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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
1
  • 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.
6
7
  • 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
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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 …
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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 …
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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. …
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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.
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Eight Babies!

U.S. woman gives birth to octuplets

“A woman gave birth to eight babies in Southern California on Monday, the world’s second live-born set of octuplets ... Doctors estimated the delivery of the babies lasted five minutes. ‘They were all screaming and kicking around very vigorously,’ Dr. Harold Henry told the TV station.”

So far, it sounds like the babies, 6 boys and 2 girls, are doing remarkably well. Can you imagine being present for that “screaming and kicking” delivery?

Read the story here.


Comments

Page 1 of 1 pages

 

Wow!  I am sure this couple was encouraged to “selectively terminate” some of the babies—thanks be to God they gave these precious children a chance at life!  May God provide them with the grace & resources needed to care for their new houseful of blessings!

 

Forgive me for this, but I have a difficult time with these mega super births.  I don’t know why, but the thought comes to my mind that we (as women) are not dogs or cats, and shouldn’t be giving birth to litters of humans.

 

Anon,
I can understand your hesitation to celebrate.  I thank God that this couple didn’t choose to “reduce” the number of babies in utero but you’re right, we’re not designed to carry so many at once.  The chances of problems are greatly increased for both Mom and babies.  I think it can be traced back to the consumer mentality about children and how they’re commodities that we have a right to produce or destroy at our own will.  These parents must believe in the sanctity of life to have resisted “suggestions” to reduce and my prayers are with them and the babies.  It’s the age old Satan tactic of taking something good (the blessing of children) and thowing in a lie (that we have a right to them and that our children belong to us, not God) to worm his way into our lives and decisions.

 

When I first heard of “selective termination” of multiple babies in utero…..I was appalled.  Who can think of such things?...Of course it is the enemy, the evil one.  I can’t imagine killing one of my miracles granted by God.  I pray for all of the unborn…but I need to do more.  Do you have any suggestions.  I’m so afraid for little children who are at the mercy of pending legislation.  I’d appreciate any feedback.

 

Re: comment #2

I am the mother of triplets. Does that make me a dog?

 

#2:  I agree with you and so does our late Pope John Paul II who expressed reservations about the use of the fertility drugs that can result in a high number of embryos (a number not normally produced naturally).  Not that is was wrong to use these drugs but they do present some problems.

 

To MR:

I do not consider triplets to be a “super mega” birth.  Please do not read into what I said.

 

I’m sure this family didn’t plan on having eight kids. Even if they made a mistake in the use of fertility aids (which may not even be the case, as likely as it is), they should be respected for their insistence on carrying the babies (as I’m sure they suffered lots of pressure to selectively abort). I will also be praying for them and for lots of helpers for them because there’s a very good reason God designed us to usually only have one baby. Besides being safer for pregnancy and birth, caring for one newborn is stressful enough! I’ve managed it three times with the help of husband, mother and mother-in-law. I just can’t imagine getting through the first year with eight! They need God now more than ever.

 

I agree with Kansas Mom.  Good for the mother for not selectively reducing!  But how incredibly scary!  I can’t imagine eight preemies, can you?  May the Lord and our Blessed Mother look after them and send them a community of helpers!

 

Kansas Mom,
I agree with you.  It takes a lot of courage to go through with the pregnancy. My neighbor chose to freeze her unused embryos and now, is hoping that someone will adopt them.  She’s had four embryos frozen for ten years now.  Selective reduction, freezing embryos, the whole thing makes my stomach turn.

 

Wow…I cannot even imagine. Congratulations to the family and praise God that all the babies appear to be doing well. I also heard that they were “only” expecting seven babies…somehow an eighth baby “snuck” in!

 

I hope it’s an error of omission but I hope there’s a father in there somewhere.  This kind of story makes me happy and sad and is truly a commentary on our society at this time.

 

Pope Benedict said he condemns invetro fertalization and other ways of getting pregnant other than the natural way.  It’s on Youtube.com.

Congrats to this couple for having healthy babies.  I hope they have wonderful lives…but good luck, they’ll need it!!

 

Will there be an update perspective on this since we’ve learned they had 6 other children and did fertility treatments for these precious 8?

Thank God they did not selectively abort!

I was just interested if there would be more perspective on this. Thanks!

 

Let’s see, she used a sperm donor, did invitro fertilization, is not married, and is under the care of a psychologist for mental instability.  Oh, and she already has sextuplets to care for from the last invitro.  This is a good example of how not to do things.

 

ITA with MM, #15.

 

Not sextuplets—six kids, including one set of twins, all under 8. One of them has autism; I cannot fathom why she thinks she needs more on her plate, although she seems to be a stranger to anything we would recognize as judgment.
The carrying all eight to term? Because she wants to become a childcare expert on TV, not because she viewed them as babies deserving—well, anything. This is about her. It is very, very sad.

 

Becca, I’m planning a follow up post this week—lots more to this story that was immediately apparent ...

 

Her first six are not sextuplets but singleton births with the exception of one set of twins.
This situation is the perfect example of why the Churchs stance on IVF is so correct.
While she is to be commended on not aborting any of her children a) they shouldn’t have been created in the first place and b) she shouldn’t have been implanted with 8 embryos.
IMO, the doctor that did her IVF and transfers should be disciplined by the CA medical board. What reckless irresponsibilty to implant 8 embryos! Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.


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