Sharing Our Faith at Home

by Peggy Connolly

Last August, Old St. Joseph’s Children’s Liturgy of the Word ministers held their annual summer meeting. Under normal conditions, we would have discussed scheduling, materials, procedures and so on. But these are far from normal times and no agenda was needed. There was just one issue to address: how can we serve our very youngest parishioners whose families look to the Children’s Liturgy of the Word to help with their children’s faith formation?

In the words of one such parent, “We’re finding it very hard to be away from Old St. Joe’s as we love our church community dearly. . .we never realized just how much we depended on OSJ as the bedrock of our Catholic practice.”

It soon occurred to some of the Children’s Liturgy of the Word ministers that gathering and sharing suggestions for praying at home might be of help while we remain apart. Simplicity and consistency are important. What follows is the experience of generous friends and colleagues, and a few reflections of my own.

For many, praying as a family around the table before and after a meal seems most natural. One friend noted that “lighting a candle at the table reminds us of the presence of God. We also talk about the candles in church when we watch online Mass. God is always ready to hear us.”

While thanks for our food is what we are most likely to express at mealtime, many use this time to thank God for much more, saying that “speaking from the heart is easy when you are surrounded by people you trust and nothing is too small or too large to be brought to prayer in the safety of home,”

Another family gives everyone at the dinner table an opportunity to recall one good and one not-so-good moment of their day. They call them their Rose and their Thorn. These lead naturally to simple prayers of thanks or for help, such as “Thank you, Jesus, for helping Brian find his skates,” and “Dear Lord, please help Jean to be more patient when the baby knocks over her Lego project.”

Another family keeps a basket filled with paper, pencils and crayons handy. Everyone is welcome to write words or draw a picture of something they would like to pray about when the family is all together.

In another family, every member has composed or memorized a prayer or blessing to say before eating. They take turns leading prayer every evening.

Along with mealtime, bedtime is often mentioned as a moment for family prayer, especially with the very youngest children. Many keep a simple reminder of their faith in the child’s room—cross, a statue of the Blessed Mother or favorite saint, books that remind the children of familiar stories from scripture. The quiet time before sleep seems to be a good time for many families to ponder what’s in their hearts and raise their thoughts to God in prayer.

One mother told me that she and her children pray a children’s examen at the end of the day. It goes like this:

Thanks, God, for being with us today.
My favorite thing from today was… .
My silly thing from today was… .
My sorry thing from today was… .
Please be with us tomorrow, God. Amen

Since God is always calling us to pray it seems there is really no time when we can’t share what is in our hearts with Him. The late Mary Oliver says this so well in her poem, Thirst:

It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones: just pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but a doorway
into thanks and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”

One of our parish families that lives in the city uses the frequent and frightening sounds of ambulance sirens, police cars and fire alarms as an opportunity to thank God for all people who help us when we are hurt, or sick, or when accidents happen. “This prayer practice,” they reported, “seems to soften fear and encourage prayerful gratitude.”

In Christine Hides’ little book, Sheltered at Home: Family Prayers for Living and Loving (available on Kindle), she talks about prayer while hand washing. Since this is not a favorite activity for most children, she wrote a prayer to engage a child until the “ordeal” is over. You might consider this paraphrased version:

With water and soap, I wash my hands again and think about
The rain that falls
The seas filled with life.
The water God created
The river where Jesus was baptized
The water that baptized me

Thus a repeated chore becomes an opportunity to thank God for a great gift that we rely on every day.

Some families who attended OSJ’s Family Activity Day last March are using the prayer boxes they created that day as an aid to family prayer. Children can use their prayer box to set a place for family prayer or family viewing of Mass online. The prayer boxes contain

—a small white cloth (an unfolded napkin works) in white or the liturgical color of the season,
—a cross or crucifix
—a candle to light when an adult is present
—small tokens that remind you of God’s presence and gifts, or that you would like to pray about
—perhaps some word or a phrase from the day’s Scriptures

Warm and heartfelt thanks to all contributed suggestions to share, especially amidst the many obligations that have arisen during the pandemic. Your faith and commitment to the faith of your children is inspiring. I look forward to when we can pray together again in person.

Parishioner Peggy Connolly leads OSJ’s Children’s Liturgy of the Word.

Additional resources, especially for families that view online Mass together:

OSJ parishioner Carol Hanlon created these Suggestions for Family Prayer.

Children’s Daily Prayer 2020-2021, from Liturgical Training Publications (http://ltp.org) conatins simple daily services adaptable for home or school use.

Each day’s Scripture readings can be found at bible.usccb.corg

https://www.loyolapress.com/our-catholic-faith/liturgical-year/sunday-connection offers background material on the sunday readings, suggestions for conversation with children in all age groups and suggestions for family activity

https://us.magnificat.net/magnifikid is most helpful for early readers.

For blossoming artists, http://www.sermons4kids.com offers coloring sheets appropriate for almost every Sunday’s Gospel.