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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.
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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 …
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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.
Read My Posts

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Peace During Mass

Finding it in an unusual way

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Monday, February 08, 2010

Some Sundays, Mass goes well. Some Sundays, not so much.

I’m sure we’re not the only family this happens to, right?

This past Sunday was challenging. Blaise needed a diaper change just as we were walking in the door. Bryan missed the processional while he was taking care of that. We forgot to bring Camilla’s little Bible and Mass books, plus we were at my parents’ parish and they don’t have a Liturgy... READ MORE 

Comments
27
Filed under children, distraction, kindness, love, mass, parenting, strangers

First Friday Mass

a family tradition

Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Friday, February 05, 2010

For the past few years, Paul and I have made an effort to take our family to Mass on the first Friday of every month.

It’s a sweet little tradition that we all (boys included) really love. The Mass is celebrated in the gym of our boys’ school. It starts at 7 a.m., followed by a light breakfast and then the boys head off to class. 

We finally made it back this morning after a long hiatus—when I wasn’t... READ MORE 

Comments
10
Filed under family, mass, tradition

Yes We Scan

From Poland, a creative approach to checking Mass attendance

Posted by Lisa Hendey in News on Tuesday, February 02, 2010

This story from CathNews USA caught my eye this morning and had me checking to make sure it wasn’t April Fool’s Day:

A Polish priest in the country’s southern town of Gryfow Slaski has installed an electronic reader in his church for schoolchildren to leave their fingerprints in order to monitor their attendance at mass.  The pupils will mark their fingerprints every time they go to church over three... READ MORE 

Comments
25
Filed under confirmation, mass, teens

Meeting Him at Midnight

O Come Let Us Adore Him

Posted by Danielle Bean in Faith on Thursday, December 24, 2009

A few years ago, when our pastor suggested that we Beans attend Midnight Mass for Christmas, I balked.

What?

We only had about a million kids. We were supposed to wake them up in the middle of the night and drag them to a 2-hour liturgy?

Really?

Yes.

And we have ever since. What a blessing the midnight Mass has been for us!

I love to watch my children approach the nativity scene at our church at... READ MORE 

Comments
5
Filed under advent, christmas, jesus, mass

Christmas Traditions Old & New

What are some of your time honored traditions?

Posted by Lisa Hendey in Just me on Wednesday, December 23, 2009

When it comes to Christmas, one of the longest standing family traditions in my family is the eating of pizza for dinner on Christmas Eve.  I think my parents struck on the idea when their five young children, preoccupied by the thought of opening presents, refused to eat anything but pizza.  They gave in two years in a row, and a tradition was born.

It’s not a very religious tradition, but it is... READ MORE 

Comments
20
Filed under christmas, family, mass, traditions

In Over My Head

Fashion Friday vol. 6

Posted by Hallie Lord in Reviews on Friday, December 11, 2009

Hiya girls!

I hope you won’t mind if I tie my second Fashion Friday stocking stuffer suggestion into the slightly more weighty topic of covering one’s head at Mass. Veiling is an issue that’s intrigued me for a long time and I’m eager to hear your experiences with and opinions on the subject.

Over time I’ve learned that if there’s an issue I can’t seem to get off my mind it usually means God is trying... READ MORE 

Comments
64
Filed under church, faith, fashion, head cover, mass, style

Peace Out

taking precautions during Mass

Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Monday, November 09, 2009

Yesterday at the end of Mass, our pastor said he had an important announcement from our Bishop. As part of the need to be wise in the face of rampant germ spread, the Bishop has (strongly) urged that all diocesan parishes refrain from shaking hands during the kiss of peace and also from administering the precious blood.

This was not a shocking announcement to me, in that I’ve heard of other parishes... READ MORE 

Comments
33
Filed under bishop, discussion, mass, peace

Mass from across Town

Participating when you can't be there

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Faith on Monday, September 28, 2009

I’ve caught a cold from my kids, and yesterday I was sick as anything and barely got out of bed all day long.

This was sad because it was Sunday.

I strongly dislike being sick on Sundays.  Even with the baby-wrangling that’s involved, Mass at our parish always revitalizes me.  I love going.

Unfortunately, yesterday morning I was croaking like a frog and couldn’t stop coughing.  I certainly didn’t... READ MORE 

Comments
1
Filed under celebration, children, illness, mass, mediations, prayer, reading, spirituality

One Mass… One Church

Hope you enjoy this inspirational music video...

Posted by Lisa Hendey in Faith on Saturday, August 08, 2009

Comments
3
Filed under catholic music, mass, videos

On God's Team

Posted by Joseph Pronechen in Everyday Apostles on Thursday, August 06, 2009

Going the Distance

Monica Rust, Franciscan University of Steubenville


Monica Rust makes no secret about why she runs track and cross country at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.

“Being part of the team here really transformed why I run and what I get out of it,” says the 20-year-old student, a junior. “We’re running for the glory of God. And we make running a sacrificial offering.”

Indeed,... READ MORE 

Comments
0
Filed under faith, mass, prayer, school, teens

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