Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
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Day of Prayer

When I was growing up, my family had an annual end of the year family retreat. We usually went out of town and spend overnight on vacation while we pray and discern God's will for our family. As we grew up and started to have our own lives, we dropped the out-of-town trips. It became a simple day of prayer at home.

This was one of the things I wanted to bring into my own family. I found it harder to do with small kids. There was no way we could spend a whole day in prayer! Plus, DH's schedule during the holiday break did not allow us to go out of town. A morning or afternoon of prayer was a better fit. So that's what we've been doing the past 8 years or so.

The kids are now very familiar with how this time goes. We start off by listing the things we are thankful for in the past year. We share with each other this list. The kids know how to do this well. I enjoy hearing what they are thankful for. We then list our petitions/intentions for the coming year and then share them again with the family. Next, we draw up a list of things we will be praying for as a family.

This year, here are some of our family's petitions:
1. family trip/vacation in the Philippines for my bro's wedding
2. a house with more room for us - right now, we're open to looking at homes for rent too
3. good health for everyone

We usually end this special time with some reflection and try to listen for God's message. As the kids grow older, I hope that we can hie off somewhere and combine the day of prayer with vacation. A vacation with the family and the Lord will truly be the best way to end a year.
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Novena Prayer for the Upcoming November Elections

Please pray with us for the upcoming elections. May God have mercy on our nation and may we turn back to Him!

In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Father in heaven,
You wish us as Christians and citizens in our country
to strive to participate with our people,
fully and faithfully,
toward building up a society and a nation
whose social and political order is “founded on truth,
guided by justice,
realized in freedom,
flowering in peace.”
(Blessed John XXIII, Pacem in Terris).
You remind us in the Scriptures,
that “Unless the Lord build the city,
they labor in vain who wish to raise it”;
that not in personal lives alone,
but in social and political strivings also,
“Without Me, you can do nothing.”
Without You, Lord,
we can not
deeply and lastingly
bring to realization
a true moral and spiritual renewal
in our land.
We turn to You then, Lord,
at this crucial time
when our local and national elections are about to take place,
and we beg You,
for our people and our nation, and for ourselves: that You may enlighten our minds
and guide our consciences,
ever to place the common good
of our nation and our people,
especially the good of those
who are poor and have less in life,
above all other lesser interests;
that those we vote for
will be those who will strive
to serve our people’s interests,
and not their own,
above everything else;
that they be those
who will seek to make Your Will and Your Purposes
truly present and operative
in the governance of our society
and in the working out
of true solidarity and peace among our people;
that they will be firmly dedicated
to the true Christian “culture of life”;
that they will never sacrifice truth and justice
to the pursuit of gain and their narrow self-interest
through lying, corruption and greed;
that You may purify the spirit
in all those charged
with the due realization of these elections,
so that they will fulfill their tasks and duties
in total obedience to the laws of our land,
with complete integrity, honesty and transparency,
seeking only that the will of our people
and their free and rightful voice
may truly express Your voice for us.
that the efforts of those
who for their own interests
seek to frustrate the full and honest exercise
of our people’s right and duty
in the electoral processes,
be thoroughly thwarted
by the vigilance, steadfastness and courage
of those who will uphold,
defend and guard our democracy
and our democratic freedoms
with conscience, integrity and all their rightful might.
Heart of Jesus, pierced for our sakes,
at this crucial time in our history,
lead all our people
to the ways of truth and wisdom,
love, selflessness and self-sacrifice
which You gave us
as the law of our own living.
Be with us now,
Heart of our Savior, and have mercy on our people and our land.
Immaculate Heart of Mary,
beloved mother of our people,
intercede for us with Your Son,
that we may fulfill our rights and duties
during these elections
with true purity of mind,
with conscience and courage.
Be with us, our Mother,
and pray for our people and our land.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be (3x)

The following prayer, addressed to St. Michael the Archangel, to thwart the designs of people of bad will, is the prayer prescribed by Pope Leo XIII against the work of the evil spirits in the world.

ST MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, defend us in battle; be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And to thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. AMEN. (Pope Leo XIII)

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During these times, we have to be vigilant both in action and prayer. We stay informed and vote with our conscience and we pray incessantly. I may have to buy an ergonomic kneeling chair so I can stay on my knees longer but pray sincerely, I will.
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The Serenity Prayer

I'm sure many have heard or read this prayer before. I've seen it a countless times.
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I just found out today that this is merely a portion of a longer prayer. I thank the Lord for leading me to the whole prayer. I feel it is something I really need right now.
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.


--Reinhold Niebuhr
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Prayers Revised

For Lent, our family has decided to pray the Rosary every night. I must admit that I did not have this type of devotion to the Rosary. So, this daily Rosary prayers was going to be a big sacrifice for me.
As we are into Lent for a little over 2 weeks already, I can honestly say that my family is starting to appreciate this time of prayer together. In fact, earlier tonight, it was the girls who asked if we were going to pray the rosary yet.
Since my girls do not read yet, they are learning the prayers by simply listening to us and repeating what we say. Or course, this means that some words are bound to be replaced with the kids' own versions.

