We don’t know about your family…but ours has slipped a bit this summer when it comes to evening prayer time. We shared this with a priest friend of ours the other day, and he said, “This is a fitting moment to re-establish your spiritual leadership in the home.” His gentle nudge in the right direction was a welcome one.
 
And the fact is, we could probably all use such a moment as the school year launches and families everywhere pivot to new schedules and tighter routines. In the fourth week of each month, we invite you to turn your focus to Family Culture, Level 4 of your Trinity House. It’s where we celebrate—as a family—the communion we receive from the Lord, and liturgical living is at the heart of this celebration.
 
If the idea of liturgical living is new to you, we invite you to get started by reading our reflection on “Liturgical Living and Family Culture.” In it, we focus on prayer, meals, and activities as ways to mark the Church year in your home. But for those who have some working familiarity with this concept, we invite you to roll up the sleeves and do some goal-setting for the coming season and new liturgical year.
 
To help with this, we can’t do better than to recommend Kendra Tierney’s The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life. Specifically, here are the seven suggestions she offers in her chapter How to Begin:

• “Start with the liturgical living you’re doing already.” She notes that we’re already observing Christmas and Easter, so why not add on an Advent and Lenten practice just before them, a sort of liturgical habit stacking!
• “Begin celebrating baptismal anniversaries.” Write each family member’s baptism date into your calendar and do a little something special on those days.
• “Begin celebrating name days.” Don’t forget to celebrate, even in a small way, the feast day of the patron saint of each family member!
• “Remember Fridays and Sundays.” She reminds us that Sundays are mini-Easters and Fridays are mini-Good Fridays. Observe accordingly!
• “Start observing days that have better-known traditions associated with them.” She gives a list of commonly-known liturgical days. Check out the book for the associated traditions!
• “Begin observing solemnities in your home.” These are the Church’s most important days!
• “After that, it’s really all gravy.” Enough said.

Our challenge if you’re just getting started? Take Kendra up on just one of her suggestions, and then take a first step with your family in the next few weeks. Be sure to add the dates to your calendar for whatever observances you’ve chosen!
 
We love the three words at the end of the subtitle of the book “Liturgical Living for Real Life.” Kendra writes, “Your time and budget constraints, your abilities and preferences will inform how you choose to bring the rhythm of the Church year into your family life…. Do the things that work for your family.” Amen.

Perhaps with some patience and grace, we all may be able to echo these words of Kendra’s someday: “I have found liturgical living in the home to be a beautiful way to connect with my family, my faith, my community, and the long history of our Church.”