The Maiden Warrior

Carry Your Cross: The Way of Salvation

They (the soldiers who had mocked, beaten, and humiliated Jesus) pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

~St. Mark 15:21

Consider:

Today, we are invited to enter the profundity of all ages–Holy Week. The excruciating events of this week grant us the most extraordinary depth of insight into Jesus’ heart. It is incumbent on our faith in God to enter this week with humility and thanksgiving, for in this week, we see in stark detail what Love beckons us to become.

Jesus taught his disciples that if they wanted to follow him, they must take up their cross (Matthew 10:28). And St. Paul reminded the believers in the Early Church that we complete Christ’s sufferings through our willingness to suffer as Christ suffered (Colossians 1:24). The economy of Salvation stupifies me sometimes—no, much of the time! We gain when we lose, live when we die, and are exalted only through humility.

Let’s keep that in mind as we consider Simon of Cyrene, who physically entered Christ’s suffering by carrying his cross for him. St. Luke observes that after laying the cross on [Simon], they made him carry it behind Jesus. Interesting point. Don’t you want to know what may have run through his mind as he followed the God-man, beaten beyond recognition, stumbling along before him? We do know this: the way (attitude) Simon carried Christ’s Cross changed the trajectory of his life, much in the way the Lord wants to transform our lives. (St. Simon spread The Gospel in northern Africa; he was eventually martyred for his faith in Christ around 100 A.D. His sons, Alexander and Rufus, were among the first believers in the Early Church in Rome. Because of the influence of St. Simon of Cyrene, we can assume The Church was graced with Tertullian, St. Augustine, St. Cyprian, and St. Monica from northern Africa)

If we genuinely desire to follow Christ to eternal life, we must first walk The Way of The Cross. But how exactly do we do that? Jesus told his disciples that he was the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. The Greek meaning here is that Christ laid down his life, soul, heart, and mind. He calls us to do the same; how are we doing? Do we lay down our thoughts and words? Do we lay down our desires? How often do our tongues complain when a circumstance or someone messes with our plans? How often do we complain to others about someone who has offended us? How frequently do our minds refuse another’s need because it will cause us discomfort?

Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be like a lamb, led to slaughter. Have you ever observed lambs? They just follow the sheep who follow the shepherd. Hmm? What if Simon complained and blamed Christ as he bore his burden to The Cross? What would have happened to Alexander and Rufus if Simon had complained about his burden of following Christ to his Cross? What happens in us when we spur suffering as if we don’t deserve it? How are the observers of our lives affected by our attitudes in the face of unwelcomed interruptions?

Every bit of inconvenience, interruption, and disruption is God’s will for us in that moment where we have the choice to lay down our life, soul, heart, and mind. Although minor inconveniences have little consequence, they provide practice in laying down our lives with an attitude of thanksgiving. When the consequential sufferings of our lives come along, we recognize them as the call of Christ to complete his suffering by carrying our cross in what he has allowed in our lives.

Christ went to the Cross to save us from the immense sufferings of sin and death. He allows whatever temporal sufferings–the diagnosis, the betrayal, the tragedy, the loss–to save us from ourselves along the way. He saves us in the circumstances, and our mind, body, and soul will be transformed into his likeness! That is the way of The Cross.

Pray:
Shepherd of my heart and Savior of my life, I exalt you; my soul magnifies you! Yet I so quickly magnify my molehills into mountains when something comes along to mess with my control. Please forgive me for my pride, fear, and self-absorption. You created me in your image; it takes a lifetime of surrendering my will to you. Why do I delay it by resisting Your will for me in each circumstance? Why do I doubt your everlasting love for me? You will never lead me where you do not want me to go, but sometimes I do. Lead me back to the Way of the Cross, the path of my salvation. ~Amen

Act:

Consider taking up the Daily Examination as a habit. I’ve included a link to help you along.

Click to access Examen-St.-Ignatius.pdf

Carry Your Cross: The Suffering Servant

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Matthew 27:27-31

Consider:
Who was in the cohort around Jesus? People like you and me who were patriotic, doing their duty and living according to the laws of Rome. They carry out justice according to the law of the land, well-meaning, yet tragically misled. Jesus had come to show a new law that wasn’t violent, a law where mercy and justice meet. Imagine what thoughts invaded Jesus’ mind while they were torturing him and mocking his deity; we can’t, can we? But we do know that he didn’t call down justice on them at that moment; revenge was not on his agenda. He offered himself as a willing sacrifice for the sins committed against him!

