An Open Letter to My Sons

My dear boys, there aren't words for how much love I have for you.  Neither of you is aware of what is currently happening with Miley Cyrus and her poor choices she made this weekend.  For that, I am grateful and I am doing my job as a parent.

This girl made a mistake and it's a mistake she can never get back.  The world in which you will grow up and live in doesn't give room for mistakes and forgiveness.  Not for celebrities, and not even for little boys who live in the middle of nowhere. 

There will be girls down the road that will try to catch you eye by acting like Miley did.  Don't just turn your eyes away out of respect for the human being inside that display of eroticism who is being abused and degraded.  Pray.  Pray for all you are worth. 

Pray for the person who is being driven to these acts of behavior by whatever means they found themselves in this position because one only comes to that point out of desperation.  Desperate for money, for fame, for glory, for attention. 

Pray for the other people witnessing it for they need to learn to keep custody of their own eyes and hearts, even the men.  Especially the men.  Because men have purity and chastity too and it belongs to the wife they will someday marry.  Images you see in your youth can never be unseen.  They can harm your marriage before it ever begins because you will hold your wife to the things you have seen.  She should not need to be desperate enough for your love that she will degrade herself for you.

Pray for the parents of the person who is doing these things.  Pray that they have the wisdom and the words to help him or her away.  Pray that they can find a way to help that person fill their need so they are not driven to such acts.  Whatever that need is, it can be fulfilled without this kind of behavior.  It is not necessary. 

Pray for me.  Pray that I will continue to have the strength to resist these things and to help keep my own home as you remember it in your childhood, a haven from this kind of sin.  In return, I will continue to pray for you as you fight these battles.

Pray for each other.  Encourage each other in purity.  Men are told this is "normal" and "okay". It's not.  Pray for each other and help each other grow in love and faith, not debauchery and excess.

And if you fall from grace, go to confession and seek forgiveness.  Get back in grace with God and know that you are loved by Him and by me.
I raised you to be men who follow God's word and callings in your lives.  God calls you to be pure, to guard your eyes and your heart for the woman who will someday unlock them with a key God has already given her.  Even when it's not easy, even when it seem like there's no point in trying to remain pure, think of that woman and of how much she will mean to you someday. Think of your own daughters.  That woman is someone else's CHILD.  Think of your own sons to come and how much easier it will be to help them remain pure if you remain pure yourself.

This isn't just about a moment of gratification.  It's about a lifetime of pure love.

A Thought On Prayer and Your Time

Who remembers prayer time at bedtime?  I do.  I also remember occasionally praying before meals - usually because we were in the presence of people we thought we should pray in front of or people who usually prayed before a meal. I remember praying at church and I remember praying before meals when I went to camp.

How much of your daily time do you spend in prayer?  Let's run through some "basics" and how long it takes to say them.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen." ~ 9 seconds (this was the start of my bedtime prayers as a child)

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  May angels watch me through the night and wake me in the morning light.  Amen." ~ 10 seconds

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.  Bless us O Lord and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen." ~ 20 seconds

"God is great. God is good.  Let us thank Him for our food.  Amen." ~ 5 seconds

Okay - so since this is a Catholic blog we'll go with the Catholic option for meal time and the longest "standard" bedtime prayer you can get away with in public. 

One at each meal and bedtime = 1 minute, 10 seconds

1/1440th of your day in prayer.

I will freely admit that fitting in prayer is hard, especially when you aren't used to it or fell out of the habit.  I will also share that there have been days that the only addition to the above prayers has been "Lord, help me get through this!!!!" and that's okay too.

But outside of chaos and especially IN chaos, we need to be in prayer.  The word "prayer" occurs over 100 times in the Bible, the word "pray" another 100+ - so one could easily surmise it should be something we take seriously.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to "pray without ceasing".





Now, I'm a HUGE fan of the Rosary and that's what prompted this post.  I have family coming in 2 days to my home who are not Catholic and I was discussing with some other Catholic ladies how to approach our "Family Rosary" with them here and I began to muse on the amount of time it takes to pray a Rosary vs. the amount of time in a day.

For the record, it is 1/72nd of your day.  That's it.  Just 1/72 - less than 1 minute per hour of the day when it's all crunched out.

Is that really too much to ask?  I 1/72 of time for the Lord and His Blessed Mother too much of your time?  Can you think of a better investment for your soul you could make with 1/72 of your day?