Young Family
Read It!
Here is a great article titled Go Ahead, Make My Lent
While driving last week I flipped on the radio to hear two film reviewers debating whether It’s a Wonderful Life qualified as a redemption movie—did George Bailey really change enough? The duo on our local public radio station’s Filmspotting program were pronouncing their top five movies about redemption. These included some creative choices, including the 1938 Angels with Dirty Faces (starring James Cagney and Pat O’Brien, as a gangster and a priest) and On the Waterfront (1954, Marlon Brando at his best).
Also on the list—surprise—was the animated Beauty and the Beast, which caused me to smile goofily all by myself in the car, time-machining me back to a period when our 3-year-old son would listen to that soundtrack two and often three times daily. (You know it’s good music when you don’t secretly throw the CD out of the window and tell the kid it’s “lost.”) The Beast, of course, was saved from his angry Beast-hood and ultimately from death by the love of the beautiful Belle, who looked beyond his hairy, scary exterior to the young man within. She saw, you might say, with the eyes of God.
Since Lent begins with Ash Wednesday this week, why not host your own redemption film festival as part of your Lenten observance? Depending on the age of your kids, you could try a few of the Filmspotting flicks, along with your own picks. Since you’re probably going to be watching TV anyway—unless you give it up for Lent, as some families do—you might as well enlist the movies you watch in the service of the season
As for redemption, we hardly need much convincing that as humans we have what Star Wars’ Darth Vader famously called “the dark side” (in yet another redemption story). “We are members of the dysfunctional family of humanity,” writes Father Robert Barron in U.S. Catholic, “and egotism, fear, violence, and pride have crept into all of our institutions and into our blood and bones.” Yet here comes Jesus, who goes down into the worst of the human experience—ridicule, torture, death—and in this redeems us, offering us a new path of nonviolence and love.
Lent offers a time to do something, not to just promise ourselves (often futilely) to think more about our spiritual lives. From ancient times we‘ve had three to-dos in Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. How we do these is limited only by our imaginations. You could:
• Try a different practice each week of Lent if 40 days is too daunting. A week without TV. A week of not gossiping. A week without chocolate. A week in which you do not begin reading text messages or email while your child is speaking to you. What’s distracting you from being the person you could be? Try giving that up.
• Use the Lenten Rice Bowl calendar from Catholic Relief Services, an agency that assists the poor and hungry worldwide. Each week there’s a simple recipe and a story about a family CRS has helped, with prompts such as, “How many water faucets do you have in your home? Give 24 cents to your Rice Bowl for each one.”
• Try a weekly family work of charity. Visit a sick or elderly relative or neighbor. Give away 5 or 10 percent of your paycheck. Cook for your local homeless shelter. Extend an olive branch to someone you’ve been feuding with.
• Go to the parish reconciliation service together as a family.
• And finally, screen your weekly redemption film. Ask the kids, “Who is the Christ figure in this movie?” Their good Christ-radar might surprise you.
—by Catherine O'Connell-Cahill, from the pages of At Home with Our Faith, Claretian Publications’ print newsletter for parents on nurturing spirituality in the home. Winner of the 2012 Best in Class award from the Associated Church Press, as well as a First Place General Excellence award from the Catholic Press Association for the past three years running
Also on the list—surprise—was the animated Beauty and the Beast, which caused me to smile goofily all by myself in the car, time-machining me back to a period when our 3-year-old son would listen to that soundtrack two and often three times daily. (You know it’s good music when you don’t secretly throw the CD out of the window and tell the kid it’s “lost.”) The Beast, of course, was saved from his angry Beast-hood and ultimately from death by the love of the beautiful Belle, who looked beyond his hairy, scary exterior to the young man within. She saw, you might say, with the eyes of God.
Since Lent begins with Ash Wednesday this week, why not host your own redemption film festival as part of your Lenten observance? Depending on the age of your kids, you could try a few of the Filmspotting flicks, along with your own picks. Since you’re probably going to be watching TV anyway—unless you give it up for Lent, as some families do—you might as well enlist the movies you watch in the service of the season
As for redemption, we hardly need much convincing that as humans we have what Star Wars’ Darth Vader famously called “the dark side” (in yet another redemption story). “We are members of the dysfunctional family of humanity,” writes Father Robert Barron in U.S. Catholic, “and egotism, fear, violence, and pride have crept into all of our institutions and into our blood and bones.” Yet here comes Jesus, who goes down into the worst of the human experience—ridicule, torture, death—and in this redeems us, offering us a new path of nonviolence and love.
Lent offers a time to do something, not to just promise ourselves (often futilely) to think more about our spiritual lives. From ancient times we‘ve had three to-dos in Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. How we do these is limited only by our imaginations. You could:
• Try a different practice each week of Lent if 40 days is too daunting. A week without TV. A week of not gossiping. A week without chocolate. A week in which you do not begin reading text messages or email while your child is speaking to you. What’s distracting you from being the person you could be? Try giving that up.
