Tips on coming home for Christmas and Thanksgiving

As the only Catholic in the family.

I saw a post this morning that inspired me to share my own experiences coming home for Christmas/ Thanksgiving as the only Catholic in my family.

I want to preface this by saying my family and I have come a long way and they are very supportive today. However, the first couple of Christmases and Thanksgivings after my conversion were hard.

HERE ARE MY TIPS:

1. Do what you can to be in service to others (cleaning, helping make food, setting the table, etc.)

The best way to display your Faith is through your actions. Sometimes, this is the easiest way for God to use you to plant seeds.

2. Know your Faith and be prepared to answer any questions your family might have.

3. Don’t be upset if you have to attend Mass alone- this was very difficult for me in the beginning, but I have turned this sorrow into an opportunity to pray for my family that isn’t there with me (especially their conversion).

And who knows- someone might surprise you. My mom has attended Christmas Mass with me in the past which was the best gift I have received.

4. Cling to Our Lady of Sorrows and meditate on Christ’s Crucifixion when you feel alone.

5. Pray the Litany of Humility. This prayer has changed my life. It will help you remember that this is NOT about you and give you the strength through humility to remain steadfast.

6. Continue to extend an invitation to Adoration, Mass and Praying the Rosary!

“We must speak to them with our hands before we try to speak with our lips.”
Saint Peter Claver

“Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”
Pope Paul VI

“Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world.Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.”
Saint Teresa of Ávila

Maddie