Notes from this Episode:

Background

• We have a profound effect on the whole atmosphere of our home
• It is one of our biggest jobs – to create a bright and cheerful home, a sanctuary for our family
• A home should be a place where each person (adults and children alike) know that they are respected, accepted, and loved for who they are.  It should be a place where all are listened to and not unjustly judged

How to Create the Spiritual Environment of the Home

Prayer as a Couple

• The first part of the spiritual environment of your home is the spiritual dimension of your marriage
  • Having God at the center of our relationship with our husband is critical and leads to a long, happy marriage
  • Getting your spouse to heaven (while we also struggle to become holy) is the primary objective in marriage.
  • We should always pray for our husband, accept him with all his strengths and weaknesses, support him in his struggles, and challenge him in a loving way to live with more virtue.
  • You may consider praying together as a couple – it is a way to bond with each other that can’t be matched.
    • Thank God for the day and any special blessings received.
    • Thank him for your marriage and family and ask him to bless your family with unity and faith.
    • Ask God to bless your marriage to help you both be patient and kind and not jealous or quick tempered or rude.
    • Pray for each of your children and the particular struggles they may be having.
    • Remember specific intentions that you each may have or that you have promised from others that you would pray.
    • Recite common prayers together.

Teaching Your Children to Love God

• The most effective way to teach the faith to your children is to live the faith and to let it breathe in your family.
  • Celebrate the Holy Days in the liturgical calendar, have good conversations about Jesus and his life, teach your children prayers to recite, pray together as a family each night before bed.
  • We will not convince our children of God and His love by telling them over and over that they must believe, but we will convince them by how we love, how we pray, and ultimately how we believe.

Make Sunday Church an Important Event

• Have one or two “church outfits” for each child to wear on Sunday
  • Teach your children the importance of going to church as if you are going to see the most important person in the world.

The Final Dimension is Loving Each Other

• “This is my commandment.  Love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for a friend”.
  • Teach your children that laying down our life can mean giving up our will, not arguing or demanding their own way, and being kind even when we don’t feel like it.
  • We teach our children to love each other with the same spirit of sacrifice that Jesus had.

Final Thoughts

• Is this easy?  No, but remember, the marriages that last a long time have gone through all the problems that everyone else goes through, but it’s what we do with those circumstances that decide whether or not we are going to have a long-lasting marriage or one that we give up on.
• Don’t forget, the primary purpose of marriage is to get your spouse, you, and your children to heaven.  Don’t give up on that goal
• Where to begin if you don’t live a strong family life already?  Talk with your husband about that missing piece and come up with a strategy.  Small steps in the beginning bring the faith alive in your home.