We can create a lovely prayerful place where we can pray to God and honor Mary as Jesus' Mother. We can make a prayer table and bring fresh flowers to our dear Mother or in honor of the saints.
The picture hanging on my dining room wall above my little prayer table once hung on my dear friend and spiritual director, Fr. Bill's dining room wall for many many years. The rosary on my prayer table was made for me by my dear brother-in-law, Luis. The photo is from earlier this year at springtime but re posted here today since I spoke about a prayer table with my dear friend, Teresa Tomeo on our show, "Mom's Corner" this morning. So, in this photo I have a few flowers that I picked from my yard; forsythias, daffodils, and bleeding hearts from a plant my son, Justin gave me years ago. I always bring my favorite flower, lilacs, to Mary as soon as they bloom in the spring.
You can also use a Blessed Mother statue to put on the table, however, I chose to have my table under beautiful picture I have of Mary. You can have the kids draw pictures of Jesus, Mary, and the saints and hang them above the table. A basket of rosary beads can be handy on the table and a basket of kid friendly spiritual books beneath the table in a bin for the children to look at.
As I mentioned on the air this morning, the prayer table grows with your family and is a place to come, reflect and to pray. Children can kneel or sit on pillows around the table as you read them Bible stories and teach them their prayers. I have a whole section in my new book, Grace Cafe: Serving Up Recipes for Faithful Mothering about creating prayer tables and prayer corners.
Let's be mindful of the importance of prayer in our lives - in our domestic churches where we raise up our children to Heaven. Let's use sacred images to draw our attention to the holy rather than the secular. Turn off the TV and Internet for a while, at least, and bask in the quiet to hear Our Lord calling to us. We can't hear His whispers to our hearts if we allow too much noise to take over our domestic churches - our little chapels of prayer.
Let's not despair over the craziness of the past few weeks with the election frenzy and an outcome we may not have favored. Let's do something positive and PRAY! It's a parent's first and foremost responsibility to care for their children - body and soul.
Let's continue to put one foot in front of the other moving forward - staying positive and offer reparation and prayer for our nation and our world. We have to start in our homes! We have to teach our children the necessity of prayer and it will then become as natural as breathing to them. Our Lord is calling to us. Are we listening?
God bless you!
Hugs,
Donna-Marie
PS I am extending my book launch sale price to benefit all of the listeners of the two radio shows I am visiting today as well as all of the visitors of my blogs and website today and tomorrow. Check that out by ordering through Pay pal.
Also, anyone who places a book order from my blogs or website today or tomorrow will automatically be placed in a drawing for a SURPRISE prize. I will announce the winner later in the week and show a photo of the prize on this blog. So, what are you waiting for?
