One of my resolutions for 2023 was to deepen my faith life. The thing is, I did not actually set any goals for this resolution aside from just saying I wanted to strengthen/deepen my understanding of the Catholic faith. Sure, I went to a Catholic school growing up and we had religion class, but I didn’t really retain the why’s and how’s of being a Catholic. This is the driving factor for why I wanted to start this resolution this year. I want to understand the components of mass. I want to understand why we observe certain days throughout the year. Know the things I feel like I am supposed to know about being a Catholic and be able to pass this along to the kids. The thing with setting a resolution is that you really should be setting goals in order to achieve your resolution. The thing with setting goals is, they should be S.M.A.R.T. goals so you can create an action plan to achieve those goals. In case you don’t know what a S.M.A.R.T. goal is:
Specific. You should detail your goal and get specific about what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it. This essentially creates a little action plan to achieve your goal.
Measurable. You should be able to measure your goal in some way so you know when you have achieved it. This could be the amount of money you plan to invest or how much time you have put into learning a new skill.
Attainable. You should be able to achieve your specific goal within the amount of time you have allotted. So no saying you want to save $1 million within a year earning minimum wage.
Relevant. Your goal should be related to what you plan to achieve and align with the purpose you are setting the goals for.
Timely. You should set a timeframe that you plan to achieve these goals. Set short-term goals and long-term goals that will put you on the path to achieving your overall goal or purpose.
Needless to say it has been a rocky start to this resolution. I did not actually set any goals to achieve, therefore I had nothing to strive towards. Granted, I was busy in January starting up the blog again and preparing posts that are set to come out during the time the baby is born, so we can spend time as a family and still have content released. We have been working diligently on a series that will be released on February 24 that is a big passion project for us. I have been preparing the house for the new baby, getting clothes washed, getting the car seat cleaned, getting a hospital bag figured out, getting hospital snacks and food prepared and frozen, and getting a few freezer meals ready for when we come home. Being busy doesn’t justify ignoring my faith life though. Upon reflection today, I think I have been focusing on my faith less than ever lately and have definitely been praying less. So, now is the time to do a U-turn on my journey and get headed in the proper direction.
goals
These are the goals I want to achieve this year with my faith journey. I have set some short-term goals so I am able to achieve the long-term goals.
Praying the Rosary as a Family
Praying the rosary as a family on Sunday’s. One of the commandments is to rest on Sunday’s and I am so guilty of using Sunday as a catch-up day! So, I plan to start praying the rosary with the family on Sunday’s to refocus and keep that day holy. I am going to start this by praying the rosary once a month with the family and then slowly working up to twice a month, and then weekly. Praying the rosary as a family is supposed to be a plenary indulgence, but I still need to figure out exactly what that is!
Weekly faith-based activity
I would love to do an activity with the kids regarding the weekly gospel or bible readings. To begin this, I will do an activity once a month pertaining to the gospel, a bible reading or regarding the monthly dedications. I plan to start a binder and have a printed copy of the readings for that week and then I can plan out activities or discussions for that week’s readings. Then we can revisit and add to the binder over the years. Each month can also have a title page with the monthly dedication on it and ways we can observe and “celebrate” that monthly dedication. I also need to figure out if these monthly dedications change every year or if they are the same.
This binder will serve as a double purpose because I so desperately want to restart a Family Catechism in the area. I will get more in detail about what that is in the future if you do not know what it is, but I think we are planning to start one again in the Smiths Falls area. *Fingers Crossed*
celebrating a more faith-based lent and easter
Really observe and celebrate Lent and Easter. Many years ago, someone asked me if I was a “C&E Catholic” and I laughed because I had no idea what they were talking about. Essentially, I feel like they were telling me that their perspective of Catholics was that we only celebrate Christmas and Easter and forget about our religion any other time of the year. I was a little upset because at that time I wasn’t really practicing my faith very much. Josh and I hadn’t really gotten back into the church, and this was definitely the gut punch I needed to get back to it and get on the road to understanding my faith. I wanted to be able to pass information along to my kids so they could understand their faith.
So, for Shrove Tuesday, we usually make pancakes, but we are also going to be discussing as a family what the purpose of Shrove Tuesday is, why we observe it, and why we eat pancakes. Then for Ash Wednesday, we will also discuss as a family what Ash Wednesday represents, why we observe it, and what the significance of the ashes are. We will discuss the purpose of Lent and what we are supposed to receive within our spirit from observing Lent. Then, each child will choose something to give up for Lent and something they plan to do to strengthen and deepen their faith life. Then, we will learn about the Triduum, and how we can specifically observe and celebrate each day of the Triduum and Easter Weekend and why we celebrate Easter.
