M
Magnum_V8
Guest
I’m getting so frustrated with my family. I realize I don’t know what is in their hearts, and even if I did, frustration is not charitable. But it seems like I am pulling the spiritual weight around here.
I’ve got the wife, son and my mother. We are all Catholic. My son is only 6. For weeks I instigated the praying of the Divine Mercy Chaplet as a family at night, just before going to bed. A lot of the free time I have is spent reading about the faith, or browsing the Internet about the faith, or praying. No one else in the family seems to spend any significant time focusing on God.
I’ve told my wife that I’d appreciate not being the only one suggesting to pray the Chaplet. She agreed, but hasn’t done it once. It was a nightly prayer that we did, like I said for weeks, and now we haven’t done it for a long time, because I refuse to carry the load. I don’t want to force the issue; I want them to come around on their own.
I’m starting to get my son much more involved, particularly because I’m preparing him for his first confession and communion. But at 6 years old, I can’t expect a whole lot from him.
How common is this? Any thoughts?
I’ve got the wife, son and my mother. We are all Catholic. My son is only 6. For weeks I instigated the praying of the Divine Mercy Chaplet as a family at night, just before going to bed. A lot of the free time I have is spent reading about the faith, or browsing the Internet about the faith, or praying. No one else in the family seems to spend any significant time focusing on God.
I’ve told my wife that I’d appreciate not being the only one suggesting to pray the Chaplet. She agreed, but hasn’t done it once. It was a nightly prayer that we did, like I said for weeks, and now we haven’t done it for a long time, because I refuse to carry the load. I don’t want to force the issue; I want them to come around on their own.
I’m starting to get my son much more involved, particularly because I’m preparing him for his first confession and communion. But at 6 years old, I can’t expect a whole lot from him.
How common is this? Any thoughts?
I can see that it might be disappointing that no one else is enthused enough to bring it up first, but maybe God has given you your enthusiasm precisely to be the initiator. Perhaps you could simply say, “Does everyone agree that barring some unforseen circumstance, 7:30pm every night is when we will come together as a family and pray the chaplet and night prayers?” Then you no longer will have to ‘ask’ everyone each day. It will be an expectation. Maybe it will take a few reminders, “hey everyone, let’s hurry and finish cleaning dinner up so we can get to night prayers, it’s almost 7:30!” But isn’t a reminder worth it when their souls hang in balance?