Family prayer is a strong and rich moment for parents and children.
Praying for families is important but praying as a family is just as important! This time of spirituality in the family is strongly encouraged by the Christian Church.
But why and especially how to organize this time of family prayer?
Why pray as a family?
Prayer is the foundation of our spiritual life, of our relationship with God. If it is important to have individual times of prayer to nourish our personal relationship with the Lord.
Collective prayer is fundamental to feeling our belonging to the same body, to the same Church.
It is an experience of communion that allows us to feel the presence of Christ in our midst, and at the same time, it helps us to go beyond ourselves, to look beyond our own needs and desires.
By praying together, we discover what it means to be a community of believers who are united in their faith by common prayer.
How to pray as a family?
Praying as a family is a great way to get closer to each other, and it also helps you feel connected to God. Here are some tips on how to pray as a family:
- Sit down together with your family and decide who will say which prayer.
- Set aside time every day or night to pray as a family.
- Find a comfortable place where you can all sit down together and pray.
This time of prayer can be accompanied by a time of listening to the Word of God, with the reading of the Gospel of the Day for example.
Let’s not forget to leave time for the prayer intentions of each one, which will be carried by the prayer of the whole family.
We can also invoke the patron saints of each member of the family to ask for their intercession and their prayers.
But, it is especially important that this time of prayer remains welcoming of the present moment and therefore not lock it up too much in rules.
Each family will find its own way to pray. Depending on the time of the year, family events, and the creativity of each person!
Prayer before a reunion
Lord Jesus, you have chosen us to work in your vineyard, to make it more alive. You have called us to serve our brothers and sisters in charity.
Open our eyes to the needs and aspirations of the smallest and most wounded.
Open our minds to your word, that it may be our light.
Open our hearts to love so that a new ardor, a new fire may be born in all of us.
We count on you, Lord, to live this meeting in brotherhood and mutual respect.
We entrust the presidency of this meeting to your Holy Spirit. May he be our guide, our advisor.
Lord, we want to be authentic witnesses of your message, artisans of a new world. We want to live this mission in the humility of a good and faithful servant.
Holy Spirit, enlighten us. Amen.