Tagged: Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion
Pope Francis encourages us to proclaim God’s Word by the way we live. You can allow God to be God, living in your heart and working through you wherever you are, or you can do the sidestep dance and be miserable.
What will be your response today during the trials of sickness, financial worries, children acting out, and the overwhelming minute-by-minute demands of motherhood? Are you tempted to focus on yourself? Your needs? Or is the Holy Spirit inspiring you to become the good news?
“Acquire the Holy Spirit and thousands around you will acquire salvation” – St. Seraphim of Sarov
St. Seraphim dreamed big. Honored by both the Roman Catholic (today) and Orthodox (January 15) calendars, this wonderworker emphasized seeking communion with God as the true purpose of life for every Christian. St. Seraphim’s life demonstrated that everything else was merely the means for “acquiring the Holy Spirit.”
Wait! Didn’t we acquire the Holy Spirit at baptism and weren’t we sealed with the gift of the Spirit at Confirmation? Can’t we acquire more of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or receive the Eucharist? A resounding “yes” to all of these.
God lets me wait for the surprise ending as my sisters did. My older sister would make me wait, just like I did my little sister, for a surprise kiss or cookie until the big task was finished — cleaning the bathroom, cooking dinner or decorating for a party.
When I work hard at my goals and wait on Jesus, I enjoy the ending more than the start because of the joy of looking in his eyes and anticipating a glorious ending.
“Acquire the Holy Spirit and thousands around you will acquire salvation” – St. Seraphim of Sarov St. Seraphim dreamed big. Honored by both the Roman Catholic (today) and Orthodox (January 15) calendars, this wonderworker emphasized seeking communion with God as the true purpose of life for every Christian. St. Seraphim’s life demonstrated that everything else was merely the means for “acquiring the Holy Spirit.” Wait! Didn’t we acquire the Holy Spirit at baptism and weren’t we sealed with the gift of the Spirit at Confirmation? Can’t we acquire more of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or receive the Eucharist? A resounding “yes” to all of these.
Barb Szyszkiewicz is a wife, mom, Secular Franciscan, managing editor for Today’s Catholic Teacher magazine and editor at CatholicMom.com. Her three children range in age from high school to young adult, and she enjoys writing, cooking, and reading. Barb is a music minister at her parish and an avid Notre Dame football and basketball fan. Find her blog at FranciscanMom and her family’s favorite recipes with nutrition information for diabetics at Cook and Count.
She is a tireless and committed volunteer for the Catholic Writers Guild. Barb is highly skilled and experienced in writing, editing, social media and blogging with specialties in inspirational and technical topics, book reviews and recipes. She contributed to the CatholicMom’s Prayer Companion. Watch for her book review of Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story coming in 2020.
December winner! January contest begins! Do you have a story to tell? Win the upcoming book Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story: Tools, Tips, and Testimonies by entering the January drawing at JoyAlive.net https://joyalive.net/december-book-winner-january-contest-begins/ The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion: Come, Holy Spirit We all have difficult people in our lives. How can invoking the...
“Acquire the Holy Spirit and thousands around you will acquire salvation” – St. Seraphim of Sarov
Editor’s Note: I’m so proud to be part of the CatholicMom.com community, contributing to the blog since 2012, and to the Catholic Moms Prayer Companion in 2016, with the exciting CMN book launch. Here’s the official announcement on CatholicMom.com by our incredible editor, Barb Szyszkiewicz, OFS: The community of CatholicMom.com authors, which now includes more than...
