Family Web Time - Activities and Prayers
Unit Five - Prayers
Family Prayer:
The Blessed Virgin, Mary, is the first among the saints. She is God’s Mother and your mother, too. Put up a picture or statue of Mary in a special place in your home. Decorate the space with flowers. Set aside time each day to talk with God’s Mother and pray this ancient prayer to Mary. You may want to memorize it as a family. We turn to you for protection, holy Mother of God. Listen to our prayers, and help us in our needs.
Save us from every danger, glorious and blessed Mary.
Individual Prayer:
Jesus gave us two great commandments: Love God with your whole heart and soul and love your neighbor as you love yourself. One of the biggest enemies of the second great commandment is holding a grudge. People hold grudges easily, often for very silly reasons. Set aside 10 minutes of quiet time to think about any grudges you may have. What happened to cause the grudge? How important was the event? How did it make you feel then? Why didn’t you seek to resolve the grudge previously? What reasons do you have for continuing to hold the grudge? Think openly and honestly about any grudges you may hold, then write down ways you can begin to forgive the other person. Remember, Jesus also instructed us to forgive others seventy times seven times.
Unit Five -Activities
Cemetery Trip
Take a family trip to a cemetery where family members or friends are buried. Find the graves of these loved ones, and gather around the grave site as a family. Talk about the people buried there: who they were, what they did, how important they were in the life of the family, how their deaths affected the people who loved them. Talk about the resurrection of the body and that death is not the end. Then, pray for those whose bodies rest in the cemetery.
God’s Glory
Plan a trip to the local mall or shopping area. The purpose of this trip is to see people of all walks of life mingled together. Point out that all people in this place give witness to God’s glory. Looking at these people should remind us of God’s love for us. We should see the marvel of God’s creation in people as much as we see it in beautiful sunsets, cascading waterfalls, or rugged mountain ranges. Say a special prayer for all the people you have seen. (Be careful not to focus on “strange” people or to be critical of people.)
“I Was Homeless, I Was Hungry”
How many people in your city or town go hungry each day or sleep on the streets? Contact your parish or diocesan Catholic Charities office to find out. (You can also do an Internet search for this information.) Set aside some time as a family to talk about the people in your community who are hungry or homeless. Give everybody a chance to participate in the conversation. Talk about one action your family can take to help these people in need. For example, you can volunteer as a family to work in a shelter, take food to the homeless, or participate in another program available through your parish or larger community. The big lesson here is to see the hungry and the homeless as real people and to recognize our obligation to provide assistance as we can.
