This Series will focus on marriage. I will share some of the ups and downs that my husband and I have gone through, things we have learned, and advice that we have been given that I think is beneficial for others to hear!
I think we can all agree that 2020 was quite the year! There was good, there was bad, but there are so many in our society who believe that because 2020 is over, our struggles will be too. Realistically, that won’t be the case. We don’t know if COVID will disappear, become worse, or stay the same. We don’t know what the regulations in our countries will be, or how it will impact our families and friends. Nothing is certain, other than the fact that God will be with us through all of it.
So, I propose that we start the year off right. Put our best foot forward, and place 2021 into God’s hands.
There are so many ways that we can do that, and I have a few ideas of what I want to implement in my life this year. I’m not saying that I will be able to do all of these things right off the bat, but I know that it is important to put God at the centre of our lives. For some people, incorporating new faith things into their lives will be easy. For others, they will be lucky if they manage to do one new thing, or one thing at all. Everyone is different, and because you may not be able to do as many things as the next person doesn’t mean that you aren’t doing a wonderful job.
Ideally, I want to do each of these things, some daily, and others monthly. But I will have a new baby in March, so I need to be realistic about what I can and cannot do. Some days, I’ll be able to do multiple things on my list, while other times I may go days without doing any of them. I will be tempted to beat myself up for not praying the way I should. But we can’t beat ourselves up about what we fail to do. Instead we need to keep trying, and doing our best to put God first, in whatever way works best in our daily lives.
So, whatever you are planning go to do faith wise, you’ve got this, whether you do it daily, monthly, or only once this year.
Here is my list of prayer things I want to do this year:
1. Find a word/bible verse/saint for the year
I follow Blessed is She on social media, and in December, Beth Davis spoke about finding a word, bible verse, and/or saint for your year as a way to draw closer to God. I didn’t have a word last year, but I did have a bible verse - Ecclesiastes 3:1. It got me through some difficult moments, and I still meditate on it today.
Take some time to pray about a word that God wants you to reflect on throughout the year. Read the Bible and ask God to help you find the passage He wants you to reflect on, or look up verses that relate to your word. Perhaps there is a saint that is associated with the verse or word, or maybe there is a saint that has been popping up at the back of your mind for a while. Look them up, pray about it.
I don’t have a word or verse yet for this year, but I am leaning towards St. Joseph as my saint of the year. Not only is 2021 the Year of St. Joseph, but my husband will be a father this year, and who better to pray to for guidance and help than the foster father of Jesus (plus, I just love St. Joseph, and want to get to know him better). Blessed is She has filters on Instagram for a word and verse for the year. Check it out!
2. Watch Adoration
Before COVID, my husband and I would try to go to an adoration and confession event at our local basilica once a month. When we were quarantined, our time in adoration stopped. Our restrictions let up a bit in the late spring, and we started to go back, but we stopped once I got pregnant (morning sickness was not fun). While we can’t go to confession and adoration regularly anymore, I know that some Catholic websites have adoration online. If you look online, there are a lot of websites to choose from. I haven’t done this yet (I’ve been meaning to for a while), so I don’t have any particular websites that I recommend over others. If you like one above others, let me know.
3. Watch Daily Mass
There are so many daily Mass options on Youtube, which I love! I’ve been watching the Daily TV Mass from Toronto. There are definitely days when I don’t want to watch Mass, but I feel a tug towards it, so I do it, and my day feels better because of it. Most morning Masses are short, so it isn’t too hard to wake up 30 minutes earlier to start your morning with Jesus (haha, I love sleeping in, so sometimes waking up early is hard, but still doable). It isn’t always possible, and I don’t watch Morning Mass often, but it’s a nice habit to start.
4. Go to Confession
With COVID, and with the restrictions in my province, going to Confession is hard. Being in my third trimester, I don’t want to leave the house, and because of other family factors, Nathan and I haven’t been able to go to Confession in a long time. I don’t know how often we will be able to go in 2021, but my goal is to go as often as I can, to plan my week around going to confession.
5. Pray Novenas
I’ve mentioned this before, but I love praying novenas! Pray More Novenas is my favourite site for novenas. I love the novenas they have, and that they email the prayers each day (otherwise I would definitely forget to pray everyday). They will also send you emails about upcoming novenas, so that once you have subscribed, you can pray multiple novenas in a year without having to worry about when the next one will start!
6. Pray the Angelus
My family went through a period of years where we said the angelus before meals instead of our usual grace. If you don’t know much about the Angelus, it is a prayer that is said at 6am, noon, and 6pm, daily. It is a prayer with a “call and response” when you pray with more than one person. The prayer focuses on Annunciation of Mary, with a Hail Mary said between each response. It’s a sweet, simple prayer that doesn’t take long to say.
There are so many other things that Nathan and I can do, both individually and together as a couple, but this a good place to start. If you have other things that you are doing this year, let me know! No matter what you are doing this year, I pray that they go well for you, and that you can draw closer to Christ!
Happy New Year Everyone!
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