Hey there, readers!
I have a few updates on my book project and other parts of my ministry, but first… 3 ways you can strengthen your marriage during Lent. In this liturgical season of preparation for Easter, we are called to find new and deeper ways to pray, fast, and give alms. So I have one way to connect each of those three parts to your marriage!
1. PRAY the Stations of the Cross together
Last year during Lent, I challenged my readers to do pray the Stations of the Cross together. Check out that post for several resources, from videos of the Stations to watch together as a couple, to printable Stations to do with young children present.
I can often find a connection between a Station and my life, sort of like the mysteries of the Rosary. If you go into the Stations looking for lessons for your marriage in particular, I bet the Holy Spirit will have something to share! For example, when Jesus is condemned to death, I think about times I have put all the blame on my husband and treated him unfairly.
2. FAST or sacrifice together
I am doing the popular “Little Black Book” for Lent again this year, and recently read something that really resonated with me. It said that all Catholics used to participate in Lenten fasting in the same ways, like giving up meat and sweets. While there are some benefits to letting individual people choose their own fasts, this older practice created a “shared communal story” and strengthened the “Catholic identity.”
If fasting in the same way as others builds community and identity with them, why not take up the same Lenten sacrifice as your spouse? My husband and I, for example, have given up watching most TV. We are sacrificing together, and actually getting more quality time together, too. Highly recommend!
3. GIVE together
As Catholics, we often talk about giving of our “time, talent, and treasure.” How could you and your spouse, or even your whole family including kids, give together? Could you all donate an hour or two of your time to serve at a soup kitchen together? Could you and your athletically inclined spouse (aka NOT me) volunteer to coach a team of kids? Could your whole family give up going out to eat for Lent, then donate all the money you saved to the hungry?
I hope those three quick items are helpful to you and your family as you get deeper into the gift of Lent. If you have started off Lent strong, great! If you haven’t done anything at all yet… It’s not too late to start now! Let me know in the comments how YOU are doing Lent 2022!
Book Update
As far as my writing goes, I am back in the swing of things revising, praying, writing, and marketing for my book project on married Saints. I got my manuscript back from my editor a couple of weeks ago, and have since realized I need to reorganize the book to make it more user-friendly. This means a fair amount more work than I expected, but I think I am on a really good track now!
The premise of my book is now to help engaged/ married couples rediscover three gifts the Church offers to married people:
- The lives of Saints who were married, as examples for us
- The vows of our marriage covenant, to guide us
- The grace of the Sacrament of Marriage, to empower us
I will give more concise biographies of the Saints in my book, followed by more specific action items YOU can use to live out your marriage vows like they did, as well as some discussion questions to start up the conversation with your spouse or your marriage enrichment group.
Besides this, I have also learned a lot about marketing at a writer’s conference, started making Instagram reels (WhAt?), and pitched my book to two publishers via online meeting. They both want to see more! Woohoo! My first post for the Catholic Mom community went up a few weeks ago, which you can see on their site or cross-posted here to my own.
I am so excited to be back to work on all of this, and can’t wait to share more news with you all soon. Thank you for your continued support!
