Finding God at the Altar of Home; Liturgical Living is the Slow-Living We're Craving

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Finding God at the Altar of Home

“A married woman must, when called upon, quit her devotions to God at the altar, to find him in her household affairs.” St. Frances of Rome

Home.

You probably don’t think of your home as a kind of altar, I know I didn’t for a long time.

The clutter, the noise, the work, the constant flow of family life - none of it exactly screams “holy” and for a long time I failed to see God moving within my home. I struggled for years trying to accept this work as something good and holy. I struggled setting down my pride, misconceptions, frustrations and all the worldly lies around home. I struggled to see God beside me, with me and before me. I struggled choosing God in each moment - many days, if I’m being honest, I still do.

Yet, amongst the messiness of life this is where He can be found, meeting me head on in the mundane. Here in the trenches of homemaking, motherhood, and homeschool, God has shown me the immense beauty of looking to the eternal through the lens of the mundane. In this work we do with our hands, the chopping, sweeping, scrubbing, folding, the holding of tiny and big hands, hugs, kisses, tears and laughter - He meets us.

All of it is holy work.

The act of homemaking is more than just cleaning, cooking and making a home comfortable. If I wanted I could fill every minute of my day with tasks and chores but that is not the point. The act of homemaking is about the strengthening and nourishment of souls who reside within the home. It’s about the building up of minds, bodies and souls, for when they bittersweetly leave us. It’s about establishing a legacy and passing on an inheritance of faith, tradition, and love.

It’s about glorifying God.

In this way, seeing this work through the eternal lens of guiding souls to heaven, of administering truth, beauty, and goodness within these four walls, our home becomes a kind of altar. A place where we sacrifice our time, our energy, our creativity, our love, our very selves in service of the Lord. A place where He meets us in that sacrifice and we are transformed - body and soul into His likeness.

It’s in the little bits and pieces of the work we do each day that God reveals Himself to us and we learn to lay down our lives for others, where we learn to love as God loves, even if just a little bit. It’s in this way we come to the altar the Lord has fashioned for us in our lives as homemakers - our home.

Friends I hope, where ever you are reading this, that you know the work you do is holy work if it is done for the Glory of God.

4 Ways I View Homemaking through an Eternal Lens

A while ago a friend asked me how I came to love homemaking so much. In reply to her I said “I don’t, it’s still a chore, but I see that it has a higher purpose than simply keeping a house clean.”

1. Checking the worldly lies at the door - If it wasn’t for God’s redeeming Love I would be embarrassed at how long I believed the many lies surround home, women and homemaking. Lies around worth, what is worthwhile and the value of homelife. Thankfully all things are redeemed by Him and I get to share some of my experience with you. Friends, I implore you to do a reality check - what does scripture say of women, motherhood and caring for the home? Proverbs 31 is a well known and great place to start. I used to think it meant I had to do all the things and do them well - an impossible task. When I read it now, I see it’s about holy women taking pleasure in a home well run (not perfectly run) to glorify the Lord through our skills, wit, and knowledge.

2. Pray - I think I’m going to make it a goal in every newsletter to suggest prayer at some point. Friends, our homes are like an upper room where we can wait in prayerful anticipation for the Holy Spirit. Where we can fill our minds, hearts and souls with the Word of the Lord. Where we can gather with like-minded faithful friends to build each other up on this journey of faith. This upper room must be focused around prayer. A daily family rosary (even just a decade together is well worth it), liturgy of the hours, morning and bedtime blessings. Novenas with your spouse, and prayer around meals. Equip your home to be an upper room, full of prayerful opportunities to engage with our Lord.

3. Grace - Our homes were never meant to be magazine cover worthy, spotless, and quiet. Home is where life happens with all its joyful chaos and mess, all of its ebbs and flows. We must allow grace for ourselves and lean into God’s Grace - perfection is not the answer. How I wish my younger self knew this as intimately as I do now. If we find ourselves resentful in caring for our home, caring for our family, we need to pause and reassess our priorities. We need to ask ourselves: What is the goal? To be ready for that imaginary photo shoot? There is nothing wrong with a beautiful, well-kept home but home should also not be about being perfectly curated. It’s about loving our families well. It’s about feeding, clothing, and caring for them while guiding them to heaven. To do that lovingly and well amidst the chaos requires God’s Grace too.

4. Offer it up - Do you have a task you absolutely dread? For me it changes from time to time. Sometimes it’s the laundry, or cleaning toilets, other times it’s the dishes. Whatever it is, offer it up while performing that duty. A simple prayer to offer up this sanctifying work is a powerful way to remind ourselves that our work, when oriented towards God, is meaningful and holy. Some ways you can pray while working: pray for a specific intention while doing that chore, praying the rosary - one decade per chore, simply ask the Lord to be present with you in this work, ask what He is wanting to share with you or for you to learn.

Liturgical Living is the Slow-Living We’re Craving

There is no denying when the seasons change we feel it in our bones. Right now the crip air is blowing through my open windows as I type, and it is gently declaring Fall has nearly arrived.

