Prayer Starts at Home
Every morning, somewhere between the backpacks and the traffic, our car becomes a small chapel. Nobody planned it that way. We simply started praying on the way to school and our children started praying with us. First, they watched. Then they mumbled along. Now they know the words.
At night, the prayer changes, but the rhythm doesn’t. Before bed we pray the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi together. For now, it’s all our children know of Saint Francis and it is enough. It carries a whole history, too: Juan’s mother taught it to him and prayed it with him every day, on the way to school, on the way to work, on the way to anywhere. Now it’s coming out of our own children’s mouths. We can’t think of a better inheritance.
The Guardian Angel prayer and our devotion to the Virgin Mary have become familiar friends in the same way. We watch our children reach for the words and we’re seeing something we didn’t expect they aren’t just repeating anymore. They are starting to understand to whom they’re talking.
It shows up at church, too. When the priest gives the blessing, in Spanish or in Latin, our children recognize it. Watching them know what’s coming and feeling at home in it, is quite an experience for us as parents. Nobody lectured them into it. They simply learned that they belong.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá, who called the family a domestic church, taught that praying together at home is the best way to raise children in the faith, because there, he said, “they learn to pray following their parents’ example.” We wrote once that we can only give our children what is in our own soul. We feel this more every day. We are not experts. Some mornings we’re tired and running late, but our children pray because we pray. That’s the whole method.
We also tell the kids, again and again, who is really in charge. Our kids love their superheroes and their princesses, and we let them dream. Iron Man and Spider-Man are fun to love, but neither one holds the universe together. Only One does: Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. As we wrote about holiness once, the call isn’t for superheroes. It’s for ordinary people in the middle of real life, diapers and all, and the One who calls us is the real thing.
Our kids are also captivated by a small book about Saint John Bosco. Don Bosco holds a special place in our home. He’s Juan’s patron saint. We met him on his feast day, January 31st. The children love the pictures and the story of how he gathered poor and abandoned boys and gave them a home and a future. He believed that “without confidence and love, there can be no true education.” We can see why our kids are drawn to this saint who loved children first.
So tonight, before the lights go out, we invite you to fold your hands next to your children’s. It doesn’t have to be long, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Children are far more ready to meet God than we often realize. They’re just waiting for us to go first.
Mary, Regína famíliæ, ora pro nobis.
Juan and Sofia were born into Catholic families in Colombia, South America. They met on Juan’s Patron Saint Feast Day, Saint John Bosco, January 31st and recently got married on the 31st of July. Both have encountered Jesus in their lives and decided to follow him with great commitment.
Juan is a Political Scientist and also a great golfer. He works in the Wine and Spirits Industry.
Sofia is a commercial real estate lawyer and works at her family-owned business. They currently live in Cali, Colombia.
Juan and Sofia are increasingly passionate about the apostolic mission with the youth and young professionals. They are committed to showing the love of God and his mysteries through the beauty of the sacrament of marriage and friendship. Both have lived their conversion through different spiritualities within the Church, such as the charismatic renewal, parish groups (Emaus and Effeta), Mana (a self-founded apostolic group) and Opus Dei. This last one is currently where both congregate and receive all their spiritual formation and guidance. Although they have much to learn, they are eager to share their testimony with all the readers.
