We’ve been hearing from a lot of parents who are frustrated that the pandemic is stopping them from being involved in the ministries they are involved in at their parishes or in their communities. It’s good to want to make a difference, but many of us are missing out on a tremendously important ministry opportunity. Our homes! Did you know that, as far as the Church is concerned, parenting is a ministry. Although we tend to think of “ministry” as “ the churchy stuff we do at church—or to serve others.” Ministry is really any activity that enables us to communicate God’s love to another person. If that isn’t parenting, I don’t know what is. On Teaching Catholic Kids are some ways you can practice the Corporal Works of Mommy (and Daddy Too) to experience and encourage a more meaningful spirit of service in the home.
Communicating God’s love (and mercy) with ministry at home
Celebrate Saint Gianna Beretta Molla
Gianna Beretta Molla was an Italian pediatric physician, a working mother, an avid outdoorswoman, and a loving wife best known for her decision to not abort her child when complications arose during her fourth pregnancy. However, she displayed heroic virtue throughout her life, joining the St. Vincent de Paul Society at the age of twelve, and Catholic Action later in life. She earned her medical degree in 1949 intending to use her skills to help the poor in Brazil, but when poor health prevented that, she opened her own office, focusing especially on helping poor women. Discover more about her life.
Caring for your family’s spiritual needs during the COVID-19 outbreak
One of the sad consequences of the coronavirus outbreak is the separation many of us feel from our parish communities. Public Masses are suspended and parish gatherings, including religious education classes, are canceled. But families can still stay connected to God and his Church during the COVID-19 crisis, and they can form their children in the faith as well. It begins with seeing the family through the eyes of our faith. Read the ways your family can be a true domestic church during this time.
The Beatitudes for families
The Sermon on the Mount found in the Gospel of Matthew proclaims some of the richest and most familiar teachings of Jesus: the beatitudes. The Beatitudes are: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted; blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth; blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied; blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy; blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God; blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God; blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Find help for your Catholic kids to understand them.
Help your kids encounter God in nature
The practice of reflecting on God using the natural world as a sort of “icon” for the divine has been neglected by many Christians who are put off by the secular practice of treating nature as the only way of encountering God, along with the tendency of New Age spirituality to divinize nature. But ignoring the ways that we can encounter the presence of God in the natural world cuts us off from an important part of our tradition, not to mention a way of experiencing God’s presence with a sense of awe, wonder, and joy. Dive deeper to find five ways of praying with nature.
