Your Vocation of Love , livre ebook

TAN Books - M. Penny Agnes

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102 pages

English

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Description

Your Vocation of Love is a book by the mother of four young children, who has written this little manual to encourage mothers of young children in their sublime vocation of motherhood and to assist them in this glorious role with scores of practical tips on what to do in the challenging situations that automatically arise in raising and educating a family. Here the author shares with her readers both the spiritual and the practical solutions she has found to the normal problems and struggles women typically experience with motherhood. And she covers these in 34 short but insightful chapters that make a quick read for mothers on the go-who often have only a few minutes reading time to gain some quick but much-needed inspiration.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Catholic Church

Prayer

Informations

Publié par	TAN Books
Date de parution	01 février 2006
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781618901514
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Copyright © 2006 by Agnes M. Penny.
Cover photo of Agnes Penny, her husband Daniel and their children by Hub Willson Photography, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Photo Copyright © 2005 by TAN Books, an Imprint of Saint Benedict Press, LLC.
All rights reserved. Brief selections may be quoted or copied for non-profit use without permission, and brief selections may be quoted in a review without permission. Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
TAN Books
An Imprint of Saint Benedict Press, LLC
Charlotte, North Carolina
2006
A Woman’s Work
“If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home … But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colorless and of small import to the soul, then, as I say, I give it up; [I] do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors, and holidays; to be Whitely within a certain area, providing toys, books, cakes and boots; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a woman’s function is laborious; but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.”
—G. K. Chesterton
To All Catholic Mothers
“We see in mothers … those who exert the earliest and the most intimate influences upon the souls of little ones and upon their growth in piety and virtue. We need not delay to remind you how important and how necessary is this work of education in the home, and how grave a mother’s obligation not to neglect it or perform it with indifference … surely no art is more difficult and strenuous than that of fashioning the souls of children; for those souls are so very tender, so easily disfigured through some thoughtless influence of wrong advice, so difficult to guide aright and so lightly led astray, more susceptible than wax…. Fortunate the child whose mother stands by its cradle like a guardian angel to inspire and lead it in the path of goodness! … Such a sentiment in a woman and a mother gives her the right to that reverence and dignity which belong to a man’s loyal helpmate; such a mother is like a pillar, for she is the central support of the home; she is like a beacon whose light gives an example to the parish and brings illumination to the pious associations of which she is a member…. Fathers and mothers, whose mutual love is sanctified by the faith of Christ, see that before your child is born you prepare a family atmosphere in which it may open its eyes to light and its soul to life, so that the good odor of Christ may linger about every step of its moral development.
Mothers, your sensibility is greater and your love more tender, and therefore you will keep a vigilant eye upon your babies throughout their infancy, watching over their growth and over the health of their little bodies, for this is flesh of your flesh and the fruit of your womb. Remember that your children are the adopted sons of God and specially beloved of Christ; remember that their angels look forever on the face of the heavenly Father; and so you too, as you rear them, must be angels in like manner, in all your care and vigilance in keeping your eyes fixed upon Heaven. It is your task from the cradle to begin their education in soul as well as in body; for if you do not educate them they will begin, for good or ill, to educate themselves.” —Pope Pius XII    Allocution to Catholic Mothers    October 26, 1941
A Note to the Reader
A S IN my book, Your Labor of Love , the following thoughts are not written in long, fluid chapters, but rather, in the format of short reflections, each of which can be easily read in a few minutes; mothers are known to be busy, and long chapters, however interesting, tend to remain unread by them. Hopefully, these short reflections will be ideal for mothers who often need just a breath of inspiration between preparing tonight’s casserole and getting the little ones up from their naps.
