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)

Christing the World

Lift up your heads, O gates;
rise up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may enter.
Who is this king of glory?
The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory.

Psalm 24:9,10

I’ve just returned home after celebrating Christ the King of the Universe Sunday at our parish; this particular Sunday is one of the most treasured masses of the year for me. Throughout the liturgical calendar, we ascend to the throne of Christ in the worship of the Mass, but on this day of solemnity, we ask Christ, the King, to descend onto the throne of our hearts to be Christ OUR King. Tears flowed as I joined our congregation in singing the high hymns of the Church. “Jesus shall reign, and to him shall endless prayer be made and praises throng to crown his head. His name, like sweet perfume, shall rise with every morning sacrifice!” On this day, I am keenly aware that my life is a prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving to the One who knows me better than I know myself and waits for me to respond to his presence in humble acceptance of his lordship of my life. My worship of him ascends like a fragrant offering; I wonder if he is pleased by the fragrance of my life.

We responded to His sacrifice of love as we received his body and blood in the Source and Summit of our Faith–The Worship of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist! With all the pomp and circumstance of a royal court, we responded to this solemn truth with the hymn of thanksgiving, The King of Love. As we sang, “The King of love my Shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never: I nothing lack if I am his and he is mine forever.” I was reminded that I can only receive his abundance when I humble myself before him as Sovereign Lord!

We call today’s mass The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, because it is a fitting preparatory mass celebration for the Sunday before Advent. We are closing the liturgical year with thanksgiving for Christ the King’s coming into our hearts, and we open the new year by remembering Christ’s incarnation as a baby and his entrance as the King of Glory! A Baby King! Of course, it’s the most wonderful time of year. Jesus, the very Light of the World, entered our darkened world wearing a swaddling cloth as a Crown of Glory to begin the final battle between good and evil in our lives and, ultimately, in the last battle in the history of the world.

Caryll Houselander wrote that we are “Christing the world” as we bear His Light in our corners of the world. “…Light’s glory is to dispel darkness. Christ has illumined you with wisdom and the fire of his presence. It has been sparked and kindled in you. Let it blaze.” I desire to bear that blazing light! The prophet Malachi described how we do this when he spoke for God by saying, “A great King am I, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be honored among the nations. And now, all priests, this commandment is for you… give glory to his name.” (Malachi 1:14b-). We give God glory in our worship. We join our priests, the vanguard, advancing the truth that Christ is the King. We are the rearguard for our priests as we reveal the King of Glory to our corner of the world. The last words of the mass literally mean, “Go, you are sent to bear Christ to the world.” We carry the banner of Christ the King from the proper worship of Almighty God in the mass to the proper worship of Christ with our lives!

We sing our victory songs as we did this morning when we sang, “All hail the power of Jesus’ name…to him, all majesty ascribe…we’ll join the everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all!” We sing them in how we live and move and have our being in the royal court of heaven in the here and now. My corner of Christ’s court is small, and the number of people I interact with in a week is negligible by the world’s standard, but I know my orders, and I am a faithful courtier in the court of The Most High God! I choose to ascribe to him praise and honor before my loved ones and friends with every word I speak and every prayer I pray!

Pray
Christ, the King of Glory, I glorify you! I ask that you strengthen my arms as I carry your Victory Banner before my loved ones. I confidently proclaim you in my corner of the court of heaven as a shield of righteousness that I may be ready to testify to your reign of peace in each moment. You promise to help your anointed; you will answer me and give victory as I worship you as King of my life. Even when I collapse and fall, you will help me to rise and stand straight! O, Lord, thank you for consoling me today with that beautiful truth.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
~Amen

(Adapted prayer from Psalm 20:5-9; I Corinthians 15; Isaiah 55:12)

Pray it Forward: Tradition!

“Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof.”

The Broadway musical The Fiddler on the Roof is about a Russian village that strives to protect the traditions of Judaism to keep their religious culture alive and thriving as the pre-Holocaust world threatens to destroy them. The story’s protagonist is Tevya, who has a running dialogue with God throughout the musical. His desire to keep the tradition alive drives him to his knees about how he raises his family–he’s a lovable character because his struggle is standard in every age. At one point in the musical, his wife and he dialogue about their struggles in keeping the traditions of their faith front and foremost for their family amidst the inevitable changes they face in the culture. One of the most tender songs between the husband and wife relays what I believe you, and I feel as parents and grandparents.

Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly fly the years.
One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears.