Our bodies innately sense the change in the seasons. In the Fall, when a chilly breeze prompts us to go inside and warm up, hot tea and soup at the ready with a cozy blanket nearby. Or when Spring has finally arrived and you’re craving the warmth only found in the bright sunshine. Or when Summer hits and it’s really the shade that prompts you to breathe in deeply the moment after the heat abates. We take notice, even if only for a moment, of all the small, intricate ways the Lord has weaved creation.

We know God created the seasons, and as our modern society continues to march forward, heads often buried in a phone, it’s easy to lose track of the warm breezes on a Summer day and the soft blankets on a chilly night. To pause and take in the simple pleasures afforded to us for simply being alive.

The Church, in her wisdom, knowing the cycles of life and the seasons, encourages us to weld together our lives with the Church to live more fully in Christ. From specific Saint Feast days honoring a particular saint, Ember days signaling the shift in seasons through the lens of faith, to the Liturgical seasons of Advent, the Triduum, All Hallows Tide and more, the Church has set a roadmap for slow, intentional living with Christ at the center. It’s in following the liturgical seasons of the Church that we are living out this “slow-living” many of us crave but with a faith-filled twist.

I’ve been Catholic for 12 years now and only in the last 5 have I truly started to dive more deeply into living liturgically. This idea of bringing the Church into your home, of celebrating as a domestic church, of passing on traditions ever ancient, ever new, has taken on new relevance in an age where Truth is seen as subjective and living out a Christian faith in earnest is frowned upon.

Why Liturgical Living?

1. Catechesis - I had the luxury of becoming Catholic as an adult, where I could use my reason to connect the dots and see the incredible consistency with which God weaved the story of salvation both through scripture and historically through the Church. Powerful stuff. However, my children don’t wield the same mental capacity as an adult. They do better with activities, stories and crafts. Liturgical Living is a way to catechize them, teach them of the depth and breadth of our faith but in a way they can understand.

2. Family Traditions - I love having traditions as a family. The memories they impart, the sense of belonging, understanding and togetherness. As Catholics traditions (both big “T” and little “t”) are pretty important to us. Having traditions steeped in the faith makes those memories and time together all the better, while inviting Christ to be at the center.

3. Catholicity - There is a culture around the Catholic faith that goes back nearly two millennia. My children are growing up in that culture while some days I still feel like I’m learning the language. With liturgical living they will grow up with a deeper, more complete understanding of their faith, both in terms of Jesus as Savior but also what being Catholic means, in faith and deed, so that when they go out into the world they know who they are and Whose they are.

I used to find the idea of liturgical living intimidating, overwhelming, and confusing. Probably because I took on too much all at once, but when I stepped back, and added in only one or two feasts here, and focused on only one liturgical season at a time, the depth, richness, and meaning of each blossomed. Overtime we’ve added in a few more ways to live liturgically, and every year I hear of new, beautiful ways to bring this faith into our home as it’s become more popular again. While I’m tempted to add those in as well (don’t we all wish we could do all the things, all the time?) I try to stick to only adding in one, if any, that might hold significant meaning for my family. I’m much more interested in choosing consistency, quality, and peace over doing too much, being rushed, and stressed without much joy - defeating the purpose of liturgical living in my opinion.

By picking only a few intentional ways to incorporate our faith into our daily lives, and doing them annually, my children and even us adults, start to create a rhythm, a cycle of living life in step with the Church. Each Epiphany we mark the Lintel with a blessing (Christus Mansionem Benedicat (May Christ Bless this House) 20+C+M+B+23). Every Lent we bury the Alleluia, as it isn’t sung at the Mass, and we dig it up again at Easter after singing Alleluia with joy and jubilation at Easter Mass.

These little traditions we practice all feed into identity, culture, and our Catholic faith. They feed into this consistent rhythm of life that breeds contentment, wonder and joy. It fosters a faith that isn’t rooted in modernity, with all its trappings, but has roots stretching back through time, connecting us to faithful Christians who have gone before us. Reminding us not only of our ancient roots, but of our roles today of passing on this faith to those who come after us.

This week’s meal plan will look a bit different for my family as I recover from a minor, but necessary surgery. So while we’ll be eating frozen meals and breakfast for dinner a lot! However I still want to share with you a sample menu and how I work the meals to fit what we have on hand in the pantry and freezer. I hope it will inspire and help you along for the week!

Sample Meal List :

Sunday: Crockpot Soup - Chicken breast (already cooked, set some aside for tomorrow), frozen homemade chicken broth, frozen veggies, rice (or potatoes), tomatoes, garlic, Italian herbs, salt and pepper to taste.

Monday: Chicken Carbonara - using some chicken breast set aside yesterday

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday - defrost twice the amount of ground beef and use half for this recipe. Today or tomorrow use the other half for meat sauce for spaghetti. Chop toppings (onions, tomatoes, avocado), cheese and sour cream.

