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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Catholic Mass | Eucharist | Thanksgiving | family prayer
On this Thanksgiving Day, Catholic Mom contributor Julie Larsen discusses the early celebrations of Thanksgiving among Catholics in the United States. The celebration of the Eucharist (the Mass) is the highest form of thanksgiving for Catholics. Since I wholeheartedly agree with this, in celebration of Thanksgiving, I decided to research about where the first Mass in America was celebrated. There is considerable debate about where the first Mass was or could have been held. One claim is to St. Brendan the Navigator who discovered North Canada area back in the 6th century!
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Catholic Faith | Grandpa's Garden | Thanksgiving | catholic family life
Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees in this autumnal region. It’s easier to see the sky, the stars at night, the distant woodland, and to feel the sun’s waning warmth. Seasonal changes draw us into life’s evolving rhythms, schemes of color, and declining daylight hours. We adjust our perspective on the ever-changing natural world.
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Celebrations | Family Time | Thanksgiving | prayer
Do you want to trade in the cultural stressed-out, food frenzy and instead experience Thanksgiving (and the surrounding days) as God intended? If so, I invite you to try out the two steps I use to create a simple yet celebratory Thanksgiving! Below, I’ve outlined my own Thanksgiving plan (which includes a three-day stay at my parents' home with my husband and two teenage sons) that you can use to create the kind of holiday you actually look forward to.
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Thanksgiving | The Sacraments | catholic family life | family prayer
My elementary and preschool-aged children have enjoyed making a construction paper chain full of things we are thankful for this month as we approach Thanksgiving. We have discussed the pilgrims and Native Americans in our homeschool lessons, and they look forward to traveling to visit relatives later this week. It's fun to cultivate holiday traditions with young children and to teach them to count their blessings at Thanksgiving. But how do we teach them gratitude beyond Thanksgiving day? How do we shape their hearts to cultivate gratitude for what they have when the stores are bursting with Christmas gifts they think they "need"? Here are four ways to help your families make thankfulness a habit when the pumpkin pie is long gone! When you're finished reading, we'd love to hear some of your own ideas in the comments!
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Parenthood | Thanksgiving | family life
It’s a phenomenon you may know all too well. You’ve planned a big party, holiday, or project at work. It goes off without a hitch, but then you wake up the next day feeling blue with low energy. You wonder, “What’s wrong with me?”
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Thanksgiving | family prayer | gratitude
Type “gratitude” on your Google search engine, and you will find all sorts of information on how gratitude can increase your happiness. The number of self-help books on the topic would probably take a few lifetimes to read. From scientific research on the brain to psychological and social studies to religious and anti-religious experts … everyone seems to agree that gratitude is a good thing and that we need to learn how to practice it.
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