Establish family holy habits
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If establishing family holy habits has ever felt a little like trying to fly a kite in the basement, this article is for you. Despite our best intentions it can be hard to get prayerful practices off the ground, which means that going to Mass, Adoration or praying a family rosary can leave you frazzled, frustrated and anything but peaceful. If you find yourself asking if it’s worth it, the answer is YES! It is worth it, and here are a few reasons and ideas to keep going.
Listen to this article:
If establishing family holy habits has ever felt a little like trying to fly a kite in the basement, this article is for you. Despite our best intentions it can be hard to get prayerful practices off the ground, which means that going to Mass, Adoration or praying a family rosary can leave you frazzled, frustrated and anything but peaceful. If you find yourself asking if it’s worth it, the answer is YES! It is worth it, and here are a few reasons and ideas to keep going.
Three big whys
First, dependence on God is what brings peace and hope to our hearts as the chaos of the world swirls around us. This kind of dependence comes from a surrender rooted in prayer and focused on God’s desires instead of our own. Second, families need to care for each other physically and spiritually. There will be trouble in life, and so coming together in prayer and holy habits ushers in the only one who can make sense or good of the trouble. When families come together forming holy habits that lift each other up in prayer and worship, God will never disappoint. Third, for holy habits to feel powerful, normal and desirable, they must first become familiar and consistent patterns. The awkwardness and pushback in forming family holy habits is a phase that will pass, especially when the parents are asking for the intercession of the Holy Spirit. As you press forward, be sure to notice where the Holy Spirit is working in your family’s life because the more your family sees him doing, the more willing they will be to dive deeper.
Live the Gospel, be Christ
What does this even mean? We can utter this phrase to the world but if we don’t know Jesus – if we don’t know what he did, why he did it and how those actions are supposed to form our behavior, then it simply becomes a collection of words. Holy habits are what give structure, meaning and mission to these lovely words.
Three essentials of family holy habits
Sacraments and Worship
Mass, Adoration and other faith community celebrations and services are at the heart of discipleship. They offer consistency, predictability, truth and unity in a world of relative thinking and chaos. Praying, praising and worshiping with others instills a sense of belonging and community, and it helps a hurting world remember that we “aren’t the only ones” and that we were never meant to “do this on our own.”
Growing in God
We can never know it all and we can never know enough because God’s love is meant to draw us deeper and deeper. The habit of learning and desiring more of the Father’s gifts will offer grace upon grace and the rewards will be countless.
Loving Service
God’s commandments are boiled down to loving and serving him and others. This third piece is more than donating to the food bank; it’s an opportunity to see the face of Christ in others who need his love and mercy. This is the piece that allows us to be generous, grateful and merciful and those are habits that can truly help us grow in holiness.
Sheri Wohlfert is a Catholic wife, mom, grandma, speaker and writer. Catch her blog at www.joyfulwords.org.