We have all been wounded at some time or another—ganged up on, ridiculed for our beliefs, mocked, and humiliated—no easy recovery from these wounds. Perhaps you are struggling to release yourself into the healing hands of Jesus. In a post-WWI novel, “The Light Between Oceans,” a conversation between a wife and her German husband speaks right to the heart of our struggle. Rachel, the wife, asks her husband, “How can you just get over these things … you’ve had so much strife, but you’re always happy; how do you do it?” Frank replied, “I can choose to spend my time rotting on things in the past and hating people for what happens … or I can forgive and forget … Oh, but it is so much less exhausting; you only have to forgive once; to resent, you have to do it all day. Every day, you have to keep remembering all the bad things—a very long list to make sure you keep remembering all the bad things to make sure that I hated the people on it the right amount and that I did a very proper job with hating too. No, we always have a choice, all of us.”

Pray:
Jesus, Suffering Servant of humanity, teach me how to forgive! You suffered my sins on your Cross so that I wouldn’t have to suffer, yet I choose to suffer when I hold tightly to the offenses toward me. Revenge creeps into my soul like a slow cancer, destroying my spirit. Oh, Jesus, forgive me! –Amen

Act:
Prayerfully examine your spirit and allow yourself permission to record the suffering you carry with you from past injustices. If possible, take the list with you to Adoration. Tell our Suffering Servant each injustice you are holding onto. Allow your imagination to take you into the governor’s headquarters, and look at Jesus’ eyes as he silently receives the crown of thorns and the strikes to his Sacred Head. He sees your pain; he KNOWS your pain. Allow the Blood that is pouring from his head wounds to flow over your mind and memory; as soon as you can, light a match to your list, surrendering it to the Lover of your soul.

Carry Your Cross: Courtyard Coward

Then they seized [Jesus] and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A little later, someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then about an hour later, still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Luke 22:54-62

Consider:

Let’s first consider Peter in this heart-rending exchange between Jesus and himself. Peter, the bold and outspoken natural leader, is caught cowering away from this man whom he had declared the Messiah, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16). Peter had witnessed the Transfiguration of Christ and heard God speak from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5).

Peter’s zeal drove him to strike off the ear of one of the soldiers who came to arrest Jesus just hours earlier (John 18:10-11). But now, we see Peter, the most successful failure of all time, on his worst day ever! What happened to all of Peter’s resolve and determination to die for Jesus rather than see him harmed?

The underbelly of courage is fear, and we see in Peter how quickly fear takes control of us when we allow it. We are Peter! We come before the Lord to worship him; we declare our belief in him as the Son of God. We sit, stand, kneel, sing and pray, all out of love and devotion to Jesus Christ. But then we walk into a world that doesn’t honor and worship Christ. We choose silence in the face of resistance. We back down when we should stand up. We are so good at making resolutions, and we are even better at failing. Yes, the shoe fits all too well.

Let’s consider Jesus in this moment. Jesus has yet to endure the brutality and mockery of his Passion, but the pain he experiences at this moment surpasses the physical pain to come. The psalmist foreshadowed Jesus’s extreme abandonment at this moment: “It is not enemies who taunt me—I could bear that; it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me— I could hide from them. But it is you, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend, with whom I kept pleasant company” (Psalm 55:12- 14). And yet, and yet, Jesus turned to look at Peter through his eyes of love and forgiveness.

