Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Commentary: Mark 2:23-28
Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Jesus, The rule follower in me sees too frequently with the perspective of the Pharisees. I want to learn how to be motivated not just by checking a box but by seeing the love behind each task or each directive. As a mother, help me to see each of my children’s needs and abilities distinctly and not lump them all into the category of “how I want things to be”.
Here’s a beautiful prayer that I came across this weekend that dovetails nicely with this Gospel:
The Litany Of Humility For Parents (adapted by Colleen Duggan)
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.
From the desire of having my children be esteemed as intelligent and accomplished in the eye's of the world,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of having a perfect Catholic family,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of having it appear my family has it all together (when we often feel as if we are hanging on by a very thin thread),
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire to shelter my children from anything that might cause them pain,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of having my family, especially my children, praised,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of having my family, especially my children, preferred to others,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the tendency to compare my familial situation to another's,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of controlling my children's behavior/choices and inhibiting their personal expression and freedom,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved by other parents/family members and even my own children,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated by wacky kid behavior or even the sinful behavior of older children,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of warping my children and dooming them to failure because of screwy parenting,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes from my grown children for the parenting decisions we made,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated because we may make counter-cultural or out of the box parenting decisions,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten by my children when we have raised them and they leave,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of failing my children because of personal weaknesses and human inadequacies,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear that my children will lose their faith in You and leave the Catholic Church,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear that the world and all the evil in it will swallow my children whole,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear that every other family is "functioning" and "normal", except for my own,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear that taking care of myself mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally is selfish,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear that my children must behave perfectly at Mass and know all the wrote prayers and teachings of the Catholic Church or else we have failed in our catechetical duties,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear I have to do it ALL correctly or else my children will be screwballs and failures,
Deliver me Jesus.
That my children love You above all things of this world,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That my children value the opinion of their future spouses more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That my children may one day chose their own families and set me aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That my family may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
Amen.