Power of Prayer

Bring Back the Overture!

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Photo by Ylanite Koppens

This may be my least popular opinion to date. My husband recently showed me the movie, Ben Hur during a lenten date night. I highly recommend this Christ-adjacent film to anyone looking for an epic religious watch. Among the things I love about this movie, it has a 6 minute overture. This 1959 classic was created in a time when films were an experience rather than an easy way to kill a couple hours on the couch. They were made to draw you in, take you on a journey and teach you something along the way. No wonder the overture was 6 minutes. In order to fully embark on such an adventure one must first settle into the proper frame of mind and put aside all other cares for a while. 

Sadly, even my husband and I didn’t sit through the entire overture. Our excuse was that after putting baby to bed it was already late and Ben Hur is not a short movie. Everyone can come up with a similarly valid excuse to fast forward to the opening scene. We are a society of people totally incapable of sitting still and entering into an experience for just 6 minutes. Even in the theater, the overture has been replaced by mind numbing previews. There is a need for constant entertainment at the push of a button which has infected every corner of our society. It’s practically unthinkable to go for a drive without switching on the radio or a preferred podcast. To simply sit with our own thoughts even for a few minutes is outright nightmarish. 

We desperately need the overture in our lives. In addition to being a marker of inspired storytelling, it was also a luxury of a slower, simpler time. Going to the movies was a fun outing and a much needed break after a long week of hard work. Now people hide from the world and from work to binge shows on their computer. They need not even leave the comfort of their own bed. This once communal pastime has been entirely flipped on its head. 

Additionally, this inability to endure 6 short minutes of rousing orchestral music at the beginning of a film highlights a much deeper issue among people today. If we can’t do this, how on earth are we ever going to be able to sit in silent, rapt attention before God? I am a firm believer in the power of prayer, especially fervent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. We fill every waking minute with noise, tuning into any voice we can find for fear of a silence which might allow us to hear the one voice that matters most. Over the din of life how can we possibly hear God when He speaks to us?

Baby Hands

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My mom and I have recently embarked on a spiritual journey together. It is currently day eight of Fiat90. These 90 days leading up to Easter are a beautiful meditation and Marian devotion, one I had never heard of until a couple weeks ago when my own mother suggested we try it. Included in this devotion are various forms of fasting, heightened prayer and daily scripture readings. 

My very first day of Fiat90 began as a less than average one. Since the birth of our daughter, I have struggled intermittently with nursing, becoming painfully sore at times. With her first two teeth poking through the gums, this was one of those times. She’s also had some slight sleep regression lately, likely due to her teething discomfort and on top of these mommy troubles, our kitchen sink backed up the evening before Fiat90 was to begin. This made it impossible to do the dinner dishes piled high on the kitchen counter. I was dragging a bit when I sat down to do my Fiat90 readings for the first time. Baby girl decided this was the perfect opportunity to enjoy the mommy jungle gym and kept climbing over my lap, not at all pleased that my attention was temporarily diverted. This was as adorable as it was distracting.

However, when I reached the rosary portion of the prayers, her energy changed completely. She stilled, no longer pulling at my shirt and dragging herself across my knees. She became totally enthralled with my St. Anthony rosary as I worked the beads through my fingers. She was perfectly content to hold the other end gently in her tiny hands as I recited each prayer, seeming to understand that this sacramental was not a chew toy like nearly everything else she touches these days. All my cares from that day and the previous evening fell away as I watched my daughter calmly examine the rosary, exploring it with soft, delicate baby fingers.

