Prioritizing Faith, Growing Faithful Communities

Holly Dodd describes how praying in community normalizes the Catholic experience.

There is always something more in our faith. As Catholics we are blessed to have so many ways to pray and to worship. There are ways to pray alone and at home with your family, but there are many beautiful ways to worship and pray in community with others. Parish-facilitated events which include a time of prayer can be a great starting point for building communities of faith. Your parish may offer Eucharistic processions, guided holy hours, praise and worship nights, Stations of the Cross, or evening Vespers.

Life is already full, so finding time for attending these things can be a challenge. Parish community events take extra effort to attend but are vital to sustaining our faith as they provide organic opportunities to meet other Catholic families. 

Prioritizing Prayer in a Busy World  

Showing up for Catholic events like the ones offered in your parish is more important than ever as the world competes for your time and attention. Your actions speak louder than words, and your children are watching you. Prioritizing your faith over competing activities, at least from time to time, speaks volumes to them about what is important to you and important for your family.   

A beautiful thing about worshiping in community is the way simply being in community with others builds community with others. The key is showing up. Participating as a family allows you the opportunity to meet families like your own. This is beneficial for moms, but this is especially transformative for kids. Normalizing these experiences of glorifying God in community is invaluable in the lives of your children who are being exposed to secular things everywhere they turn. These shared experiences normalize their experiences as a Catholic at a time when they are being formed by everything they encounter in the world.   

When you meet other Catholic families who share this desire to grow in faith, you can build relationships with them outside of the church too. You may discover that you find natural friendships with those families because of your shared experiences and shared values. You can bring those shared experiences home and into your neighborhoods to build on them to the benefit of your own family and your whole community.  

Praying in Community with Other Families Normalizes our Catholic Experience  

Our family loves to celebrate feast days at home by inviting other parish families for a shared meal, fellowship, and prayer. Sometimes we invite one family, sometimes we invite twenty, sometimes we invite a priest or two as well. Much of the gathering is always devoted to fellowship: sitting around a fire, playing a game, simply socializing. But one of our favorite things to do has been to pray together with those other families, whether it be evening Vespers, a Rosary, or a special prayer to commemorate the feast day.

The prayer itself is usually quick, only a tiny slice of our time of fellowship together, but the value of pausing for prayer together is infinite. Our children have discovered that we aren’t the only family who prays the Rosary, celebrates the saints, and lives out the principles of our Catholic faith. Our children witness our participation in the faith among a whole community of Catholics. Our children find faithful friends.  

Our Children Need Friends who Share Catholic Values  

Our lives are inundated with the things the world wants us to see. Kids know the latest video games, television characters, TikTok videos, and pop music lyrics, but do they know their faith? The reality is that we want the core values of our faith to have a prime position in the hearts of our children, and to further bolster that, we want our children to know they are not alone in their faith. We want our children to have friends who are a part of a faith-filled community, friends who share those same core values. The first step in growing that community is simply showing up.   

Prioritize some of the extra events offered in your parish and your faith communities. Try out opportunities to find a good fit for your family. Create new family traditions rooted in faith. You don’t have to attend everything, and you don’t have to participate perfectly, but you have to show up. Make new friends and bring your friends and Catholic faith into your home to build faith-filled communities. 

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Copyright 2025 Holly Dodd
Images: iStock, licensed for use by Holy Cross Family Ministries