I have a question for the other Dads here. Practically, how do you incorporate Scripture in your family life? The reason I ask: We’ve always prayed together as a family, but my kids are now old enough that we should start reading Scripture together as a family (my wife and I read individually on our own) and I’m trying to figure out a way that works for us.
How do you guys do it? Bedtime? Before or after meals? Did you start with Old Testament stories or the Gospels? The Bible itself or with the Catechism/study guide?
Thanks for your feedback!
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That is a good question. I would love to hear what others think. We talk about the scriptures, but it would be a good idea to incorporate them into our daily lives better.
Great question. Sorry I don't have an answer. I have been remiss in doing this formally, but I would like to see others' responses to get an idea of how I could do this better.
Our routine is to read the daily scripture and commentary from Magnificat magazine each evening at bedtime. (Weekends can be hit or miss.) Prayers then follow along with petitions. Sometimes we will read about the "saint of the day" or some other Catholic literature. The boys are older now so we can also read a chapter from a book (most recently Scott Hahn's "Hail Holy Queen.") A rosary may be prayed in lew of the above for some special problem/petition. In all it takes about 15-20 minutes and is a great way to cap off the day.
I read a chapter out of the bible everyday after dinner. We started out with Genesis and we are reading the books of the bible according to Jeff Cavin's time line. It skips some books of the bible so that you read Salvation history from beginning to end. My kids will not allow me to sit down for dinner if I don't have three very important things: my bible, my reading glasses, and my joke sheet. I read a book called "She calls me daddy". In the book the author suggests bringing a few jokes to the dinner table. After we say our before meal prayer, I read a couple of jokes as my wife dishes up dinner. They are kids jokes of the knock-knock variety or other one liners. The purpose of the jokes is to get everyone at the table laughing and forgetting how bad their day may have been. It really changes the dynamic of our meal. After I am done eating I will read from the bible. Our children are ages 2,5,7,9,11,13 and 15 and as you know there are times where scripture can get a bit descriptive, but I just read and if anyone has any questions we will answer in an age appropriate way. All of our children are very attentive when I am reading and really enjoy the stories. My wife loves the fact that I took it upon myself to read to our family. Our meal time is a time for my wife and I to bask in the joy that our children give us. I hope that helps.
Paul Waldorf
Those are great ideas! Thanks for the feedback. If anyone else would like to share what they do, I'm all ears.