Traveling for Christmas

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Welcome back and Happy New Year to all! We reigned in the new year with the Solemnity of Mary while recuperating from a long journey. Our little family recently returned from our first ever Christmas adventure as three. We left the Shire-like fields of the Midwest in search of snowcapped mountains and family we haven’t seen in months. We spent the days leading up to Christmas playing tourist in my childhood home after an 18 hour drive across country with the little one. Though it was a big ask for our baby girl, still less than a year old, she was a trooper throughout the trip and was showered with love from her grandparents when we arrived. The hubby and I sent up countless prayers before and during this journey to Mary to intercede for our daughter and soothe her along the way. As usual, the Blessed Mother was listening. Although we didn’t see quite as much snow as we were hoping to or have as many hiking opportunities as we’re accustomed to, this Christmas vacation to Colorado was a wonderful blessing which I’ll be talking more about in the coming weeks. For now, I pray everyone had a holy and happy Christmas.

Peace Be With You

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Photo by Irina Anastasiu

The holy season of Advent has begun once again! Amid the secular hustle and bustle of holiday decorating and shopping this should also be a time of spiritual reflection and prayer. Thanks to a rockstar hubby and our parish annual Advent Vespers series, this new mommy was able to participate in both. While my husband put the little one to bed I headed to church for evening prayer. 

I hadn’t realized how truly full and busy our days had become until I sat silently in that candlelit sanctuary. This is by no means a complaint. Our daughter has filled our lives with more joy than we knew we were capable of and we continue to fall more in love with her every day. With her lighting up our world with adorable baby babble, there simply aren’t many moments to pause for quiet reflection. This was an opportunity for which I am immensely grateful to my husband. It was a blessed night out in which I was able to sit with Christ and pray for two of the people I love the very most without distraction. 

We expend so much time and energy maintaining our relationships with our loved ones. However, we often forget to love Christ in a similar fashion. These Vespers services are among my favorite events put on at our parish as their main purpose is to do just that. During that hour spent surrounded by fellow parishioners while lost in my own silent prayers I felt the presence of the holy spirit in the room. I felt a deeper connection with God than I have in months and was overwhelmed with a sense of peace. I pray everyone is able to grow in their relationship with Christ this season. 

Inviting Mary In

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Check it out! The story of our Pilgrim Virgin was picked up by the Northwest Indiana Catholic. If you are in or near the Valparaiso area don’t hesitate to invite Mary into your home with this beautiful family devotion to the Blessed Virgin. It’s never too late.

https://dcgary.org/news/ambassadors-renew-pilgrim-virgin-statue-family-devotion

A Visit from the Pilgrim Virgin

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Apologies once again for the lack of Monday posts over the past couple of weeks. I am still learning the juggling act which is motherhood. Today’s post is all about the ultimate mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although there are many sights of Marian apparitions throughout the world worthy of pilgrimage, for one week the Holy Mother blessed our home with a pilgrimage of her own. While we hosted her we prayed a rosary and litany in front of her statue as a family every day. This was all in participation of a tradition very near to my husband’s heart. 

During his upbringing my husband and several of the men in his family spent their Saturday afternoons processing the Blessed Virgin from one house to another, praying the rosary in front of her with each family as she traveled to a different home every week. This holy work was performed by a group of devout Catholic men known as the Ambassadors of Mary, a group dedicated to promoting devotion to the Blessed Mother. As my husband and his family moved away from their hometown the tradition petered out for a time. 

However, we recently watched a documentary, Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton, which details the life of this incredible priest from Ireland. Of his many accomplishments, Fr. Peyton maintained a special and infectious devotion to the rosary, leading millions in prayer during massive rosary rallies. He is also responsible for the phrase “the family that prays together stays together.” His is a truly inspiring story which is still sure to ignite a fire for the Blessed Mother in the hearts of those who hear it. Such was the case for my husband and I. He immediately set to work coordinating a new Ambassadors of Mary ministry in our home parish. 

This was also the week in which I officially became a stay at home mom and it was an especially poignant blessing to welcome the mother of Christ into our home during that transition. Our house was filled with the peace and joy of her motherly intercession. Even our three month old daughter was overcome with awe for the beautiful Blessed Virgin, unable to tear her eyes away from the statue. We look forward to hosting her as often as we can.  