What words of wisdom can I give them?
How can I help to ease their way?

We must ask ourselves the same questions if we hope to vibrantly live the Sacred Tradition of our Catholic Faith in our domestic church today and in future generations. How can we do that? I suggest that the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly small “t” traditions we practice within the culture of our family support the capital “T” traditions of The Faith. We must be attentive to what habits and dispositions we form daily to protect our family and future generations from forgetting what they believe and why they believe it. The orthodox Jewish home stands on three pillars we most likely recognize: the Torah (The Law of God), Service to God, and Acts of human kindness. We are Judeo-Christians in that we are the extension and fulfillment of the history of salvation recorded in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament. And through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for us once and for all, we are united to God for his Good Purpose. God’s Word is living and active, guiding us today as it did as it was recorded.

The Shema (Deuteronomy 6) alluded to in the musical is a declaration to adhere to as we raise a faithful Christian family. To do otherwise is to risk forgetting the purpose of our vocation as parents and grandparents. When we forget or are apathetic toward what we are about and why we observe our Faith traditions, we are in danger of our children and future generations walking away from The Faith. It is not enough to say, “That’s just what we do,” as Catholic Christians, our faith in God is to be lived purposefully, supported by faith and reason and action. Lack of attention leads to a lack of understanding, giving way to a lack of appreciation. All this culminates in a dismissal of the ancient traditions that sustain and frame the domestic church.

Beyond ensuring our children attend CCD and Sunday Mass each week, where do we form our Christian identity? In the domestic church! We take care to keep The Faith vibrant and life-giving 168 hours a week in our family’s life. The active attention to the integrity of The Faith is reflected in our thoughts, words, actions, and the choices we make for our family, and that forms the domestic church traditions that will guard our families against relegating our faith in God to just another option in a world of shinier but inferior options.

We can’t read the words of The Shema without noting how pivotal the actions are in fulfilling the ordinance. God directs Moses to remind the people: 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. 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. Bind them 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 .…You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you, thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised. (Deuteronomy 6:4-19)

Friends, we live in a culture that is anti-Christ, which is the enemy at war against us. It is the enemy we must thrust out before us one deliberate action at a time. In the words of Tevya, “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof.”

Resource recommendations:
The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living For Real Life by Kendra Tierney
The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions for Holidays, Feast Days, and Every Day by Meredith Gould
Theology of Home: Finding the Eternal in the Everyday by Carrie Gress, PhD

Prayer It Forward: Arrow Prayers

“Prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”

~St. Therese Lisieux

Michael Keaton starred in the 1996 comedy Multiplicity; he played a husband and father who tried to be present to his children and wife and still maintain his successful career. A scientist managed to clone him into four versions of himself to do right by his family and his career. The plan works for a while but comes to a comedic end. The movie’s intrigue has stayed with me as I’ve seen our family grow and divide into three parts of the country; my desire to live near each of them couldn’t be fulfilled, so multiplying myself sounded like a great idea. I follow their lives in conversations, texts, and Facetime. We are unique in our interests and pursuits, and even though I long to be a daily companion in their lives, I must rely on another kind of multiplication.

I offer up my prayers for each of them and am oriented to their well-being; my prayers as a wife, mother, and memiere are indeed the upward surge of my heart throughout each day. I can turn my look to our Heavenly Father, knowing that he knows my heart and embraces my family even better than I do. The idea of “arrow prayers” isn’t original to me. Still, my pattern of daily prayer for my lovies could be described as arrow prayers. They are a few lines of Scripture or quotes from the writings of the Saints or prayers of The Church coupled with my knowledge of each of my lovey’s needs.

When we were raising our children, I made a practice of writing said prayers on 3×5 cards strategically placing them around our home. The silent witness of those prayers seeped into our family atmosphere, and I know they helped to form our children’s faith in God. I encourage you to practice praying arrow prayers for your children and grandchildren. Remember that the Word of God is living and active…sharper than a two-edged sword…able to pierce the heart and mind (Hebrews 4:12). Our “arrow prayers” are just as intense!

The arrow prayers we pray with our children when they are young are much different than what we pray for in other stages of life. For instance, whenever we hear a siren or helicopter, we can train our children to know that someone is in trouble and then ask God to help them. The change of seasons gives us ample reasons to offer praise together to God for the beauty of his creation. Simple prayers like “Help them, Jesus” or “Thank you, Jesus” orient our children to God.

