You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. — Deut. 11: 18-20
5 Simple Steps
- Prayerfully read through the list of encouraging scripture verses and quotes from saints below.
- Notice the verses and quotes that stand out to you as particular truths that your family needs right now.
- Choose the verse or quote that you think would be most helpful to your family and write it on bathroom mirrors throughout your house with a dry-erase marker or a washable/kid’s marker (you may want to “test” a small area of a mirror first, to be certain that you can wipe the marker off later!).
- Let the “mirrored truths be entrance points to conversations. If you are a parent, let your children think about the quotes and draw their own conclusions (resist the urge to explain everything right away!).
- After a few days choose a new verse or quote. Erase the previous quote and fill the mirrors in your home with the new one. Continue repeating the process!
The Reason Behind the Method
During this time when we are separated from the Eucharist, we are invited to draw closer to Jesus in the Word. As we fill our hearts with God’s truth, His Word pushes out anxieties and fills our hearts with trust (see Philippians 4:6-7). Our great Saints also lead us to Jesus with their words, which all point to the One Word, Jesus Christ (see CCC 65).
As parents or faith leaders in our homes, we are called to live our faith in such a way that we mirror the person of Jesus to our loved ones. When we effectively mirror truth and trust, we see truth and trust mirrored back to us through our families. As parents, we are called to be the first teachers of our children (CCC 2201-2233). This exercise is just one simple way to learn scripture with our families and bring everyone closer to Christ.
An important note: please do not think that teaching your children means that you need to have all of the answers. Mirror the truth and trust that God has imprinted on your heart. Listen to God in your personal prayer time and seek his direction. Endeavor to fill your home with truth and trust, demonstrating love and patience with yourself and with your loved ones.
Truth from Scripture:
Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Isaiah 41:10: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Deuteronomy 31:6: Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
Isaiah 40:31: But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Exodus 15:2: The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Psalm 29:11: May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!
John 16:33: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
1 Peter 4:11: Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
Deuteronomy 20:4 For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Isaiah 40:29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Psalm 27:1 Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 31:24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!
Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
2 Timothy 4:17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
Psalm 118:14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Psalm 46:1 To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Habakkuk 3:19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments..
Truth from Saints:
List compiled by romancatholicman.com
If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze! -St. Catherine of Sienna
This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections. -St. Augustine
To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often. -Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman
He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows. –St. Gregory of Nissa
Let us begin in earnest to work out our salvation, for no one will do it for us, since even He Himself, Who made us without ourselves, will not save us without ourselves. -St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. -Saint Augustine
To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. -St. Thomas Aquinas
Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you. -St. Augustine of Hippo
Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry. -St. Pio of Pietrelcino
You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride which is your greatest enemy – the root of all that is evil, and the failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud. -St. Vincent de Paul
Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you. -St. Augustine
Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self. -Mother Teresa
To love God is something greater than to know Him. -St. Thomas Aquinas
We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable. -St. Bernard of Clairvaux
It is not hard to obey when we love the one whom we obey. -St. Ignatius of Loyola
You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all. -St. Therese of Lisieux
The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it. -Saint Vincent de Paul
Teach us to give and not count the cost. -St. Ignatius de Loyola
Charity is no substitute for justice withheld – St. Augustine
The source of justice is not vengeance but charity. -Saint Bridget of Sweden
Fortitude is the disposition of soul which enables us to despise all inconveniences and the loss of things not in our power. –St. Augustine
I know well that the greater and more beautiful the work is, the more terrible will be the storms that rage against it. -St. Faustina
Moreover, Christians are born for combat, whereof the greater the vehemence, the more assured, God willing, the triumph: ‘Have confidence; I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33) –Pope Leo XIII
Temperance is a disposition that restrains our desires for things which it is base to desire. –St. Augustine
Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and comforts, the more needs and desires it finds. –St. Teresa of Avila
If you would rise, shun luxury, for luxury lowers and degrades. -St John Chrysostom
Dost thou hold wisdom to be anything other than truth, wherein we behold and embrace the supreme good? –St. Augustine
Let your old age be childlike, and your childhood like old age; that is, so that neither may your wisdom be with pride, nor your humility without wisdom. –St. Augustine
God gives each one of us sufficient grace ever to know His holy will, and to do it fully. -St. Ignatius of Loyola
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand. –St. Augustine
Understanding is the sure and clear knowledge of some invisible thing. –St. Bernard
Thus understanding and love, that is, the knowledge of and delight in the truth, are, as it were, the two arms of the soul, with which it embraces and comprehends with all the saints the length and breath, the height and depth, that is the eternity, the love, the goodness, and the wisdom of God. –St. Bernard
Listen and attend with the ear of your heart -St. Benedict
We judge all things according to the divine truth. – St. Augustine
A scrap of knowledge about sublime things is worth more than any amount about trivialities. –St. Thomas Aquinas
In so far as divine love beautifies our souls. And makes us pleasing to His divine Majesty, it is called grace; in so far as it gives us strength to do good, it is called charity; but when it reaches such a degree of perfection, that it makes us not only do the good, but do so carefully, frequently and readily, then it is called devotion. –St. Francis de Sales
Charity and devotion differ no more, the one from the other, than the flame from the fire. –St. Francis de Sales
Devotion is a certain act of the will by which man gives himself promptly to divine service. –St. Thomas Aquinas
It is better to say one Our Father fervently and devoutly than a thousand with no devotion and full of distraction. — St. Edmund
For I have learnt for a fact that nothing so effectively obtains, retains and regains grace, as that we should always be found not high-minded before God, but filled with holy fear. –St. Bernard
We must fear God out of love, not love Him out of fear. -Saint Francis de Sales
Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you. -St. Augustine
Charity brings to life again those who are spiritually dead. –St. Thomas Aquinas
Charity is the form, mover, mother, and root of all virtues. –St. Thomas Aquinas
Joy is a net of love by which we catch souls. -Mother Teresa
Joy is very infectious; therefore, be always full of joy. –Mother Teresa
Let the brothers ever avoid appearing gloomy, sad, and clouded, like the hypocrites; but let one ever be found joyous in the Lord, gay, amiable, gracious, as is meet. –St. Francis
Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart? -Saint Gerard Majella
Patience is the companion of wisdom. –St. Augustine
Be kind to all and severe to thyself. –St. Teresa of Avila
To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them. -St. Thomas Aquinas
Be a good child, and God will help you. -St. Joan of Arc
To attribute to God, and not to self, whatever good one sees in oneself; but to recognize always that the evil is one’s own doing, and to impute it on one’s self. –St. Benedict
This, in short, is the difference between us and others who know not God, that in misfortune they complain and murmur, while the adversity does not call us away from the truth of virtue and faith, but strengthens us by its suffering. –St. Cyprian
Nothing appeases an enraged elephant so much as the sight of a little lamb. –St. Francis de Sales
When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time. –St. Francis de Sales
He who can preserve gentleness amid pains, and peace amid worry multitude of affairs, is almost perfect. –St. Francis de Sales
For Faith is the beginning and the end is love, and God is the two of them brought into unity. After these comes whatever else makes up a Christian gentleman. –St. Ignatius of Antioch
Faith means battles; if there are no contests, it is because there are none who desire to contend. –St. Ambrose
Faith does not quench desire, but inflames it. –St. Thomas Aquinas
A faint faith is better than a strong heresy. –St. Thomas More
It is not the actual physical exertion that counts toward a man’s progress, nor the nature of the task, but the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken. -St. Francis Xavier