Session 1 - Knowing Jesus: The Importance of Prayer - Parents

WHAT IS MY CHILD LEARNING THIS MONTH?

This month, your child learned that prayer is a relationship with God. By praying, we engage in a conversation with God: we talk, listen, and respond to God. Like any friendship, by spending time with God we grow to him. We learned about the different forms of prayer using the acrostic A.C.T.S: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. The Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, is a model of how we should pray, and we went over how A.C.T.S is covered in the Our Father.

Terms we went over:

Prayer: the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God. When we engage in prayer, we are uniting ourselves to the heart of God. This relationship is living, meaning that we are in the presence of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because of our baptism, our prayer and lives are always unified with God. (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, §2558-2565)

Adoration: to praise. When we say we adore God, we are acknowledging God for who He Is (i.e. Good, Holy, Fatherly, Our Savior). Although God has no need for our “compliments,” we do so out of love for Him. Like when you compliment a friend, you are acknowledging certain truths about them. For example, when I tell my friend that she is a good listener and has a wonderful smile, I am stating certain truths about her and bringing it to her attention because I want to let her know how much I love and care about her. (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, §2639-2643)

Contrition: to ask for forgiveness. There will be times where we fail to live up to the call God has for us, and we harm our relationship with Him. When this happens, we return into his loving arms and ask for forgiveness to heal our relationship. Just like sometimes we hurt or wrong a friend, we ask them for forgiveness to repair our relationship. While we are encouraged to do this in prayer, the relationship is healed in a special way by going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1422 & Article 4: The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation)

Supplication: to petition, to request, to ask for help. In this prayer, we express humility and awareness of our relationship with God. We realize we cannot do everything ourselves and need God to provide for us. Jesus tells us, “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened for you,” so we are encouraged to ask the Father of all our needs (Mt. 7:7-8). (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, §2629-2633)

BRINGING THIS SESSION HOME

All baptized people are called to a life of prayer. Perhaps you were never taught how or why to pray, or the business of your life prevents you from engaging in prayer. Whatever it is, prayer allows us to enter deep within our hearts, our dwelling-place, and draw further into communion with God. Watch this video from Bishop Barron to learn more about what prayer is and how to dive deeper in prayer:

Bishop Barron on Prayer

Take some time to reflect on your personal and familial prayer life:

• Do you pray? Why or why not?
• Do your children know that you pray? Why or why not?
• How can you pray together as a family?
• Do you talk about God, prayer, and your faith in family conversations? Why or why not?

This month, have some conversations with your child about prayer: about prayer in general, about your faith, about the times when God has helped you in your life.

PRAYING TOGETHER

In addition to cultivating a personal prayer life, families are called to pray and grow closer to God together. In the midst of our very busy lives between kids, jobs, and personal stresses, this may seem like a big ask! Please find some tips and resources to pray as a family:

• Pray a daily prayer every day: if you’re unsure of where to start, beginning your day or your meals as a family with a short and simple prayer is a good place to begin. Try using this family prayer to start:
  
  Almighty God, we thank You that You give our lives purpose and meaning - May our prayers to You have purpose and meaning as well. At all times let us be mindful that You alone are God as we enter into Your presence through prayer.
  
  
  
• Go over the basics, if needed: teach your children the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be, making sure they are committed to memory. Click here if you need a reminder.
  
• Assign one of the letters of A.C.T.S to four different days of the week: you may follow this schedule, or mix it up as you which:
  1. Monday: give prayers of adoration to God. Even better, stop by the adoration chapel for a few minutes in silent adoration to God (Prayer of Adoration).
  2. Tuesday: go around the table and ask for forgiveness from each family member for any sins/harms committed, concluding with an act of contrition. If you need to attend Confession, OLMC offers confessions on Monday evenings 7-7:30pm and Saturdays from 1-2PM. One can also make a pre-arranged appointment with any of the priests to receive this Sacrament (Prayer of Contrition).
  3. Wednesday: go around the table and ask each member what they are grateful for and why. Thank God for the many blessings in your life. (Prayer of Thanksgiving).
  4. Thursday: choose a person or issue who needs prayers. Offer up the work in your day for that person/issue (Prayer of Supplication).