Pray:

Jesus, I’m so good at making resolutions and I’m even better at failing! Forgive me for the times I serve my fear rather than loving and serving you. Grant me the courage to love you with abandon. Jesus, you had me in your sights when you were mortified, flogged and beaten, mocked, and crucified, but none of it causes you as much pain as when I turn away from you every time I am afraid, or I’ve failed. You are the God of second chances…. a thousand chances; there is nowhere I can run from you that you aren’t there, waiting for me to look at you. ~Amen

Carry Your Cross: The Scapegoat

…The chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

St. Mark 15:11-15

Consider:

Just as a scapegoat symbolically bore the sins of the Israelites in the Old Testament ritual of atonement, We see in this narrative how Jesus became our scapegoat for our sins. The scapegoat “took on” the sins of the people (Barabbas) and was then driven over a precipice to die. Isaiah prophesied that “[Christ] was despised and rejected by men … He poured out His life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:3a, 12). Imagine the mental and emotional wounding Christ must have felt as he heard his people cry out for his crucifixion. These people who had witnessed his healing power and listened to his words of life now turned against him in mass hysteria.

St. Polycarp exhorted the Early Church to “leave untouched the idle prattle and the error of the masses.” Protest, at its extreme, sent Christ to the Cross. We may believe we aren’t capable of that kind of cruelty, but think again. Consider the pattern of human behavior when confronted by something or someone that messes with our system or disrupts our conveniences. The temptation is to engage in “idle prattle” (read complaining and murmuring) that can lead to dissent and protest, making someone or something a scapegoat for our complaints. Ah. That we understand, don’t we?

St. Polycarp went on to say in his letter to “make Christ’s commandments our rule of life and love what he loves.” Can you think of any circumstances that have messed with your system, and you are tempted to murmur and complain, even protest? Remember that Christ’s commandments are built on the humble acceptance that we are not in control. His rule of life includes harmony with others. His Word declares, How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

Pray:

Jesus, Your Word says you were led to your Crucifixion like a lamb to the slaughter–silently following Your Father’s will. Forgive me for the times I complain and murmur over stored grievances and petty inconveniences. Holy Spirit, confront me when I am party to the error of the masses. Holy Spirit of God, will you set my spirit aright to accept any suffering you allow willingly?

~Amen

Pray It Forward: How Then Shall We Live?

Hand touching mezuzah at the entrance to the house

In the last Pray It Forward post, we learned how foundational it is to know why we are here and why we choose to be Catholic in a culture of competing worldviews. The logical question for us now is: If we understand why we are here and what we are about, how should we live? Let’s consider this question in the context of our home life.

If someone were to walk into our home today, would they see evidence of our Catholic faith? Moreover, if someone were to listen in on our daily conversations with our children and grandchildren, would they hear evidence of our Catholic faith? Sure, relationships can be strained occasionally; that’s a given when you learn to love, but what is the overall atmosphere in our homes?

When we pray, “Thy Kingdom come…on earth as it is in heaven,” we must remember that it begins in the home—as the home goes, so goes the country. Our Catholic faith places a high value on sacramental living, so let’s consider how to fill our homes with tangible evidence of our belief in God.

A Humble Abode

Life lived according to God’s way, lived under the banner of love, teaches us and others through a humbling beauty.¹

It is a sad fact that the pell-mell pace of modern life takes us away from home rather than to it. What can we do to shift back to home-centric family life? Observing the Sabbath with the grace and reverence God desires is a good starting place. What can we do to make Sunday feel different for our family? How we begin the day sets the tone for the Sabbath rest that awaits us. The priority of worship of the Mass is a given, but what can we do in the hours before we leave for Mass? Simply saying with joyful anticipation to our children that we get to honor the Lord by worshiping him with other believers sets the tone for the day.

Planning a special meal to prepare together can foster excitement for the day. It may be as easy as a brunch for lunch or as adventurous as a new ethnic recipe you prepare together; the food choice doesn’t matter as long as it is out of the ordinary from the rest of the week. Also, eating together at a table set in a unique-to-Sunday style. A lit candle or a small statue of the Holy Family are excellent centerpieces, and dinnerware reserved for Sunday and Feast Days draws attention to how much we value practicing our Catholic faith.

A special table blessing is reasonable to say together at every meal, but you may want to add a question after the blessing to begin a conversation. Search “family dinner conversation,” and you’ll find many conversation starters. The goal of the conversation is to unite our family with the Lord’s desire to bless us. Count on it! He will!

Heavenly Father, Giver of all good things, In a world where so many are hungry. May we eat this food with humble hearts? In a world where so many are lonely, May we share this friendship with joyful hearts. ~Amen.

