Tag Archives: meditation

GoodRead: The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion

I was able to get my hands on a galley copy of The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion in order to review it here, and I am so glad that I did! I have had the privilege of praying with this book of daily reflections for the past month, and it has refreshed my prayer life in wonderful ways. The book, edited by authors Lisa Hendey and Sarah Reinhard, is a compilation of reflections by many different writers. There are many devotionals out there by single authors — great ones. But this book is unique in its multi-vocal quality. You hear the voices of many different women — some like you, some different from you — and I found that really valuable.

As a mom seeking to grow in my prayer life, I am always grateful for a fresh perspective, a different vantage point. As I read through various entries each day, I was struck by the beautiful diversity of Catholic motherhood that is represented in these pages. It reminds me of what St. Therese says about all the different kinds of flowers. The wildflower is not less beautiful than the rose or the lily; they are just different beauties in God’s garden. The diversity is God’s design. Diversity is important for the edification of the body of Christ, and books like this help with that edification — particularly in the flourishing of our prayer lives.

Here are a few additional things that I liked about the Prayer Companion, and I think a lot of other Catholic moms will appreciate these too: Continue reading

Learning to Meditate, Part 2: Cultivating Simple Symbols

Mental PrayerOne of our frequent errors in mental prayer (at least it is for me) is to ambitiously attempt to mediate on long passages, intaking great amounts of spiritual insight to take into mental prayer. As a result, we spend so much time reading and thinking about a lot of concepts on a surface level, instead of going deeper with the Lord by meditating on one simple truth. We jump around to a lot of ideas about God, but we don’t get the time to sit with God and let the Holy Spirit start to move these spiritual truths more deeply into our souls and change our hearts. Continue reading