9 Ways to Fill Your Days with Holy Moments This time of 'sheltering in' is an opportunity to slow down and focus on what matters most. We want to be right here with you - ready to help you get closer to your family and to God. So, here are some ideas to help you stay focused on what matters most and keep your weeks filled with holy moments:
1. For Families: Help your Kids Get to Know Jesus and the Saints An entire video library of Catholic movies is available online at FORMED.org. There are kids' movies to engage your children’s sense of wonder, and movies about the Saints to inspire them with heroes. And family movie nights are the best! Visit FORMED.org, then click 'Sign-up.' Click 'I belong to a Parish/Organization.' Enter VZ4VPX as the Parish code. Once logged in, browse the 'Movie' library!
2. For Spouses: Take Your Marriage to the Next Level If you have extra time with your spouse, take advantage of it. Dynamic Catholic has a series called Better Together. There are 72 video segments with tips, encouragement and wisdom from a panel of incredible speakers. They're great! They also have a free Marriage Enrichment Inventory to help get you started.
3. Pray together as a family A great resource for family prayer is the online Magnificat, which contains daily Morning and Evening prayers, daily Scripture readings, and a daily reflection. Take time to slow down, listen to God's Word, and respond in prayerful confidence!
4. Receive Daily Lenten Reflections Each day during Lent, Matthew Kelly is producing video reflections which you can sign up to receive via email or watch from the beginning. Lent isn’t about what you give up. it’s about who you become! Who will you become?
5. Pray the Rosary! The Rosary is a powerful prayer. It settles our hearts and minds. It puts things in perspective and allows us to see things as they really are. To put it simply: It just works. And, right now, the world needs some prayers! Click here for a little Rosary 101.
6. Enjoy Everyday Encouragement and Inspiration Dynamic Catholic has dozens of articles written just for you and your family, broken down into helpful categories (including work and career, marriage and sexuality, and money matters). Find advice, encouragement, and inspiration to help you live your best life. When browsing these articles, think of someone in your life who might need to read it too!
7. Dive into a Great Catholic Book The Parish Library, located in the north entryway of St. John the Evangelist Church, is filled with classics of Catholic literature, theology, spirituality, and history. With a wide variety of titles, we have something for everyone. Check out a book using the binder on the display case, and enjoy it!
8. Stay Connected with our Parish Community Online While public Masses are postponed, Fr. Ryan will live-stream Mass at 9:00am on Sundays. Instructions about tuning in, as well as other regular updates, will be posted here and on our Facebook page.
9. Tell Us How We Can Help If you or someone you know is in need of help, let us know at ishpemingcatholic.com/help.
Online Giving Platform is Up During this time, we're still completely dependent on your financial support so we can keep doing the work of ministry while we're unable to meet for public worship. We just established an Online Giving Platform to make it easy for you to do so. Thank you for taking the time to offer a one-time gift or set up a recurring weekly or monthly offering! Another option is to mail your offertory envelopes to the Parish or drop them off to the Parish office. I greatly appreciate it ~ thank you!
God's Purpose Know that I remain united with all of you in prayer and in my private daily Masses. God is allowing this so we can realize what matters most and grow in love of God and neighbor. Together, we can be better people on the other side of this crisis!