From Here to Eternity

The family that prays together—If you spend the first ten years with your children, they will spend the next ten years with you.”2

Hear, O [Family]: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.³

Our vocation is to orient our family life toward eternity. Moses instructed the people of God on how to do just that: “Bind them (the precepts of God’s desire for his beloved) as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Dt 6:7-9). God’s instruction to the Jews relied on the determination of fathers and mothers to act on their faith in God as parents. The instruction hasn’t changed; action is still required! Here’s an idea: A mezuzah (pictured above) is a sacred Jewish object placed on the threshold of the home, which blesses and sanctifies their living space. A special parchment that has the scriptures of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 inscribed upon them is contained in the receptacle. You could develop a habit with your children that whenever you enter or leave your home, you say the first two lines from the passage together, amending it to say, Hear, O family…

Are we present to our family? Prioritizing our lives around the family would seem obvious, but we live in a culture that messages otherwise. Preferring our family needs to go beyond our own preferences. Have you looked at any photos of family gatherings lately? Notice how many people are looking at their cell phones. That should disturb us! Where in our days can we shelter our family from outside influences? A time when they know they have our undivided attention?

Consider having a container in a closet where all the silenced cell phones/devices go when you spend time together! If you go out to eat, leave the cell phones/devices in the car. Consider scheduling a read-aloud in your shelter time; it will reap remarkable developmental benefits. Listening to or reading virtuous books was a favorite pastime with our children; now, their families enjoy doing the same. Good habits are usually continued from generation to generation. Consider what that time will do when we combine it with books that teach biblical values, truth, and virtue! Search “storybooks on Christian virtue” to discover age-appropriate resources for your home library. I recommend The Children’s Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett as a go-to anthology of read-aloud stories for children of all ages.

So, friends, how, then, shall we live as Catholic Christians? Prayer, intentionality, and consistency are the answers. Seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance for your family; he is faithful to pour His gifts of wisdom, understanding, and counsel.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph pray that I have the courage and fortitude to align my family life to God’s will and purpose. ~Amen

Resources

¹Theology of Home: Finding the Eternal in the Everyday by Carrie Gress, Noelle Mering, and Megan Schrieber.

²Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family by Maria Von Trapp.

³Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Carry Your Cross: Blood, Sweat, and Tears

When he reached the place, he said to [his disciples], “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” Then, an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.
St. Luke 22:40-44

Consider:
The core of many human fears is abandonment and rejection; the emotional weight of those fears is seen in the agony Jesus endured as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane just hours before his arrest. Undoubtedly, the most excruciating wounds of his Passion would be the betrayal and abandonment of his disciples in this garden and, later, in Jerusalem. St. Luke writes about how anguished he was in spirit that his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground as he prayed. Hours later, his own lifeblood would fall to the ground as his emotional anguish united with the physical trauma of his Passion. It’s hard to take in, isn’t it? Whoever came up with the idiom, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me,” had it all wrong. Words are like spears piercing our minds and emotions, leaving indelible wounds.

Enter into those moments. Let the agony of betrayal and abandonment penetrate your spirit. He’s bowed low; sweat flows like blood under the weight of what is to come. You have never seen him so vulnerable, so consumed by what love bids him to endure for your sake. He struggles to stand to come closer to you. Listen, do you hear Jesus ask you to “Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

Pray:
Oh, Lord! There is no trial I will ever endure that you haven’t already suffered for me. Suffering Servant, I desire to unite my fears of abandonment and the wounds from past betrayals with your Passion for me. When I am tempted to be embittered and resentful, You desire to hear me say, “Not my will, but yours be done.” When I am tempted to stew in self-pity, strengthen my spirit to stay alert in prayer against the enemy of my soul. –Amen

Pray It Forward: Altars of Remembrance

We continue to build the proverbial family altar using the Sacred Scriptures as our blueprint. What God commanded Joshua to do with his people, he still commands us to do with our people—build altars of remembrance. These altars are “to be a sign among you. When your children ask you, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ We will be able to recount the reasons for our faith in the One True LORD God Almighty.