My prayers are different now. As I pray for my adult children and grandchildren, I rely on God’s prevenient grace (see Pray It Forward: Introduction) to answer my prayers. I still write appropriate arrow prayers in a prayer journal I keep for my family. Some I’ve relied on so often that they are written in my memory. It is as though I carry a quiver full of arrows with me each day, ready to be shot to heaven at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I am sharing some of those prayers in my quiver to help guide your prayers or give you ideas of what to fill your quiver with.

Lord Jesus Christ,

I ask that [ ]…

Would grow in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.

Would function with godly wisdom, discernment, and revelation.

Would be given a sense of purpose and hope for the future.

Would inflame them with Spirit, that it would burn, consume, and nourish them so that your Supreme will form them.

Mary lay her mantle over them so the infernal serpent may not dare to penetrate or entice them away from you.

Would be someone who speaks wisely, graciously, and clearly and never foolishly, rudely, or insensitively.

Would open the doors of salvation and draw them into your Divine will to form their life all in you.

You would remove anything that separates them from you.

May they see, hear, taste, savor, and touch you. They would be conscious of your presence and enjoy you!

I lay a spiritual ax to the root of their family tree and pray that the physical, mental, or emotional tendency stops and will not manifest in them.

May the Spirit of the Lord stir them onward and upward in the ascent of holiness.

May they rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Wisdom that they may not be attached to the perishable things of this world but aspire only after the things that are eternal.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten their minds with the light of your Divine truth.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Counsel that they may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Fortitude that they may bear our cross with you and that we may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose our salvation.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Knowledge that they may know God and know themselves and grow perfect in the science of the Saints.

Grant [ the Spirit of Piety that they may find the service of God sweet and amiable.

Grant [ ] the Spirit of Fear that they may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may avoid anything that may displease him.

Mark [ ], dear Lord, with the sign of your true disciples, and animate [ ] in all things with your Spirit.

May the words of [ ] mouth and the meditation of [ ] heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and Redeemer.

Keep sending your arrow prayers to the Lord on behalf of your family. He will receive them and work all things together for the good of those who love him.

Pray It Forward: Praying with Authority

In the story of Creation, there is an exchange between God and Cain (the first son of Adam and Eve). Cain had an anger management problem that stemmed from envy and jealousy. Following is the conversation before the first murder was committed from Genesis 4:5-7:

So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Cain probably didn’t set out to commit murder, but he chose not to master his envy, jealousy, and anger; because Cain refused to master these sins, he descended a ladder, so to speak, into mortal sin. (”Veniel sin is a sin that is relatively slight, or that is committed without complete reflection or consent. While a venial sin weakens the sinner’s union with God, it is not a deliberate turning away from God and so does not wholly block the inflow of sanctifying grace. An example of such a sin might be gossip, impatience, or a failure to pray. Venial sins are usually contrasted with mortal sins, which are the gravest of sins and represent a deliberate turning away from God.”)

It’s most likely that the enemy of our child or grandchild’s soul will never take possession of them to such an extreme mortal sin against the LORD. However, consider the venial sins of Cain–envy, jealousy, anger, lying. We sometimes witness those things in our lives and our family, right? What is our role as parents and grandparents when we notice venial patterns set into the mind, body, and soul of our loved ones?

First and foremost, we live a life of integrity before them! Little eyes and ears are always watching and listening! Our speech patterns and attitude can foster goodness, however; if our venial sins go unchecked, they can infest our lovies with the same venial sins we have not mastered. That’s enough about that. Let’s consider our authority as children of God when we pray for our family.

There is one resource other than the Sacred Scripture that I sometimes employ in my intercession for my family. They come from the book Deliverance Prayers For Use by the Laity by Father Chad Ripperger, a priest, theologian, and exorcist for The Roman Catholic Church. The book has the Imprimatur, which assures us as the laity that we can utilize the prayers in our intercession with confidence in the Sacred Authority of The Roman Catholic Church. As the laity, we cannot be exorcists, but we must intercede with the constant petition for protection from the evil one when we observe the enemy lurking about the door of their minds. We can pray the words of the prayers of deliverance on behalf of our family in the name of Jesus, who has conquered death, hell, and the grave. St. Peter, referring to the Risen Savior, proclaimed to the religious court of Israel (Acts 4:12):

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.

By the time St. Peter proclaimed this to the religious court, he had already given into the temptation that it was up to him to save himself from the threats of evil. But he learned through his remorseful failures that salvation is from no one else but Jesus. He later goes on to warn believers in a letter to them (I Peter 5:7-9).

