Help me to see my own.
  • Give Think about the kind of person your husband married. Be that person for him today.
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  • Pray "Love consumes us only in the measure of our self-surrender." -- St. Therese of Lisieux
  • Fast As you go about your daily routine today, remember that you are expecting someone very important for dinner tonight. Together with your children, work towards your husband’s homecoming as if you were expecting to welcome a king back to his castle.
  • Give “You can do nothing with children unless you win their confidence and love by bringing them into touch with oneself, by breaking through all the hindrances that keep them at a distance. We must accommodate ourselves to their tastes, we must make ourselves like them.” -- St. John Bosco
8
  • Pray Take this quote to prayer today and listen to God’s answer: “Real love is demanding. I would fail in my mission if I did not tell you so. Love demands a personal commitment to the will of God.” -- John Paul II
  • Fast Stop looking for encouragement and approval. Genuinely encourage and affirm someone else instead.
  • Give Let your child choose a huge stack of picture books (use that word “huge” when you ask her to gather them). Read them all to her today.
9
  • Pray Persevere. “He who does not give up prayer cannot possibly continue to offend God habitually. Either he will give up prayer, or he will give up sinning.” -- St. Alphonsus Liguori
  • Fast Don’t forget that the only pedestal you need ever stand on, is the one your husband and children build for you.
  • Give Focus on your home today. The world can find another volunteer, but your husband and children have only you.
10
  • Pray Insist on quiet from all your children during naptime today. Pray the Divine Mercy chaplet.
  • Fast We’re half way through. Compare yourself now only to yourself when Lent began. Tweak the plan.
  • Give Reach out to a local friend today. Reconnect.
11
  • Pray Ask God to make you humble and lowly.
  • Fast Don’t compare or complain. Do compliment.
  • Give Pack a picnic and go somewhere to eat it with your children. If the weather is prohibitive, build a tent in the living room and it eat there. Sit on the ground with them. Be fully present.
12
  • Pray Sometime before bedtime tonight, make time to pray with and for each of your children.
  • Fast Rise a little earlier and bring your husband breakfast in bed. (If it’s too late today, plan for tomorrow).
  • Give Plan a date night.
13
14
  • Pray Give thanks for food, clothes, and shelter. Listen to His plan for stewardship.
  • Fast Clean out the refrigerator today instead of eating lunch. Pull everything out and wipe it all down. As you do it, thank God for the food he provides for your family.
  • Give “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” -- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
15
  • Pray Before you read or do anything else today, pray this prayer, taken from the writings of St. Louis de Montfort: Lord, help me to imitate Mary's deep humility, lively faith, blind obedience, unceasing prayer, constant self-denial, surpassing purity, ardent love, heroic patience, angelic kindness, and heavenly wisdom. Amen.
  • Fast Give up thinking things have to be perfect.
  • Give As you do laundry today, bless the person for whom you are folding. With every crease, offer a prayer.
16
  • Pray For a few minutes tonight, after your children are sleeping, kneel beside their beds. Let your breath rise and fall with theirs. Entrust them to the Father and thank him for lending them to you.
  • Fast Let go of self-recrimination. “There is still time for endurance, time for patience, time for healing, time for change. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand among sinners, but leap aside.” -- St. Basil the Great
  • Give Do not say “In a minute” or “When I finish this” at all today. Instead, put aside your agenda and meet their needs (and even some wants) immediately and cheerfully.
17
  • Pray Pray to know how God wants you to spend your time today.
  • Fast Let go of despair and know that God gives you sufficient grace. "Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." -- St. Francis of Assisi
  • Give Make sure that every one in your family gets at least one of your hugs today.
18
  • Pray Is there someone who inspires feelings of inferiority in you? Offer a Memorare for her intentions.
  • Fast Refrain from self promotion. “The only way to make rapid progress along the path of divine love is to remain very little and to put all our trust in Almighty God. That is what I have done.” -- St. Therese of Lisieux
  • Give Page through your wedding album with your children today. Remember how loved you felt that day. Love your family well.
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Bloggers

Meet the Faith & Family bloggers. We invite you to join us in encouraging and helping the Faith & Family community grow in faith!

