In Lumen Gentium (11) we’re told: “The family, is so to speak, the domestic church” Today, in our new Coronavirus infected world, the reality that we are the Body of Christ, His Church, and the domestic couldn’t be more true. Although social distancing seems to be forcing us to worship within our homes, many alone, the fact is that we are NEVER ALONE, especially when we pray. Prayer is when we lift our hearts, mind, and body to God. But more importantly, prayer is when God lifts our hearts, minds, and bodies in prayer to be one in His. It’s in prayer that God whispers His love into our souls. Finding time and space in our homes to share in this intimate exchange can seem challenging, but no other challenge has such a return.
Within the fortress of our abode, where we are the kings and queens of our castle, something might be missing. We’ve decorated as we like, parented as best as we can, and pray and rest within the limits of our busy lives. But now is a challenging time to rest with God, since the doors of our churches are for the most part shuttered. We’ve tragically, for now, lost the ability to sojourner from our own homes to worship with our church community in His home, where we receive His Body and Blood in the Most Holy Eucharist. Our souls are starving without that daily/weekly life-giving meal where we become one with Him and each other. For many, even before the pandemic, making a Spiritual Communion has been the only source of their connection to the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass. For almost everyone now, this too is our existence. Although grace-filled, it’s not ideal, and we must pray and do what we can to help Bishops institute creative ways to feed their starving sheep.
So, what else can we do, within our power and within our homes to feed our souls with the Word of God? We can make our home a domestic church. We can make a sacred space in our homes where we habitually pray and rest with God and read and sit with the Word of God – daily. Freely relinquishing our world and our will to His is what we do when we go to Mass each week/day. Let’s relinquish our homes, or a certain part of our homes to Him as a place where we read, meditate and find quiet so we can hear Him.
Is it possible to prepare a place fitting for the King to come and sit with us and we with Him? Sure it is. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It does have to be a place where we can pray quietly to the Lord by ourselves and at other times with others. We come together in the kitchen to share a family meal. We exercise our bodies in our garages and home gyms. We have family rooms and playrooms and some even have home theaters. So how about a prayer room, a prayer closet, a prayer fort, or even a prayer corner where we allow God to tend to our souls?
I’d like to share, from our family’s own experience, a few thoughts about creating a special place to sit with and honor Our Lord in our homes…
1- Make it a family project. Have input from your spouse, children, and/or from your special heavenly friends, the saints, and from God, Himself – start with prayer. Ask others in your house what they think would be pleasing to God so that He’d smile when He visits the special place you’ve prepared for Him. Invite each family member to add one thing to a prayer table or wall that will help them think about The Lord and His Kingdom.
2 – Make it comfortable, peaceful, and inviting, somewhere you want to spend time. It can be extravagant or simple. The purpose of this sacred space is that it induces quiet in your heart to hear God’s love for you, and for you to be able to offer fitting praise to Him. One of Deacon Bob’s favorite places to pray and meditate is in a corner of our bedroom. Nothing but Bob sitting on the floor in the dark praying to the Lord of Light. I guess it’s better than where he’d once go – to our children’s old fort, affectionately referred to as Deacon Bob’s Hermitage and Sweat Lodge.
3– Plan what can work for you. Because we are basically empty-nesters, we turned an unused bedroom into a chapel. There, we pray Morning and Evening Prayer, as well as our other daily prayers. When planning our prayer space, and because of my health limitations, we had to take into consideration our family’s needs, vocations, and the ministries in which we are involved. In our home chapel, we not only pray, but we’ve also been blessed to occasionally have Mass celebrated, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of the Sick administered, as well as ongoing Spiritual Mentoring, Unbound Prayer. Our chapel is what is right for us and what God gave us the means and inspiration to do. What inspiration and means will He give to you? (We’d love for you to email us pictures of your special sacred space so we can share them in a future post.)
What we long for in communal prayer, worshiping with our brothers and sisters, and receiving Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, may not be made possible for a while. These times bring extraordinary spiritual, social, physical, psychological, and economic challenges to all. We need to implore God’s help through prayer. So pray, pray, pray!
To make this temporary new-normal less isolating and lonely, the Seiths invite you, your family, friends, and community to connect with us LIVE in spirit and prayer. https://painofgrace.wordpress.com/prayer-live/
Weekdays at 8:30 am EST & Saturday, Sunday, & Holidays at 9:30am EST You are invited to pray Morning Prayer (LOTH) live with us, via ZOOM, from our home’s sacred space. (We’d love to broadcast from Sacred Heart Church directly but the internet connection there is not up to snuff.)
Every Tuesday evening – 7:00 pm EST we’ll continue our 25+ year tradition of praying the Rosary (Sorrowful Mysteries) and the Divine Mercy Chaplet for a world-wide conversion to the will of God, as well as for your prayer intentions. Send us your intentions or email us if you’d like your intentions to remain confidential.
Other opportunities for us to virtually unite as a community will be posted on our Live Prayer page and on Sacred Heart Church’s Flock Notes (Sign up at https://sacredheartbowie.flocknote.com/) Also, leave your intentions in the comments box or by emailing us privately, so we can pray for you.
May God continue to bless you as you continue to love and serve Him.
We love you! We miss you!
~The Seith Family
Pain of Grace 