Celebrating a more faith-based advent and christmas season
The other time of year I want to focus on is Advent and Christmas and bringing it back to being a faith-centered celebration in our household. I have some activities planned for this year already. I learned last year that Advent is a time of waiting and preparing. Traditional Catholics didn’t decorate their Christmas tree until Christmas Eve because Advent was spent waiting and preparing for the birth of Christ. So, this year I want to get our tree about mid-December, but wait to decorate it until after we come home from Christmas Eve mass. This will allow us to preserve Advent for waiting and preparing for Christ, and also give the kids something to do until bedtime.
For the beginning of Advent, I want to get some bees wax sheets and wick so we can make our own Advent candles as a family. Then, we can decorate a wreath to go around the candles. Each Sunday in Advent, we will discuss the topics of that Sunday (hope, love, joy, and peace). Then we can decorate the tree on Christmas Eve. We will start the actual Christmas celebrations on Christmas day because that is when the Christmas celebrations are traditionally supposed to start. Starting on Christmas Day, we can add a decoration to the tree for each of the 12 Days of Christmas that represents that day’s theme. The picture above was shared by Scoot Hahn on Facebook and for each day of the 12 days, we can discuss the meaning of each day. Then, we can end the Christmas season with Epiphany since traditionally Catholics take their trees down the day after Epiphany. As as per the Amell custom, if we have a real tree, we can set it on fire!
So, these are some of the ways I plan to deepen and strengthen my faith throughout the year and incorporate the family into the faith journey. I think this is a great start for this year. There is also a list of terms/concepts that I want to define and understand. I want to define what observing some of these days/times would look like for our family. For example, abstaining from eating meat on Friday. I have read that we can eat meat on Friday’s, but abstain from doing something else in its place.
Terms I want to define
- Solemnity
- Obligatory Observance versus an Optional Observance
- Fasting and Abstinance
- Friday Abstinance
- Lent (giving something up and adding in a good habit; fasting; abstinance)
- Penance
- Feast Days
- Plenary Indulgence
- Monthly Dedications
plan of action for february
The monthly dedication for February according to the picture Scott Hahn shared on Facebook is The Holy Family. My main goal for this month is to learn how to do a “monthly dedication”. Are we focusing on prayers, doing activities in regards to the Holy Family members, like praying the rosary because Mary represents the rosary, or just learning more about the Holy Family? Or all of the above?! So learning how to do or observe a monthly dedication is going to be step 1 for February as well as teaching Joseph about the Holy Family, and perhaps just participating in discussions about the Holy Family as a family at dinner. Then we will be more prepared for March’s dedication of Saint Joseph.
My other plan of action for February is to start the binder for weekly activities in regards to the weekly bible readings and the weekly gospel reading. Then adding in an action plan for each’s month’s dedication. Essentially just setting up the frameworks for the binder and then starting it. Since I would love to start Family Catechism again this year, perhaps I will start with September, work my way through to the end of the year with the binder so if we can start up a Family Catechism, we have a plan of action for those meetings from September to December. Then, I will work my way backwards from September to the current date. This will get this year’s portion of the binder finished. Then I can work at next year’s binder and so on until I do the entire 3 year cycle of the Missal readings. Over time I can add in more detail in regards to activities and discussions for the readings and monthly dedications, but having a starting point is what I am aiming for right now. Another portion of the binder I will focus on this month is Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Lent since they start near the end of the month.
I think these are some good starting points, especially since pretty soon we are going to be very busy with a new baby, finishing the series we are creating that releases later this month. (The homepage for that opens this Friday, February 17, so you can learn more about our passion project there.) This summer I also have some new commitments beginning, we are planting a vegetable garden, we intend to spend the summer together as a family since Josh is off for the summer, we have the boy’s sports all summer long and I intend on getting to the beach as often as we can! So many things to do and so little time!
If you are further along in your faith journey or are willing to offer some information for me regarding the Catholic faith journey, I am all ears. I do subscribe to Catholic-All-Year and learn quite a bit between her emails and Facebook posts, Scott Hahn’s Facebook posts, “Get Fed” emails I get sent to my inbox, and my church’s weekly “flock note” that gets sent out, but I am always up for learning more and finding new resources to help me!
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