Danielle Bean

Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is Editorial Director of Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea: Musings of a Catholic Mom (Pauline 2005) and Mom to Mom, Day to Day: Advice and Support for Catholic Living (Pauline 2007). Though she once struggled to separate her life …
Read My Posts

Rachel Balducci

Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and together they are the parents of five lively boys. Besides being a mom, she is also a writer and a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has maintained her personal blog at Testosterhome.net where she …
Read My Posts

Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com, a Catholic web site focusing on the Catholic faith, Catholic parenting and family life, and Catholic cultural topics. Most recently she has authored The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also employed as webmaster for her parish web sites. …
Read My Posts

Arwen Mosher

Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their young children Camilla and Blaise. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site is ABC Family. …
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Rebecca Teti

Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
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Robyn Lee

Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is the managing editor of Faith & Family magazine. She is (yikes!) an almost 30 year-old, single lady, living in Connecticut with her two cousins in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law …
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Hallie Lord

Hallie Lord
Hallie Lord married her dashing husband, Dan, in the fall of 2001 (the same year, coincidentally, that she joyfully converted to the Catholic faith). They now happily reside in the deep South with their two energetic boys and two very sassy girls. In her *ample* spare time, Hallie enjoys cheap wine, …
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Fr. John Bartunek, LC

Fr. John Bartunek, LC

Fr John Bartunek, LC, STL, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and …
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Guest Bloggers

Melissa Wiley

Melissa Wiley
Melissa Wiley is a homeschooling mother of six and the author of The Martha Years and The Charlotte Years, two series of books about the ancestors of Laura Ingalls Wilder. She blogs about children’s books, family, and home education at Here in the Bonny Glen.
Read My Posts

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Which Cleaning Method Works Best?

Posted by Rebecca Teti in Homemaking on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 4:00 PM

Hey, Bags Ladies!

Come back! I didn’t mean it like that!

I mean all you participants in the 40 Bags, 40 Days challenge.

I thought you might be interested in Ditching 800 Pounds of Clutter.

The author, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, realized her home hadn’t been seriously de-cluttered in two years and wondered if such a thing could be accomplished without taking time off from work.

So she divided her home into zones and tested three popular approaches (one of which is like the 40 bags method, which is what made me think of it).

Read her results at the link.

Comments
1
Filed under 40 bags, clutter, housework, spring cleaning

View From the Laundry Pile

Coffee Talk: Homemaking

Posted by Danielle Bean in Homemaking on Saturday, March 13, 2010 7:00 AM

(Join each day’s Coffee Talk discussion: Mon: Parenting; Tues: Open Forum; Wed: NFP; Thu: Marriage; Fri: Education; Sat/Sun: Homemaking)

Our weekend forum is for discussing Homemaking.

Have a great craft idea? Want to share your favorite cleaning products? Have a super recipe to share? Want to ask a question or share a strategy for meal planning, family schedules, laundry techniques, or any other household dilemma? This is the place to do it.

Come on in and join the conversation!

Comments
19
Filed under cleaning, coffee talk, housekeeping, laundry, tips

Not The Sharpest Knife In The Drawer

Posted by Rebecca Teti in Homemaking on Monday, March 08, 2010 3:30 PM

It’s probably wrong to have a crush on a kitchen knife, but I do.

For years I have loathed chopping vegetables.

That is, until this past fall, when I was cooking dinner in my sister’s house and had to dice an onion.

It wasn’t that big a deal, but I started in aware that I was about to do something annoying.

Except it wasn’t annoying at all, it was astonishingly easy.

Then and during the course... READ MORE

Comments
15
Filed under kitchen tools, knife, prayer, presents, slicing, vegetables, whetstone

Cleaning Up House

Coffee Talk: Homemaking

Posted by Danielle Bean in Homemaking on Saturday, March 06, 2010 7:00 AM

(Join each day’s Coffee Talk discussion: Mon: Parenting; Tues: Open Forum; Wed: NFP; Thu: Marriage; Fri: Education; Sat/Sun: Homemaking)

Our weekend forum is for discussing Homemaking.

