What is your first thought when you wake up?

What is your first thought when you wake up in the morning? Where am I? What day is it? What’s happening today? asks Marriage & Family Life Co-ordinator, Antonia Braithwaite, in her Faith in the Home column.

Good Morning, Jesus!

What is your first thought when you wake up in the morning? Where am I? What day is it? What’s happening today?

Once you’ve orientated yourself and entered the waking world from the world of dreams, what is your next thought? We all live busy lives and in the bustle of busyness it can be easy for God to be set aside as we jump out of bed and get ready for the day.

However, we should try to get into the habit of making God our first conscious thought of the day, or soon after waking. This is called a Morning Offering; this is where we offer everything that we will do and that will happen to us in the day ahead, to God. By offering our day to Him first thing in the morning, we ask Him to protect us, bless our busyness and our day’s work so that it will all be more fruitful and work out better according to His will for our good.

Praying morning prayers with the children is a habit for the family to get into it; it can happen over the breakfast table in the morning, or  take a pause while getting dressed or just before you open the front door to go outside, gather together for a moment to consecrate your day.

Here is a simple morning prayer for children to cut out and memorize:

Dear God, now that I start my day,
I offer you my heart and pray:
Guide me in everything I do
And keep me always close to you.
Amen

Add to it the Guardian Angel prayer, and the Sign of the Cross with holy water to keep your children safe during the day.

A traditional Morning Offering for adults:
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day
for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world,
for the salvation of souls, the reparation for sins, the reunion of all Christians,
and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month.
Amen.

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