Take advantage of your isolation during the coronavirus to give your spiritual life a boost. It’s not easy praying as a family, even when COVID-19 isn’t forcing us to stay at home: the little ones fidget, the teens drag their feet, and one parent is inevitably busy just at that moment. Trying to pray may even lead to argument. But why not take advantage of a period of isolation to get more used to praying together?
1. To start with, simply recite an Our Father.
2. If you decide to make a Lenten offering to a particular organization, praying about which one can be the first step to supporting it.
3. Are you used to saying evening prayers? This is a good time to introduce a brief morning prayer to offer up your day around the breakfast table!
4. What’s the state of your family prayer corner? Non-existent? Cluttered up over time? How about tidying it up? Decorate it with a few candles, some holy objects, a plant, or small flowers. On Good Friday and Holy Saturday, cover any icons or crucifix with a cloth.
5. Saturday evening can be a good time for a reading of that Sunday’s Gospel, ending with an exchange of questions, answers, and conversations.
6. For the little ones, why not exchange the regular bedtime stories for the life of a saint or a Bible story? Or during dinner, one of the family can read aloud about the life of a saint.
8. Subscribing to a spiritual magazine, such as Magnificat, can help you to navigate each day in union with the prayer of the whole Church and develop your spiritual life in line with your own personal vocation.
Yolande Bésida