Have a great craft idea? Want to share your favorite cleaning products? Have a super recipe to share? Want to ask a question or share a strategy for meal planning, family schedules, laundry techniques, or any other household dilemma? This is the place to do it.

Come on in and join the conversation!

Comments
0
Filed under advice, cleaning, coffee talk, discussion, housekeeping

Small Ways to Simplify

How do you make stressful days less so?

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Homemaking on Monday, March 01, 2010 9:00 PM

This Thursday, Blaise and I are catching a morning flight for a weekend trip to visit his godparents several states away. We’ve had it planned for months.

Then last week we found out Bryan has to take a business trip this week. He’ll be flying home on a red-eye and landing at 6:00 Thursday morning, just a few hours before my flight takes off.

Fortunately my parents live not too far away, so we’re... READ MORE

Comments
16
Filed under babies, cloth diapering, complications, decisions, diapers, parenting, simplifying, travel

How's the Laundry Looking?

Coffee Talk: Homemaking

Posted by Danielle Bean in Homemaking on Saturday, February 27, 2010 7:00 AM

(Join each day’s Coffee Talk discussion: Mon: Parenting; Tues: Open Forum; Wed: NFP; Thu: Marriage; Fri: Education; Sat/Sun: Homemaking)

Our weekend forum is for discussing Homemaking.

Have a great craft idea? Want to share your favorite cleaning products? Have a super recipe to share? Want to ask a question or share a strategy for meal planning, family schedules, laundry techniques, or any other household dilemma? This is the place to do it.

Come on in and join the conversation!

Comments
24
Filed under advice, cleaning, coffee talk, housekeeping, laundry

Picking It Up

Better living through tidiness

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Homemaking on Thursday, February 25, 2010 10:51 PM

In today’s podcast, I mentioned that I’m trying a suggestion from Lisa’s new book The Handbook for Catholic Moms: keeping my house fairly tidy during the day.

Bryan and I work together to make sure that our house is orderly before we go to bed every night, and I also attempt to have the place decently tidy when he gets home from work. But putting extra effort into keeping the house in order during... READ MORE

Comments
11
Filed under attitude, cleaning, experiments, happiness, home, housekeeping, productivity, self-improvement, tidying

Keep On Bagging

Just a friendly reminder to ... purge!

Posted by Danielle Bean in Homemaking on Thursday, February 25, 2010 10:00 AM

Are you taking part in our Lenten challenge to rid your home of 40 bags of clutter this Lent?

This is just a friendly reminder to stop procrastinating and ... start bagging, purging, throwing away, and giving away.

If you are lacking inspiration or have a 40 Bags story to share, come on over to our 40 Bags in 40 Days and share with us. See you there!

Comments
3
Filed under 40 bags, 40 days, cleaning, clutter, lent

Happy Homemakers Check in Here

Coffee Talk: Homemaking

Posted by Danielle Bean in Homemaking on Saturday, February 20, 2010 7:00 AM

(Join each day’s Coffee Talk discussion: Mon: Parenting; Tues: Open Forum; Wed: NFP; Thu: Marriage; Fri: Education; Sat/Sun: Homemaking)

Our weekend forum is for discussing Homemaking.

Have a great craft idea? Want to share your favorite cleaning products? Have a super recipe to share? Want to ask a question or share a strategy for meal planning, family schedules, laundry techniques, or any other... READ MORE

Comments
21
Filed under advice, cleaning, coffee talk, housekeeping, laundry

The 40 Bag Challenge

Join Us at F&F Connect!

Posted by Danielle Bean in Homemaking on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 12:26 AM

Over 100 of you committed to ridding your homes of clutter this Lent—one bag at a time.

Since many of you also asked to receive regular reminders about the trash bag challenge, I created a Faith & Family Connect group for that purpose:

40 Bags in 40 Days at Faith & Family Connect

In addition to posting weekly reminders here on the blog, I will be posting and emailing more frequent reminders and pep talks there. Please join us!

Comments
8
Filed under 40 bags, challenge, cleaning, clutter, encouragement, lent


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