We, in effect, build altars of remembrance in our homes each time we come together to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, graduations and weddings, even funerals. We tell our children the events of their birth; we share the story of how we met our husbands and wives; we hang memory boards at graduation open houses and funerals to celebrate a life in photos and memorabilia. What would happen in our homes if we honored our faith journey as much as our family journey? Do our children and grandchildren know the story of our faith in God? Do WE know our story of faith in God?

In the last post (The Family Altar), we discussed the instruction from the Shema (“to listen or hear”) to “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6). Today, we will consider the next instruction from the Shema where God directs his people to “Recite them to your children and talk about them…” (v.7).

When we know why we choose to practice our Catholic Faith, it is much easier to confidently practice our faith in what we do and how we live. When we recite the Nicene Creed like practicing Jews recite the Shema, it sets the trajectory of our lives, and it can set the trajectory of our children’s lives when we live what we believe. The bottom line for us as parents and grandparents is to guide our children in establishing a Catholic worldview in our quotidian existence. Where do we begin? St. Peter wrote to the early Christians,

“…In your hearts, sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to give a reason why you (believe in God) to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”

I Peter 3:15

Giving an account of something is at the heart of storytelling; its effect is proven in history. It is how The Faith was passed down to us, beginning with the story of the Jewish nation recorded in the Old Testament. When we share our stories of faith in God with our children (or anyone for that matter), we effectively give an account of the hope that is in us. Have you ever spent time meditating on the events of your life in the rubric of God’s providence? That’s an excellent place to start telling your faith story to the next generation. Consider these seed thoughts and questions you can ask yourself as you prepare to make a practice of reciting our Catholic Faith to our children.

What’s your earliest memory of feeling God’s presence? That is where your faith journey began. Children are always intrigued by our childhood stories; we can capitalize on that as we learn to recite our faith.

When was a time you felt a strong sense of God’s presence? No doubt there’s an interesting story that accompanies that memory, too. Is there a tender or dramatic moment you can share with your children where you felt the presence of the Lord?

When you look back at your life, where can you identify a blessing in disguise? Understanding where God came through for you unexpectedly can help you articulate the memory to your children. Share the circumstances of a time when money was short for a need, and how God provided it. Share the circumstance of a time when you were lonely, afraid, or angry and how God helped you overcome it.

What are some of the blessings of God’s natural world most meaningful to your life? Recall times in your childhood when you experienced those blessings. Share them with your children and grandchildren! In the present, there are so many moments we can seize when we are in nature with our children to point them toward our Creator God. When you hear a bird call, wonder aloud with them why God designed that bird to sing that song. Thank the Lord out loud for the weather, even when it’s not agreeable to you. Again, we are pointing our children to God by displaying an attitude of praise and thanksgiving for things present, past, and future. We can instill faith and hope in God in our children every tiny moment of the day!

Fostering a holy environment where our faith in God is active, remembered, treasured, celebrated, and passed on to generations to come is a privilege and honor. Let’s pick up our tools and get to work!

Pray It Forward: Keep the Faith

We continue our theme of the family altar by considering our “why” for prioritizing a holy atmosphere in our homes. Moses instructed God’s people to observe the statutes and ordinances of God diligently so that their children and children’s children may revere the Lord. He ended by saying,

… Observe them diligently so that it may go well with you.
Deuteronomy 6:3

Our children are growing up in a world of competing worldviews manufactured to lead us to anywhere but God. The balance of living in the world and not of it seems more challenging to maintain than ever before. Where do our children learn a Christian worldview if not in our home? All of us, at one time or another, search for the answers to the five big questions of existence. Where did I come from? Who am I? Why am I here? How should I live? Where am I going? God’s intention for our families is for them to learn that in the home environment. How are we doing at that? Yes, the rubric for answering those questions is contained in The Sacred Scripture and the worship of the Mass, but does it really answer life’s questions? A resounding yes!

Our children can learn to know their origin, identity, and purpose as we create an environment where the answers to the questions of morality and destiny are woven moment by moment into the very fiber of our children’s understanding. So, let’s revisit the first lines of the Shema to observe how we can do this.

