Page 15 - Our Catholic Family

PART 4
Family Prayer
A slogan made popular by Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, a Holy Cross priest, says very succinctly, “The family that prays together stays together.” He meant the slogan to encourage families of the 1950s to adopt the family Rosary as a nightly practice, but we can expand the idea to all prayer at all times!
Prayer should be as natural to us as breathing. In fact, the Hebrew word for spirit (and the Holy Spirit is the source of all our prayer) is ruah, or “breath.” We cannot see our breath, but it keeps us alive. Without being able to breathe, our body shuts down and we die.
We cannot see prayer. Prayer is a mystery between God and the human person. But prayer is really what keeps us alive. Without prayer, our spirits will gradually shut down. We will die spiritually.
Children learn by doing. They learn by imitation. They want to do what mom and dad do. If mom and dad pray, they will learn to pray. Of course they should learn to speak to God in their own words, spontaneously. Parents can model this. But they should also learn the traditional prayers of the community: the Our Father, the Hail, and the Glory to the Father. (See Section 5 for these and more.) Parents can also model these traditional prayers at various times: before and after meals, while beginning a car trip, before bed, and as opportunities present themselves during the day.
In this section, prayers are suggested for various occasions, both happy and sad. God knows how we feel. But when we place our thoughts and feelings in his hands, we give him permission to help us and to heal us. We no longer feel alone. In the presence of our loving Father, we can find peace.
Prayers for Happy Times
“This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.”
(Psalm 118:24)
A Prayer of Welcome for a Newborn Child
“You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!”
(Psalm 139:13–14)
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