Five Ways to Increase Faith in the Family at Home

​Summer is officially well underway. Between vacations, pool parties, visiting family, and sporting tournaments, it is easy to lose sense of time and forget about other things. Here are our five practical ways to help keep God a priority in the home and increase faith in the home.

Frame “Grace” in the dining room
Someone once told me “even if you pray once a day, you still prayed.” Giving God thanksgiving for the meal you are about to share and a blessing over those who helped prepare it is an easy way to ensure at least one prayer a day is being offered as a family. Whether you write your own or find a nice one on the internet, buy a nice frame and hang it in the room where you primarily eat your meals. You can even go a step further and assign someone as “prayer leader” every week and take turns through the whole family.

Holy Water font in the house
Every time we enter Mass, we bless ourselves with holy water as a reminder of our baptism and bringing God’s blessing upon us as we leave to go out into the world. Put a holy water font on the inside of the door where the majority of traffic goes through and make it a point to bless yourself before going out for the day. This way you know leaving you have the blessing of God to help you through the day.

Icon of the Blessed Mother in the home
Mary remains our most powerful intercessor in heaven. She is always watching over us as our motherly figure. It might be a lot to set a time a time a day to say a family Rosary or pray the Liturgy of the Hours, but what we all have time for is for everyone to gather around the icon and offer one “Hail Mary.” We recommend around the same time everyday so through the habitual act of it, it becomes ingrained in your day like brushing your teeth!

Mass on the family calendar
Growing up, if something wasn’t on the family calendar, we wouldn’t be attending. For many of us, checking our calendar while enjoying our morning cup of coffee is how we structure our day and make a mental road map of how we want it to look. Put Mass on the calendar. Whether you put the same time every week of your preferred Mass or put the Mass that best accommodates your schedule, once it’s on the calendar, everyone will know not to make plans at that hour.

Encourage kids to invite friends
Who doesn’t love to bring their best friends with them everywhere you go? Make it a whole weekend. Have an awesome sleepover on Saturday and start the day off with Mass on Sunday. Not only will it be more enjoyable and comforting for your child, it is an opportunity to possibly evangelize to a new family.

God Bless,
​Jonathan Molik