Mommisms That Changed My Life

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The world needs more moms. Even before my conversion to the faith I was acutely aware of the multitude of ways, big and small, that my mom was lovingly shaping my life for the better. For many years now I’ve aspired to be just like her. Here are some of the life changing mommisms that guided me to the beautiful life I have today.

  • Pajamas are for sleeping – These were words instilled in my sister and I since before we were old enough to dress ourselves. There’s an appropriate dress code for every occasion and, unless it was pajama day at school, we were always properly attired when stepping out our front door. During college and amid long nights of intense study my sister even went so far as to sleep in her outfit for the next day to ensure she was dressed for class. Too often people underestimate the power of looking the part when heading out into the world to do something productive.
  • Never show up to a party empty handed – Good manners are so frequently under valued in our modern world but when trying to make friends it’s polite to bring something to share. A six pack of beer or some tasty baked goods are my usual go to’s. Even going to family dinners I always ask what I can bring. It’s a gesture of gratitude to your host who has gone to all the trouble of opening their home to you. 
  • If you say no they’ll stop inviting you – These words maintained permanent residence in my brain during my first two years in Indiana. I was new to the area, had no family nearby, was incredibly shy and in desperate need of friends. Saying yes to social gatherings with people I knew little or not at all was, and often still is, distinctly uncomfortable. However, thanks to my mom, my fear of not receiving an invitation ultimately overcame my social anxiety. 
  • Do it right now – Though I’ve been tempted to roll my eyes once or twice upon hearing this, there’s no denying that it’s often been just the push I needed. One notable instance was when my mom was encouraging me to start house shopping during the height of covid lockdowns. An argument could be made that this mommy advice got me my first house. Over the years it’s also come with some parental tough love at times when I needed a firm nudge in the right direction.
  • I’ll pray for you – This particular mommism doesn’t come in the form of advice and so it sometimes gets forgotten on my list of mommy quotes. However, in recent years I’ve come to realize it’s one of the best things she’s ever said to me. This is a promise which I know will be kept. With four little words my mom expresses the ultimate motherly love, entrusting her child to God. Although our prayers are often answered in the most unexpected ways, no prayer is left unanswered and so there is no greater comfort than to know that God hears all my mom’s prayers. 

A Prayer for My Husband

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Photo by Rainstorm Photo

As I was deciding what to write today I came across some old freewrites that I’d scribbled in my notebook. I was especially interested to see three entries from three separate occasions when I’d felt so completely in love with my husband that I was compelled to write down a brief prayer for him. Although they were all written many months apart, all of these prayers echoed similar themes of thanksgiving and love for this wonderful man and God who gave him to me. Upon closer inspection, each individual prayer was just a more complete iteration of the last. 

This is yet another example of how God’s plan is so much better than ours. When I came to the faith, I wasn’t looking for God at all. I was actually searching for the perfect husband, on a quest to avoid past relationship mistakes at all costs and instead find a good man who would truly love me just as I loved him. Little did I know that God was making His own arrangements in my life for that very thing. The hour that I entered the Catholic Church through baptism, confirmation and first eucharist was the hour in which my husband beheld me for the very first time. Here is my prayer for that man who, by the grace of God, witnessed the very first moments of my Catholic infancy and has been loving me ever since. 

Dating Edition

Lord, please watch over him today. Keep him healthy, happy and safe. Thank you for sending him to me. Please help us to find the right words to allow this conversation to continue and to bring each other every day closer to you. Please also help me to recognize your work in my life as I do with him. Amen!

Engaged Edition

Lord, thank you for sending him to me! Thank you for answering my prayers and introducing me to a kind, capable, Catholic, handsome gentleman. He is my miracle. Whenever I catch myself doubting your presence or your power I need to look no further than the man who loves me with all his heart and proves it everyday. 

First Anniversary Edition

Lord, thank you for this first beautiful year of marriage and all the lessons that have come with it. Thank you for sending me a kind, Catholic, soldier man who constantly shows me how to do what’s right over what’s easy and who adores me even on those days when I am deeply unlikable. Please continue to strengthen, guide and protect him in all of his endeavors and teach me to follow his example and be just as wholly and tirelessly dedicated to doing your will. Amen!