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.

We have a Savior; we can cast all our anxiety on him for our loved ones, and he will always come through for us. Just this morning, as I was praying for my family and future generations, I was overcome by an urgency to pray against the enemy’s influence on them. I don’t know why and will probably never know why the Holy Spirit prompted me to pray so specifically at that moment, on this day, in this year, but I am confident that the prevenient grace of God took action in the life or lives of my family! Praying In the Name of Jesus is our only hope for the protection and salvation of our loved ones.

Follows is a prayer from Deliverance Prayers that is referred to as the Short-Form Deliverance prayer. I commend it to you as a weapon in your prayer arsenal against the adversary of our soul that prowls like a roaring lion seeking to devour.

In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I bind you, Satan, and all your evil forces by the power of His Cross, His Blood, and His resurrection. I take authority over all evil influences that are directed against [ ]. I break them by the power and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. I bind all evil interactions, interplay, and communications between spirits sent against [ ], and send them directly to Jesus Christ to deal with as He wills…I ask Jesus, the son of the living God, to pour His shed Blood over every aspect of [ ] life for their protection. I pray all this in the precious Name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. –Amen

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The Examined Life

When author and pastor, Rick Warren, wrote The Purpose Driven Life, he attempted to answer the question, “What on earth am I here for?” The book became a best-seller and joined many others that attempt to answer the same question. The search for meaning and purpose is as old as humankind. Why can’t we answer the question and be done with it instead of looking for another opinion? The struggle to know who we are and why we are here, I believe, is because we don’t realize God’s unfailing desire for us to know him. In knowing Him, we learn to know our purpose for living. In this post, I would like us to consider the need for silence and introspection as we search for the meaning of our lives.

St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “In [Christ] we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.” (1:11-12) God chose us; we are his beloved! He created us in his image. It was perfect and beautiful, and it was enough.

That is, until we chose something other than him.

And the rest of history reveals what happens to us when we stop listening to him. We distract ourselves with the seemingly fascinating options for self-fulfillment that move us farther and farther away from God’s intention for our lives—always coming up short and dissatisfied. How may we return to the intention of God’s will for us? 

We begin by silencing ourselves and our surroundings, which takes a herculean resolve in a distracted and noisy society. Reminding myself that Jesus often withdrew to a quiet place helps my resolution. Just think of what he can do when we retire from our noisy surroundings to meet him there. His Word to us can pierce through our darkened understanding about ourselves to restore us to the intention of his will for us.

So, if we’ve silenced ourselves and inclined our hearts to God, then what do we do?

Socrates wrote, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Examination of our life requires introspection, and we just aren’t comfortable with that, are we? St. Ignatius of Loyola developed a guide of Spiritual Exercises to help us examine our lives and discern God’s desires for us. In considering our lives, we allow the Holy Spirit to reorient the inclination of our lives toward God. We learn to know ourselves–strengths and weaknesses. We understand how our unique nature can “exist for the praise of his glory.” St. Ignatius provides a template, so to speak, for prayer called The Suscipe (the Latin word for “receive”) that will guide us in examining our strengths and weaknesses and giving them back to the One who created us the way we are.

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, memory, understanding, and entire will, all I have and call my own.  You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and grace; that is enough for me. Amen

Beginning the prayer with the word “take” assumes we will give up. What do I hold too tightly that needs surrendering to the Lord? What is the disposition of my heart? What does the essence of my heart incline me toward? Remembering the saying, “Everywhere I go, there I am,” is a good place for me to start when answering those questions.

Do I recognize a running theme in my conversations and relationships? Do I see a pattern of behavior toward others that repeats in every circumstance? I must stop and consider if disordered pride, fear, or anger motivates my words and actions, dragging me farther away from God’s intention.

What liberties do I take with myself and with others? What memories keep me from entrusting myself to the Lord? What do I have difficulty understanding about God, myself, and others? Most of the confusion and conflicts we have in life come from our unwillingness to understand ourselves and others. The Holy Spirit is always faithful to affirm our strengths and counsel us in our weaknesses if we remain silent before him, desiring to seek God’s purpose above all.

This examination prepares us to entrust our entire will to him, where all questions about our existence are answered. St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “…Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may discern what the will of God is–what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (12:2).

What are we here for? Not ourselves. No, we are here for the praise of God’s glory–that is the abundant life worth living!