Also, the reader may notice that the titles of several of these meditations reflect the less pleasant aspects of motherhood, such as bad days, guilt and anxiety, routine, etc. This is not meant to discourage the reader or to portray motherhood as a wholly negative experience. Rather, the purpose behind these headings is to assure mothers that someone else understands what they are going through and will talk to them on their level. Discouraged or disorganized mothers will realize at once that these reflections are not too lofty or too idealistic to be of practical use. Further, when they see these seemingly “negative” headings juxtaposed with more positive headings, such as “A Unique Gift” or “Christian Joy,” then they will realize, before reading any single chapter, that someone else has known the same difficulties and trials that they are enduring and has nonetheless emerged from the whole process proclaiming motherhood to be a beautiful and sanctifying experience.
Preface
“Yet she shall be saved through childbearing; if she continue in faith, and love, and sanctification, with sobriety.” (1 Timothy 2:15).
W HAT is motherhood?
Motherhood is the antithesis of everything modern culture extols—comfort, pleasure, convenience, independence, vanity, pride, wealth and power. Motherhood excludes, or severely limits, all of these things at one time or another. Yet there is nothing in a woman’s life that is more glorious, more feminine, more fulfilling, more worthwhile, more challenging, or more sanctifying, than the bearing and raising of children—immortal souls who are intended to live with God for all eternity.
Motherhood is an adventure, an exploration of territories uncharted and unknown, sometimes frightening or unpleasant, but always exciting.
Motherhood is a challenge, a dare to do things we never thought we could do, to handle situations we have never before encountered, to discover the full extent of our ability, creativity and endurance, and to learn to trust in God’s Providence more deeply than ever before.
Motherhood is a battle, even a full-fledged war, against both physical and spiritual dangers lurking behind every corner of our sin-drenched world, which seeks to poison the healthy bodies and innocent souls of our children.
Motherhood is an august responsibility, a tremendous weight on our conscience, to do our utmost to raise our children in virtue, wisdom and truth.
Above all, motherhood is a vocation, a call from God, to tend to the needs and to mold the character of the little ones entrusted to our care, while we ourselves grow in perfection and love of God. Yes, motherhood is our path to sanctity, our road to Heaven, our own personal way to know, to love and to serve God in this life.
We might ask, “How can I possibly become more holy now, at this point in my life, when I have less time for prayer and more distractions than I’ve ever had before?” The answer of course is that the distractions and frustrations can be turned into prayer, perhaps a more meritorious prayer than we have ever before prayed, because there is no self-love in it.
We must learn to find Christ in our husbands, in our children, in our housework. We must learn to transform our homes into havens of peace for our husbands, loving and joyful homes for our children, and holy sanctuaries for ourselves, on whose altars we offer up everything we have and do to God.
In short, we must learn to view motherhood as a vocation of love—of love for our families in and through our love for Jesus Christ, who is Love Itself!
How can we do this? How can we see an unending routine of changing diapers, washing dishes and counseling emotional teenagers as a glorious vocation from the Lord? That is what this book is all about. This book is written for Catholic mothers who struggle with the challenges of managing a household and bearing and raising children in a world that prizes money and pleasure over sacrifice and love. The women who read this book will be on different spiritual levels. For those who are newly discovering and exploring their faith, I hope this book will serve as an informative and uplifting introduction to the task of applying Catholic spirituality to their beautiful vocation of motherhood. For those women who have spent years developing their spiritual life, I trust that this book will provide much-needed encouragement and inspiration to persevere in the Faith, as well as supply some practical tips on using their glorious vocation as mothers to sanctify themselves and their families.
For this is our challenge—to see the unending diaper changing, dish washing and counseling as our means to grow closer to Christ—and how well we meet this challenge will in large part determine our own eternal destiny and will affect the eternal destiny of untold numbers of others.
Motherhood is a grave responsibility—but also a great opportunity. Let us learn to live out our vocation of love.
Contents
A Note to the Reader
Preface
   1. A Unique Gift
   2. Authority
   3. Cheerfulness
   4. Openness to Children
   5. Routine
   6. Keeping Your Home Catholic
   7. A Childlike Spirit
   8. Humility
   9. Working Outside the Home
10. Family Prayer
11. The Four Temperaments
12. Patience
13. Self-Pity
14. Daily Prayer
15. Countering the Culture
16. Conf