The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Then he instructs the people, “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart…”
Deuteronomy 6:4-6

As discussed in a previous blog (The Family Altar), these words are our magna carta for creating our home atmosphere around the Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of The Faith. We must be intentional and remain at our post as parents and grandparents so that it will go well for our family. Notice that Moses then instructed, “Keep these words…” What does that mean, and how do we do it? To keep is to “cause to continue in a specified condition, position, or course.” Webster expands the meaning by referring to this phrase, “The guidance system keeps the machine on course.” When we “Keep The Faith,” we guide our family on the course of God’s desire for us and our future generations. How do we do that?

Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home, when you are away, when you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6:7

There are so many things to keep track of in our busy family lives, right? Perhaps a minor assessment of the busyness of your family life is in order. What can you eliminate? Where can you carve out 15 minutes to unite each day as a holy family? There is always a way, but not always a will. Ask the Lord for his will to be your will for your family. Yes, it is inevitable to experience some resistance, but you are the parent! Stay the course.

One last thought about the word: keep. As a noun, Keep refers to a castle’s most vital or central tower, acting as a final refuge. Establishing a family altar in our home serves as a Keep for our children. When we build our Catholic Faith as THE most substantial influence in our family life, our children will know where to return to when they encounter their existential crisis, which is inevitable for all of us.

The beauty of honoring the Lord as a family is that we learn together as we discuss the faith. I recommend a few age-appropriate Bible storybooks to you. The following recommendations are ecumenical in that they contain nothing untoward to our Catholic Faith.

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name is appropriate for 2-6-year-olds.

The Action Bible: God’s Redemptive Story is appropriate for school-aged children and adolescents.

I highly recommend The Power of the Praying Parent and The Power of the Praying Grandparent by Stormie Omartian. Prayer is the foundation for our success as holy parents and grandparents.

Holy Father, We are grateful that we are not alone. You are our Teacher, always whispering to us, “This is the way; walk in it.” Help us to listen. Your Word promises that we honor you in praise and worship, our future generations will declare you as Lord. We are banking on that, Lord. Lead us on!
–Amen

Pray It Forward: The Family Altar

“Teach [your] children of the [loving ways] of God; [so] that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments”

~Psalm 78

The Sacred Scriptures emphasize the honor and responsibility we have to our family and future generations to teach the ways of God. Let’s consider an object lesson; as it were, God used to open the eyes of his people to their sacred responsibility to sanctify their families.

The first books of the Bible and the book of Joshua relay the lengths God went to to establish his covenant with his creation. He chose the family of Abraham and his future generations to fulfill his desire that all creation would know of his desire to bless them. He led his people into the long-awaited Promised Land through the river Jordan under the leadership of Joshua. God instructed Joshua to tell his people, “Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow, the Lord will do wonders among you” (Jos 3:5). And he did!

Later, when they crossed the Jordan, God instructed his people to build an altar with 12 stones from the river so that “these are to be a sign among you. When your children ask you, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ you shall answer them, ‘The waters of the Jordan ceased to flow before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it crossed the Jordan. Thus these stones are to serve as a perpetual memorial to the Israelites” (Jos 4:6-7).

This wasn’t the only time God instructed his people to build an altar as a remembrance (a visual reminder of God’s faithfulness), but it is one that will encourage us in our desire to live our faith effectively so that we become the holy families God desires to bless.

Altars would eventually serve other purposes: a place where parents would prophesy over their children by reminding them that they were created for a purpose—to serve the Lord God with all their mind, all their strength, and all their hearts. An altar became a sacred place where parents would release children into their prophetic destinies and where they would receive their father’s blessing. It would also become a destination to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving to the Lord on behalf of their family.

Over time, the geographical altars of remembrance became family altars in the culture of Judeo-Christian home life. It was a designated place in the home. The purpose was the same: a family remembered God’s faithfulness to their ancestors in the faith (Bible stories), and they conversed with God together, showing their love and thanksgiving for him (prayer). The benefit to future generations, of course, depended on how committed the parents were to passing on the faith to their children.

I grew up with a family altar that shifted throughout the day: from the kitchen, where we knelt at our chairs after breakfast as my father would pray for each of us before we went our separate ways, to the living room after dinner, where we listened to our father read the Sacred Scriptures, and we each learned to pray together; then to our bedsides as our mother prayed with us and tucked us into bed. Once I left home and married my husband, we built a family altar. Why? Because my parents were faithful to God by being faithful to us around the family altar, I knew the stability it provided for my development as a Christian, not to mention my self-image!

