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Everyday Blessings
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By Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
Catholic Online
We wake up each morning to face a new day filled with blessings and challenges. "How will we use this day?" we ask ourselves. Our heads fill up all too quickly with all of the things we feel we need to accomplish this day. So, before we forget, we begin our day with a prayer thanking God for a new day, asking our Lord to use us as we serve Him in others. We ask that we can do His will and spread His love. We ask for grace and strength. In so doing, we are assured that our day has started on the right foot.
As mothers, we know that the luxury of a set time and place for prayer seems to be reserved for others. While we will always strive to find that special time in which to communicate with our Lord, we know in our hearts that our conversation with Him will continue throughout our loving acts of service in our families. That is truly where we encounter God. Our Lord is very pleased with all of our little acts of loving service to our children. After all, He has put us right there in the midst of our families in the hearts of our homes to raise our little ones in love.
We raise our hearts to our Lord as we are sometimes running through our days trying to keep up with the unending chores and activities of our vocation, all the while teaching our children to raise their hearts, as well.
Recently when I was able to borrow some time to meet Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament by myself in a quiet Church, I heard what sounded like a mother and small children come into the Church behind me. They must have seen that someone was up front praying because I heard the, "shhhhh's" and the "shush's" from the Mom as they rushed towards the images of the Blessed Mother and St.Joseph where they would light candles and kneel to pray. They tried to be quiet so as not to disturb me, but I delighted in their little sounds.
"Everyday blessings," I thought. This Mom was teaching her children an invaluable lesson in life, to turn to prayer for necessities and in thanksgiving. They were soon on their way to continue with their day with those prayers under their belt.
For about twenty years I have been admiring a very cute couple at Mass. You can count on them sitting in their familiar places at Mass. Each week, they sweetly and respectfully hold hands during Mass; it may be his hand just resting on hers on the top of the pew in front of them or at other times throughout the Mass. I wonder if they know what a beautiful sight and example they are to others, a real testament of their love for one another, a witness to their faithfulness in the Sacrament of their marriage. Everyday blessings!
Blessings surround us. Finding them depends on our point of view.
_____________________
Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle, a mother of five, writes from Connecticut. She is the author of the best-selling book, "Catholic Prayer Book for Mothers," (OSV Oct. 05) It was endorsed by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta whom she knew and given a blessing by Pope John Paul II. It is available through her website: www.donnacooperoboyle.com. Her new book, "The Heart of Motherhood, Finding Holiness in the Catholic Home" will be released in September. Donna writes for numerous publications and websites. She lectures on a number of issues relating to Catholic women.
Contact
Donn-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
https://www.catholic.org
CT, US
Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle - author,
DCooperMcCarthy@aol.com
Keywords
blessings, prayer, mothers,
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