Lenten Offerings

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With the occurrence of Ash Wednesday on February 14th, we have come to a new season of Lent in the Catholic Church. While this is a perfect time to cut away bad habits and embark on a new self improvement kick, Lent is so much more. We aren’t simply meant to deprive ourselves of a few of our preferred vices temporarily but rather to allow God to fill those empty places left behind. In these 40 days we are to prayerfully seek Him just as Christ did in the desert through our fasting and almsgiving. 

Here are the lenten offerings which my husband and I have settled on this season and which we hope will bring us closer to Christ. 

  • We will avoid sweets on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and avoid chocolate throughout the entire 40 days of Lent. On the whole, my husband and I already work to maintain healthy eating habits and usually only enjoy a small sugar wafer after dinner for dessert. We also already avoid chocolate except on the weekends as a small sacrificial offering throughout the year. However, during Lent we hope to extend these offerings further and keep the new practices formed during this lenten season. 
  • With the exception of religious lectures and homilies, we will both forego time spent scrolling for funny or interesting videos on Youtube. This is an unnecessary time suck for us and we look forward to filling that time with new prayers in addition to our current daily rosary, evening prayers and an episode of the Bible in a Year podcast by Fr. Mike Schmitz.
  • Instead of Youtube, we will say a scriptural rosary and a divine mercy chaplet at least once a week. The scriptural rosary is a beautiful and in depth meditation on the mysteries of the rosaries as they follow the miracles and happenings which occurred throughout Christ’s life, from His conception to the death and assumption of His blessed mother. My husband also taught me the divine mercy chaplet while we were still courting, but due to busy schedules we fell away from saying it everyday. Although we still may not always be able to say it as often as we’d like, I hope to revive this particular devotion during Lent. 
  • We will orchestrate our parish Tuesday night lenten soup dinners and Vespers services. This was a tradition begun at my home parish by a former associate priest and one which resonated incredibly well with me. The simple soup dinners before each Vespers service are a means of coming together in fellowship while still remembering our lenten promises. The candlelit Vespers services are now something I look forward to every year as times of deep reflection, meditation and closeness to Christ. 

Wherever you are, I pray that you are able to draw nearer to Christ during this holy season of Lent.  

Heaven Can’t Be Bought

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I think most Catholics would agree that filling up the parish collection basket or donating expensive likenesses of the saints count for very little unless they are accompanied by regular and genuine prayer and acts of service for our neighbors. There is no currency for heaven. However, this concept can be easily blurred when we speak of indulgences. Many devout Catholics talk about accumulating these indulgences just as one might acquire earthly wealth. This can lead new or potential believers to mistakenly conclude that perhaps heaven does have currency after all.

Partial or plenary indulgences are afforded us by our church leaders through our recitation of specific prayers or acts of service. These remove either part or all of the punishment, on earth or in purgatory, for our sins due to the spiritual fruits we accumulate through holy living. These can be given during times of crisis, such as COVID lockdowns, or for particular holy devotions and they can be applied to ourselves or the souls of the deceased. They are NOT brownie points for getting into God’s good graces. There is no elevator or express lane to enter into heaven. Indulgences can only be obtained by those in a state of grace who approach them with sincerity. Simply going through the motions is not enough. 

As Catholics we believe our prayers and good works have a real effect in the world or for the souls of the dead, whether we see it for ourselves or not. We do not pray aimlessly or hopelessly but believe these efforts can and will be used for some good purpose. The reward of additional graces for ourselves or those in purgatory may entice busy people to participate in extra prayers and service they wouldn’t otherwise have time for but with the understanding that there’s no Bank of Grace, there’s no harm in this. There’s nothing scandalous about encouraging Catholics to fully and genuinely partake in holy living, especially in times of turmoil when some may be unable to receive the sacraments regularly.