Faith & Family Live!

Faith & Family Live is where everyday moms offer one another inspiration, support, and encouragement in Catholic living. Anyone grappling with the meaning of life or the cleaning of laundry is welcome here. Read the blog, check out our magazine, join our community, learn more about our mission, and come on in! READ MORE

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
  • 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.
19		 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31

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. …
Read My Posts

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 …
Read My Posts

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 …
Read My Posts

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, …
Read My Posts

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 …
Read My Posts

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

Stay in the Loop with F&F

?
Full feed
Danielle Bean’s feed
Rebecca Teti’s feed
Arwen Mosher’s feed
Lisa Hendey’s feed
Rachel Balducci’s feed

Get our FREE Daily Digest

Add Faith & Family to iTunes

Weekly Reader Poll
 

Top Tags

advice | coffee talk | discussion | parenting | christmas | lent | prayer | family | books | moms | children | recipes | podcast | love | encouragement | cleaning | sharing | education | babies | relationships | learning | links | housekeeping | saints | traditions | humor | small successes | fertility | couples | school | food | art | pregnancy | homeschool | nfp | giveaway | casual fridays | fun | sex | television | marriage | technology | pro-life | joy | saints of christmas | laundry | support | career | tips | haiti | faith | charity | fashion | video | kids | super bowl | resolutions | time management | benedict xvi | new media | blogging | videos | cooking | priests | women | toddlers | winter | clothing | questions | clutter | preferences | new years | teens | photos | jesus | music | book | nature | health | ideas | celebration | 40 bags | mary | modesty | sports | homemade | style | mass | spouse | tradition | gifts | vegetables | dinner | seasons | work | shopping | time | meatless | stages | side dishes |

 

Woman Threatens Pro-Life Protester, Has Change of Heart

Pro-life protesters make a difference, one mom at a time

Posted by Danielle Bean in News on Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Mechelle Tallulah Hall

Back in November of last year, Minnesota resident Mechelle Tallulah Hall tried to enter an abortion clinic to terminate her pregnancy and she was confronted by the mother-daughter pro-life protester team of Sarah and Leah Winandy.

The Winandys asked Hall to consider keeping her baby. She responded by pulling out a knife and threatening them. No one was hurt.

It’s not surprising that Hall was charged... READ MORE 

Comments
2
Filed under abortion, crime, forgiveness, news, pregnancy, pro-life, protesters, violence

Signs of Life

Photos From the March for Life in D.C.

Posted by Danielle Bean in News on Wednesday, January 27, 2010

I wasn’t able to attend the March for Life in washington, D.C. this year, but Faith & Family associate editor Lynn Wehner made the trek with one of her daughters.

When she got back, she shared these short inspiring thoughts (along with several photos of the most notable signs she saw—click “read more” to see them):

“Never” is usually such a pessimistic word … not so at this year’s March for Life!... READ MORE 

Comments
4
Filed under abortion, march for life, photos, pro-life, protest

A Pro-Life Prayer

for today and every day

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Faith on Friday, January 22, 2010

Because today was the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, I went looking for a special pro-life prayer to say. I was very pleased to find a beautiful one, which says it’s adapted from a homily by Pope John Paul II. I know we’re all thinking of and praying for all victims of abortion today, and in honor of that, I thought I’d share the prayer here.

Prayer for Life

Almighty God, our Father,
you who have... READ MORE 

Comments
3
Filed under abortion, john paul ii, prayer, pro-life, unborn, victims of abortion

I See FOCA

Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Monday, January 11, 2010

At the Register’s new site, Tom Hoopes notes that just about every measure of FOCA will be accomplished by the health care bill.

Here’s just one example:

FOCA MAKES ABORTION A RIGHT. It creates a “fundamental right” to abortion throughout the nine months of pregnancy. No governmental body at any level would be able to “deny or interfere with” this right, or to “discriminate” against the exercise of this right “in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.” For the first time, abortion would become an entitlement the government must condone and promote.

HEALTH BILL MAKES ABORTION A REGULATORY REQUIREMENT. In the Senate health bill, the federal government provides or requires health insurance that does exactly that. So what’s the difference?

Read the whole post for a systematic list of everything the health care bills in their current forms accomplish. 

See if you don’t see FOCA too.

Comments
0
Filed under abortion, foca, health care, pro-life

From Planned Parenthood to Pro-Life

After 8 years, PP director Abby Johnson has a change of heart

Posted by Danielle Bean in News on Monday, November 02, 2009

“The money wasn’t in family planning, the money wasn’t in prevention, the money was in abortion and so I had a problem with that,” said Johnson.

Read more here. Check out the news story in this video clip (15 second commercial precedes the story):

Comments
5
Filed under abortion, conversion, planned parenthood, pro-life

Work for Peace Everywhere

In response to Obama's Nobel Peace prize

Posted by Arwen Mosher in News on Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Last Friday I was listening to Teresa Tomeo’s morning show, and they were talking about President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize win.

From a political perspective there are plenty of things to say on this topic, but I think most of them have already been covered on the thousands of political blogs out there.

Teresa Tomeo’s guest was Janet Morana of Priests for Life and Silent No More, and I loved the... READ MORE 

Comments
3
Filed under abortion, nobel prize, obama, peace, sanctity of life, teresa of calcutta

Tweeting Miscarriage and Abortion

Penelope Trunk pushes the limits

Posted by Danielle Bean in News on Friday, October 02, 2009

In a disturbing clash betweeen the culture of death and new media, blogger Penelope Trunk has garnered a storm of media attention with a recent twitter entry in which she expressed relief at suffering a miscarriage so she wouldn’t have to bother with getting an abortion.

The above clip is from Rick Sanchez on CNN where he interviews Trunk about her attention-getting tweet,... READ MORE 

Comments
20
Filed under abortion, miscarriage, new media, penelope trunk, twitter

Can You Help a Chinese Couple Have Their Baby?

a plea for pro-life support

Posted by Danielle Bean in News on Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I recently received an email that made me feel completely ignorant and helpless.

I have no information to offer this needy couple about organizations that might help Chinese women have their second babies. I am really hoping someone here might offer some insight or information. You can comment here or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and I’ll forward it to the party in question:... READ MORE 

Comments
21
Filed under abortion, charity, china, justice, prolife

Stop the Abortion Mandate

Posted by Danielle Bean in News on Friday, August 21, 2009

A well-done video with an important call to action:

Comments
1
Filed under abortion, activism, health care, politics, pro-life, video

Divide & Conquer?

Can all those pro-choice Catholics be coincidental?

Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Thursday, July 23, 2009

image.examiner.com/.../obamahopepope_pic(1).jpg

The occasion of Dr. Regina Benjamin’s nomination to the Surgeon General’s post caused Tom Hoopes to pose a provocative question.

Does the President have a deliberate “divide and conquer” strategy when it comes to the Church?

Many commenters scoffed when I raised that question myself a few months ago (agreeing with another columnist).

But Hoopes draws attention to the comments of a political science... READ MORE 

Comments
11
Filed under abortion, catholics, obama, political tactics

Page 1 of 5 pages  1 2 3 >  Last Page »