DD2: Hail Mary, full of grace ... blessed is the fruit of your worm, Jesus.

DD1: Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of health...

So cute, no?
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A Parent's Prayer

I got this prayer from the parent's meeting at my son's school. I think it's a very honest prayer and something that truly resonates with me.
Heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say and to answer all their questions kindly.

Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me. Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes or resort to ridicule when they displease me.

May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power. Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal and guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me. And when I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord ot hold my tongue. May I ever be mindful that my children are children and I should not expect of them the judgement of adults.

Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves and to make decisions. Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests and the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm. Make me fair, just and kind. And fit me, O Lord, to be loved and respected and imitated by my children.
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Ch...ch...ch...changes...

With the new year just around the corner, I'm feeling the need to make some changes. Don't you feel the same way? It's invigorating actually.

One change I've done earlier today was that I got a haircut. My hair had gotten really long and there was nothing I could do to it except keep it tied. The whole family trekked to Dahl's (where DH and DS get their hair cut too) and DD1 and I got our haircuts. I didn't go for any fancy hairstyle. I just wanted it cut so it was a simple one length hairstyle for me. DD1 got bangs and chin length hair too. At first she said she did not want to get her hair cut but after I had mine, she willingly sat. I tell you, she's my mini-me.

Another change I'm looking to make is rearranging our bedroom. DH has been asking me to fix up our room because honestly, right now, it's in a sad state. I haven't really fixed it up because we kept having kids and we always kept the crib in our room. By the time it was time for the baby to move to her own room, we find out we're pregnant so no reason to put away the crib. So, yes, the baby's crib has been there since 2003. LOL!

We have a huge room and what I'd really love to do is create a small sitting area, probably by the window. In my mind, I'd have an overstuffed chair there, a lamp, a sidetable. And that would be my space - to read and play on my laptop. Since the built-in TV shelves are in that area, it would also be the TV watching area in our room. I'd really like to make a clearly defined space for the bed vs the sitting area so I'm tempted to move our bed to the other side of the room. I don't know if that's feasible though. One thing DH might object to is that he won't be able to watch TV from bed. But if he's willing to spend some moolah, a plasma lift by the foot of the bed would be such an awesome feature. It would be the most ideal thing coz I really do not like having the TV displayed. It takes away from the aesthetics of the room.

Another change I'm definitely wanting to do is to get back to the gym! I've been telling myself that for the past few months but I've never stepped foot back. Ugh! I NEED to get a regular exercise regimen. I hate how I look now. I hate that I feel so limited in what I can wear because my clothes are tight. I hate that I don't feel good about myself. This is definitely something I need to address.

And the most important change I need to make is making time for regular prayer and Scripture reading. I miss it. I've been praying, yeah...but it's been more the routine type. I read the Gospel for the day, read the reflection, spend a minute or two thinking about it and that's it. I've been telling myself it's because the kids always need me, etc. But deep down, I know they're all excuses I make for myself. Deep down, I know I can make time IF I wanted to. And I feel ashamed...and more than that, I just miss God. I miss being able to talk to Him. I miss the connection I have when I am truly plugged in. I miss the certainty I have when I know that I am exactly where He wants me to be.

So, yeah, I sense changes for myself. What about you? What do you have in store for your new year?
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Our Family Day of Prayer

I think I've blogged about this before but I'm too lazy to check if I have.

This was something my family would do annually. When we were younger, we'd hie off to someplace for a couple of days and spend time as a family to thank God for the blessings of the past year, intercede for the coming year and try to discern his will for us. My family back home continue to do this.

As much as I had wanted to continue this tradition with my own family, I found that it could not be done as easily as I imagined. But I continued to do it on my own, just praying to God that one day the opportunity to do it as a family would come up.

Well, that opportunity came up yesterday. I had been asking DH for the past couple of weeks if this was something we could do before the new year comes. Mind you, I was not nagging. I had mentioned maybe 2-3 times only. Then, last Monday, he casually mentioned that we could do it on Wednesday. It just so happens that DD2's Ninang was picking her up that morning to take her out. When she came, she asked if she could take DD1 too. Of course we said yes! LOL!

After they had left, we started our time of prayer - DH, DS and I. DD3 was taking her nap. We listed and shared with each other our blessings of the past year and what we were going to be praying for in the next year. Then, after DS was excused, DH and I continued and discussed some goals for our family. We set our vision for our family - to be a loving family. Our mission is to love God, love each other and love our neighbor using Matthew 22:37-39 as our guiding verse. With that in mind, we decided on things we could do as a family to fulfill that mission. To love God, we will have daily family prayers at night. We usually pray with the kids as we tuck them into bed but DH and I would do it alternately. This year, we will pray together as a family. To love our neighbor, we will keep a box of food in our vehicle so that when we see a homeless person in the street, we will have something to share with that person. During the past month, the kids and I found ourselves with this opportunity to share and I think it had a profound effect on the kids, esp. DD1. I'll blog about it next time.

Anyway, my hope and prayer is that our family will truly grow into a family that loves God with all our heart and soul and mind and that we will love our neighbor as ourselves. With each year, may we find ways to grow in love. With each year, may love continue to grow.