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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.
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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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Pumpkin Mouth

warning: graphic imagery

Posted by Danielle Bean in Just me on Monday, September 28, 2009

The Good News is: Our annual Okoberfest on Saturday was all kinds of fun. We had beautiful weather and lots of friends of family. We are blessed in so many ways.

The Not So Good News is: When it came to pumpkin carving, we left our 11-year-old son to his own devices. And this is what he came up with. Makes me wonder what else is going on behind that child’s innocent smile.

Comments
6
Filed under boys, carving, oktoberrfest, party, pumpkins

Recipes for Fall Feasts

sharing the wealth

Posted by Danielle Bean in Food on Tuesday, September 22, 2009

In my recent post about our upcoming Oktoberfest, Tiffany asks:

“Would you be willing to share what is on your menu for your Oktoberfest? It sounds like it would be a fun way to celebrate fall!”

It sure is and I sure will. Our Oktoberfest is a traditional gathering of friends and family. We carve pumpkins, play horseshoes, drink beer, and give the kids lots of cotton candy and other treats.

Dan’s... READ MORE 

Comments
6
Filed under autumn, baking, feast, oktoberfest, party, pumpkin

Partied Out

Costume party was fun

Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Friday, July 31, 2009

As promised, here is a shot of me and my man heading out to last week’s costume party.

I was sad because when I went back to find the extra-tall ‘fro wig, they were gone. So we settled on this mini-fro that still looked pretty good. I went as a Senora, and Paul was a basketball player from the 1970s. Of course, a few people thought he was dressed up as Richard Simmons so next time we might want to, ahem, think through the costume a bit more.

Either way, the evening was a blast, and I highly recommend you planning a costume party for your next big soiree.

Comments
4
Filed under fun, party, people

Simple Celebrating

Less really can be more

Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Thursday, July 16, 2009

Tonight we celebrated our youngest boy’s birthday. “Baby” Henry turned two, and to mark the occasion we invited our family and Henry’s godparents over for cake and ice-cream.

I struggled (briefly) with a feeling that this was not enough—that having people over for a one-hour party was not nearly as good as a two-hour game-laden dinner-included extravaganza. But the thing was, we didn’t have time... READ MORE 

Comments
5
Filed under birthday, celebration, family, party

New Year’s Eve…FAMILY STYLE

Posted by Robyn Lee in What's Cooking on Thursday, July 09, 2009

As a kid, I always thought that my parents let us stay up until midnight to celebrate the New Year.

But then came the year that my all-knowing older sister spilled the beans. “It’s not really midnight,” she told me. “Dad just changes the clock.”

Could it be true? It was. And it still is.

Each year, aunts and uncles, cousins and grandchildren in my family gather for a New Year’s Eve celebration.... READ MORE 

Comments
0
Filed under cooking, entertaining, feasts, food, holidays, hospitality, new years, party, recipes

Congratulations, First Communicants!

Share your 1st communion pictures

Posted by Rebecca Teti in Just me on Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Is there anything happier than seeing Jesus come to your child for the first time?

Our little Joseph, seen here with our pastor, Fr. James Stack, made his 1st communion Saturday, together with his classmates from St. Jerome School & CCD.

At the end of this post I’ll put in a “Mr. Linky” so you can share pictures from your family celebrations as well. We’d love to see them and share your joy.

It... READ MORE 

Comments
9
Filed under first communion, party, pictures, sacraments

Party Ready

Posted by Danielle Bean in Family on Friday, September 05, 2008

Here’s a look at what I have been finding all over the house the past two days: handmade confetti.

What’s that? You didn’t know there was such a thing as handmade confetti?

Well then, you don’t know Gabby. She has been making it by the cupful in preparation for her older brother’s birthday party this weekend.

I have been finding it on the table, on the floor, in the beds, and in the sink.

It’s maddening, and yet I find it so hard to get mad.

Comments
1
Filed under cute kids, party

Twice Blessed

Double baptism brings double blessings

Posted by Robyn Lee in Party Planners on Friday, August 15, 2008

Occasion: A “double baptism” for two of our children’s babies — girls born one week apart: Adelaide Louise Flavin and Camille Barry Thompson.

Party Planner: Cathy Thompson

Place: Our home in Louisiana

Guests: “All four grandparents for each baby were present, along with three great-grandmothers and two great-grandfathers. Our 11 children were in town, plus two of their spouses, and our four grandchildren.... READ MORE 

Comments
0
Filed under babies, baptism, party

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