It isn’t always easy; a toddler crying at your feet or a teenager slamming their bedroom door in your face is distracting. Perseverance is required if we desire to instill in our children the stability of knowing who they are and why God created them the way he did. We must teach them, through example and habit, the beauty, goodness, and truth of The Faith.

Our desires for our family require consistent attention to God’s Word and perseverance in prayer, but where do we begin, and how do we fit it in? I would like to come alongside you to offer encouragement and practical advice for finding suitable “stones” for your family altar. We will consider other altars in the Sacred Scripture and how they can inspire us as we worship at our family altars.

Regardless of the composition of your family (mom and dad, single parent, blended family), You will discover ways to build a family altar and navigate family life under the priority of family worship. You will discover the beauty of verbally blessing your family and fostering an atmosphere of peace. We will offer practical approaches for discussing the faith with your children. And most importantly, you’ll learn how to become prayer warriors for your children and future generations.

Advent: Waiting Full

We can wait empty, or we can wait full.

It all depends on what we do with the time.

Those who wait empty get irritated or dissipated.

Those who wait full get richer as time goes by.

Those who wait empty wait aimlessly.

Those who wait full do something that
changes them by the time they get what they are waiting for.
–Unknown

Consider
“Indeed, this is our God; we looked to him, and he saved us! This is the Lord to whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”(Isaiah 25:9) Waiting equates with hoping; it’s waiting complete with gladness and joy at the thought that one day, the Lord will come through on his promise of salvation. Salvation is a noun that can function as a verb—it’s the unfolding and fulfilling of God’s purpose.

“Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us…” – Luke 2:15

Advent is defined as the season of quiet waiting, expectation, and hope fulfilled in the Incarnation of Christ. But here’s the thing: the culture no longer defines Advent that way. For that matter, most would not even recognize the noun Advent! In our world, these four weeks of the calendar year can be the most stress-filled weeks for many of us. It is a time of increased expectation, and if we are not careful to retain our way, we will scramble to fill the days according to the merchandising god that defines fulfillment of expectation with tangible goods.

It can be supremely difficult to silence the voices around us, step back from the noise, take a deep breath, and allow the LORD to reveal himself to us, can’t it? If we are honest, we admit to some irritation and dissipation because THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO to keep up with what we have been conditioned to think what a perfect Christmas looks like, so much so that we can become frantic to make every moment perfect for our loved ones.

A young mom-friend of mine wrote “A Parent’s Advent Prayer” that you may resonate with as you endeavor to wait full of joyful anticipation with your family. I pray that as you lead your pilgrim band, Christ will be more than enough to fill your home with true hope and joy!

Dear God,

I now stop what I’m doing,
what I’m thinking,
what I’m scrambling to plan
and hustling to finish
so that I can
be here.

Be here in the safety and warmth of your love.
This love that holds me fast and keeps me centered.
What I want to be a season of joy for my children
so quickly becomes a season of
increased expectations for me –
not because they expect things,
but because I do.

It’s the pressure I put on myself to
make things perfect,
and memorable,
and happy,
and special.

But you came to me amidst darkness and stars –
reminding me how darkness and light
are most beautiful together.
And in that holy, mysterious and messy night,
you re-defined perfection,
promising me that leaning into the mystery
and laying down in loving awe
compose the most faithful response.

You tell me the best gift I can give
my children this Christmas is
to look with love into their eyes.
To pause throughout the day
to pray over them.
To envelop them with arms
of fierce grace when I feel
most angry or annoyed.
To sit in wonder for a moment (or many)
and marvel at all that shaped
our family this year.

To give thanks
and allow tears to fall
and dreams to rise.
To take my pilgrim band
by their hands and walk together,
deep into the heart of Bethlehem
shining bright within our souls.
This will be more than enough,
because you’ve made a manger
in which my heart will rest and find
your heartbeat becoming mine.

Amen.

(Matthew 2:10-11 * Matthew 6:31 * Luke 2:15-20)