• Use the Lenten Rice Bowl calendar from Catholic Relief Services, an agency that assists the poor and hungry worldwide. Each week there’s a simple recipe and a story about a family CRS has helped, with prompts such as, “How many water faucets do you have in your home? Give 24 cents to your Rice Bowl for each one.”
• Try a weekly family work of charity. Visit a sick or elderly relative or neighbor. Give away 5 or 10 percent of your paycheck. Cook for your local homeless shelter. Extend an olive branch to someone you’ve been feuding with.
• Go to the parish reconciliation service together as a family.
• And finally, screen your weekly redemption film. Ask the kids, “Who is the Christ figure in this movie?” Their good Christ-radar might surprise you.
—by Catherine O'Connell-Cahill, from the pages of At Home with Our Faith, Claretian Publications’ print newsletter for parents on nurturing spirituality in the home. Winner of the 2012 Best in Class award from the Associated Church Press, as well as a First Place General Excellence award from the Catholic Press Association for the past three years running
Pray It!
Why Create a Prayer Corner?
Life can be hectic, and it can be hard to find quiet time to communicate prayerfully with God.
But the habit of prayer is a gift you can give your children that will last them a lifetime. Having a dedicated space in your home for prayer is an ongoing reminder to family members that God is
always calling to grow in our relationship with him.
Because the items you and your family create will be handmade and personal, your prayer center will reflect your family’s values and help you live the three Lenten disciplines of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.
Begin with the Cross
Cut out a cross shape and invite each family member to trace the shape of their hand on the cross, as many times as it takes to fill the shape. Write your names on the hand prints and as the days go by, write down the good deeds you have done . . . how you were Christ for others during the day.
Why the Cross?
The cross is a principal symbol of the Christian faith. A crucifix is a cross bearing a representation of Jesus’ body, or corpus. The crucifix is primarily used in Catholic churches and emphasizes Christ’s sacrifice.
In the early Church, the cross was not used; the lamb, the fish, the alpha and omega, and the phoenix were preferred. Why do we use the cross? We use it because it signifies our salvation—our chance at heaven—through the love and sacrifice of Christ. The cross points to the redemptive death and glorious Resurrection of the Messiah, the Savior, which is the cornerstone of our faith. Just as Christ has redeemed us, his loving sacrifice has turned an instrument of torture and death into the ultimate symbol of mercy, justice, and everlasting life.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
From Catechist Journey, by Joe paprocki
Fasting and Almsgiving
Place the CRS Rice Bowl in your prayer space. Choose one night a week (or more) to eat a very simple meal. Just soup and bread or rice and beans. Read the weekly story in your Rice Bowl guide to learn how your prayers and sacrifices help those in need or go to CRSRiceBowl.org to learn more. Place the money you would have spent on pizza or ice cream in the Rice Bowl. These are collected at the Holy Thursday liturgy.
Why do we fast?
We fast to remove the things that get in the way of our relationship with God. In our hunger we are reminded that everything we have is a gift from God and that there are many who do not have enough to eat.
Life can be hectic, and it can be hard to find quiet time to communicate prayerfully with God.
But the habit of prayer is a gift you can give your children that will last them a lifetime. Having a dedicated space in your home for prayer is an ongoing reminder to family members that God is
always calling to grow in our relationship with him.
Because the items you and your family create will be handmade and personal, your prayer center will reflect your family’s values and help you live the three Lenten disciplines of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.
Begin with the Cross
Cut out a cross shape and invite each family member to trace the shape of their hand on the cross, as many times as it takes to fill the shape. Write your names on the hand prints and as the days go by, write down the good deeds you have done . . . how you were Christ for others during the day.
Why the Cross?
The cross is a principal symbol of the Christian faith. A crucifix is a cross bearing a representation of Jesus’ body, or corpus. The crucifix is primarily used in Catholic churches and emphasizes Christ’s sacrifice.
In the early Church, the cross was not used; the lamb, the fish, the alpha and omega, and the phoenix were preferred. Why do we use the cross? We use it because it signifies our salvation—our chance at heaven—through the love and sacrifice of Christ. The cross points to the redemptive death and glorious Resurrection of the Messiah, the Savior, which is the cornerstone of our faith. Just as Christ has redeemed us, his loving sacrifice has turned an instrument of torture and death into the ultimate symbol of mercy, justice, and everlasting life.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
From Catechist Journey, by Joe paprocki
Fasting and Almsgiving
Place the CRS Rice Bowl in your prayer space. Choose one night a week (or more) to eat a very simple meal. Just soup and bread or rice and beans. Read the weekly story in your Rice Bowl guide to learn how your prayers and sacrifices help those in need or go to CRSRiceBowl.org to learn more. Place the money you would have spent on pizza or ice cream in the Rice Bowl. These are collected at the Holy Thursday liturgy.
Why do we fast?
We fast to remove the things that get in the way of our relationship with God. In our hunger we are reminded that everything we have is a gift from God and that there are many who do not have enough to eat.
Share It!
Here are some wonderful ideas, in fact 40 Ideas for 40 Days.
Do It!
Color the crosses as you DO Lent. 40 days and 40 Crosses.
