Ordinary Time
Your Joy Remains
At a local laundromat, I realized something. My mind is constantly racing. There’s not a moment when I don’t have thoughts running through my mind. More often than not, those thoughts are negative. More than I would like. But today I caught myself thinking and feeling something new. I have found joy here. Here, in…
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A Blessing to Begin
God, bless the hopes and anxieties, The joys and the longings Within us as we raise our children. Bless the late nights And the too-early mornings. Bless the daily chaos And the quiet moments, too. Bless the growing hearts and souls And their embodied hope. Bless the future so full of promise, And bless the…
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The Extraordinary Ordinary Time: A brand-new e-book
Our 1st e-book is now available from Mothering Spirit! The Extraordinary Ordinary Time is a new collection from Laura Kelly Fanucci, the founder of Mothering Spirit, and includes: original essays on the spirituality of this holy season brand-new prayers for Ordinary Time best-loved poems that invite fresh reflection creative ways to pray through the longest…
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A Prayer for Families in Ordinary Time
God of Ordinary Time,
We bring our needs to You,
whether extraordinary or everyday.
For backyard barbeques and family reunions.
For back to school shopping and summer sports practices.
For college drop-offs and kindergarten jitters.
Look, Mama, Look: Do You See?
Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love. Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer. —Simone Weil Look, mama, look, do you see? A thousand times a day, tugging at my sleeve, calling out in the rearview mirror, yelling from upstairs, downstairs, around the corner, from the other room—look! Come…
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This Is Why We Give Thanks
“One act of thanksgiving made when things go wrong is worth a thousand when things go well.” (St. John of Avila) My children’s favorite grace before meals is—(ducks and blushes from theological embarrassment)—the Johnny Appleseed song. Oh, the Lord’s been good to me / And so I thank the Lord For giving me / The things…
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How to Choose Life Today (Wait, You Already Did)
…I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life… Deuteronomy 30:19 You already did it today. When you rolled over and kissed your husband good morning. Or when you threw on that old bathrobe and trooped down the hall to feed the baby. Or when you scrambled eggs for…
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sacrament, interrupted
I jostle one boy on my hip and nudge the other a step closer to the front of the line. Herding cats, I think as he wanders into the neighboring line of communion-goers. Using my one free hand I gently guide him back by the shoulder and whisper in his ear about trying to stay…
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The Gentle Voice of God
Slow down. Slow way down. Washing dishes in the sink. Running errands in the car. Rushing around the house in the morning madness before work. A dozen times in the past few weeks, I’ve heard the voice, simple and steady, speaking somewhere between mind and heart. Slow down. Slow way down. I ignored it for a…
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If they only knew that your love for them hums along in quiet work they cannot see, in love that is relentless, monotonous and nocturnal, hidden in acts of service that guard and keep. Perhaps they do not care how fully you care until the good order they take for granted is missing in action.…
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The device contains a universe of things and also nothing of any importance. May it be a tool you own and use so that it does not own and use you. May it offer connection to what is real rather than escape from what matters. May it be the last place you look for validation…
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There are days when I wonder why I’m still in the Church. Days when I am so jaded by the politics and hypocrisy and scandals that too often haunt our Christian communities that I wonder if there is anything left of the Church worth staying for. Is there anything left for my children to learn,…
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This Week on Mothering Spirit Kimberly’s essay weaves together her pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago and the unfolding journey of motherhood, creativity, and prayer. Rachel’s prayer reassures every mother who’s longed for the creative callings of her past. Resources to keep reflecting Want to create in this season? Check out Rachel’s brand-new book Let There Be Art:…
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This Week on Mothering Spirit Karianna’s essay invites us to consider how we forgive our families—our parents as well as our children. Rakhi’s prayer beckons us into the shadowlands of our own hearts, to ask for God’s mercy. Resources to keep reflecting A forever-favorite essay from Brian Doyle on forgiveness as a father: A Sin. From the Mothering Spirit…
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This Week on Mothering Spirit Cameron’s essay invites us to ponder what it means to be neighbors, through the eyes of a child. Rakhi’s prayer asks where are our prophets and who are our neighbors? Resources to keep reflecting For more of Cameron’s writing, get her free Advent devotional on St. Óscar Romero from her Substack newsletter…
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I was hurrying, for no reason, really, except that that’s what grown-ups do. My four-year-old and I were taking another pandemic-necessitated walk around the block, passing houses, gardens, and cars we’d already seen dozens of times. Maybe hundreds. Judging by my son’s exclamations and endless stops to examine things, though, it may as well have…
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This Week on Mothering Spirit Gina’s essay shares how antidepressants deepened her relationship with God and her joy as a mother. Kimberly’s prayer (in Spanish and English) asks for God’s help to choose love even in our struggles. Resources to keep reflecting Gina mentions the prayer “Hail, Holy Queen” in her essay. Find the whole prayer here. Sarah…
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This Week on Mothering Spirit Stina’s essay shares the experience of reading Micah as a mother while the world burns. Rakhi’s prayer asks for mercy, hope, and light in the darkness. Resources to keep reflecting Rakhi’s shop Rakstar Designs offers a print of Micah 6:8 to support the Equal Justice Initiative founded by Bryan Stevenson. For more of Stina’s…
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This past summer some women from church decided to gather on Wednesday evenings to read Scripture. We rotated hosting responsibilities and, after the initial chit-chat and snack table perusal, settled into backyard lawn chairs to read a chapter aloud from the book of Micah. Yes, that Micah. The Biblical minor prophet, the “do justly, love…
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This Week on Mothering Spirit Rachael’s essay invited us to look at ordinary moments of motherhood with fresh eyes, to see the beauty within the mystery of God’s love. Rachel’s prayer spoke deep truth to weary bones, that we are always beloved. Resources to keep reflecting For more writing from this week’s essayist, read Courage, Dear Heart and The Quiet…
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Bundled against the freezing weather, I pushed the stroller down the sidewalk. Baby napping inside, coffee in hand, a book balanced on the bar, and the big kids off on a bike ride with Jeff. This little routine had become a beloved ritual in the chaos and isolation of quarantine. But today was different. The…
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