Wednesday: Spaghetti with a side salad - Either today or yesterday make the meat sauce. Cook the spaghetti noodles, and while that is going make your salad. I like to add some spinach in and all the garden veggies (peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions)

Thursday: Leftovers (start soaking beans tonight! Add 1 tbsp Baking soda to help them soften. pH of the water matters) - Cooking for 5 every day of the week gets tiring so I make sure to make more than just one sittings worth of food so I can have leftovers. Thursday is a great day to eat up all that meat!

Friday: Veggies and Bean soup - Rinse beans, and sauté onions and carrots. Add in broth and tomato sauce, beans, and any other veggies you have on hand (celery, broccoli, even some greens such as kale) and rice or potatoes. Add Italian herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with dinner rolls if you have some, or want to make some.

Saturday (or as I like to call it “Soccer-day”): Crockpot chicken breasts seasoned with salt, and half a cup of water to cook while gone. Shred the breast once cooked through, spread on top of corn chips, black beans, and top with shredded chicken. Add diced tomatoes, onions, Jalapenos.

Books on my Nightstand

This month I’ve started two books but have yet to finish them. My hope with keeping this section of the newsletter open is that you know that progress, even if a few chapters a week, is still progress. Life may be keeping my reading time to a minimum but that doesn’t mean I have to stop all together and neither do you!

• The Tower of Swallows - The 6th installment of The Witcher series. I am a sucker for fantasy novels with a good, complex story line. The Lord of the Rings is what drew me into that world while highlighting light overcoming darkness. The Witcher muddies the waters a bit and I definitely think it is for adults only, preferably if you have a good grasp on understanding that evil can never be good even if some good comes from it. Still, the nature of the story keeps me interested, and is a quick, entertaining read.

• Mother Love - written by a priest of the Capuchin order, it is a spiritual guide of sorts for Christian mothers. Covering topics such as morning and evening prayer, points of doctrine mothers should teach their children, and the ten commandments of a Christian education in Part I. Part II is prayers for various special necessities of a Christian mother such as a wife’s prayer, prayer of mothers for their children, prayer for perseverance and prayer in an unhappy marriage to name a few. Part III covers prayer to special patrons of Christian mothers, such a litany to St. Anne, Mary’s mother according to tradition, a litany to St. Rose of Lima, and a litany to St. Monica. It’s a book I wish had in my hands 10 years or more ago, and I intend to make it a gift to all young women venturing into marriage and motherhood. “O, that we could proclaim throughout the whole world and impress deeply upon the heart of every mother the words; PRAY! Pray incessantly! Pray earnestly and fervently for your children” - Bishop Cramer.

Little Mustard Seeds

Each newsletter I like to share a few favorite things that have blessed me as a mom, homemaker, and woman. The links in this newsletter are unaffiliated unless I say it’s an affiliate link.

• Living the Seasons - I had the chance to preview this new liturgical living book by Erica Tighe Campbell of Be a Heart this past August and it is so sweet, creative and fun! This book captures the whimsy of living liturgically, and really spoke to my mama heart’s desire to draw my children into the beauty of our faith. If you’ve been overwhelmed at the idea of adding liturgical living into your family life this book might be a good fit. It gets straight to the point, with ideas and the why behind the feast days. ** affliate ** If you use code SEASONS04 you will get 15% off your purchase.

• Nature Walks - I can’t really think of anything better than heading to a wooded trail with my kids and time on our side. Even better is if it’s with friends. The past two weeks we’ve been able to participate in a newly started nature co-op focusing on God’s creation. The cool breezes carrying the kids’ voices back to me on the trail have really added to the whimsical feel of the moment. I also love that it is a Catholic group, complete with holy water in the first aid kit!

• Fraternus and Fidelis - Fully Catholic and with the goal of allowing boys and girls to lean into their masculinity or femininity in Faith and Virtue. At a time when genders are blurring, and holding fast to Faith and Truth, is looked down on I am so thankful for a community such as this for my sons and daughter to be a part of and a place to build lasting relationships. Our oldest son has been attending Fraternus and it’s been such a blessing. Each Monday they have fellowship, sports, a meal and small group time. I’m in the process of helping the second group of Fidelis start up in the area, just as we have two Fraternus groups now. It’s going to be an effort well worth it! If you’ve been looking for a solid Catholic choice for fellowship for your pre-teen and teen check out the links above and see if you have a chapter near you or could start one.

Prayer Habit

“Prayer is the oxygen of the soul” - Padre Pio

I wanted to add this section because I keep bringing prayer up in ever article I’ve written to date. It is important, necessary, and life giving to pray often. If you’re up for the challenge I’d like to encourage you to pray a specific kind of prayer in each newsletter. I hope the fruits borne of this habit bless you!

The Anima Christi Prayer:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me!

Body of Christ, save me!

Blood of Christ, inebriate me!

Water from the side of Christ, wash me!

Passion of Christ, strengthen me!

O good Jesus, hear me!

Within Thy wounds, hide me!

Permit me not to be separated from Thee!

From the malignant enemy, defend me!

In the hour of my death, call me,

And bid me come to Thee;

That with Thy saints I may praise Thee

For ever and ever!

Amen