The Consecration of the Family to the Divine Mercy

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The Story of Our Lady’s Call to Her Priest

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I come from a very strong Catholic family that live their faith and are outspoken and open with their faith. At the dinner table, we often speak about God without resistance or resentment from members. What we have as a family was and remains unique in our world today.

Our faith has always been nourished because it is a lived faith. We practice our faith and participate weekly in Holy Mass. Some family members have always been daily communicants. I fondly recall praying the Rosary every night as a family.

I didn’t realize until I was about 17 that the rest of the world didn’t exactly live the same way as me! However, this reality gave me opportunity to reflect more deeply on the imperative nature in which my parents and grandparents gave regarding a living and personal relationship with God. The root of my faith in God; the root of my vocation comes from the lived and practiced faith of my both grandparents and my mother and father. They believe what they practice. They understood its lasting effects. They knew it was the only thing that would carry us through life. My mother and father have always said that at the end of the day, no matter how you look at it, you have to answer to God. As you can see, God has always been first in our home. Praying the Rosary as a family would be “good fun” at times. Imagine three generations, reciting the pray with different rhythms and speeds united with one big heart of love. As children, naturally one would get the odd giggle and at times burst into laughter. This would be followed by the mother shouting and then falling back into formation with the next ‘Hail Mary.’

Our friends would arrive at our house, ringing the doorbell, anticipating an evening out. We would be praying the rosary at this time and my grandmother, without missing a beat, would simply stand up, open the door (still saying the Rosary) and say, “Hi dear, either you’re in or you’re out. If you’re in, you’re on your knees.” It was an interesting experience because no one was ever exempt from the prayer life of the family!

A Family of Prayer

What I discovered was that despite any problems we had within the family, the very fact that we were a family of prayer, the Lord gave graces of peace and unity that held us together. Despite problems, we were never fully torn apart because that living prayer, that lived belief in Jesus and Mary and the merciful God has kept us very close together. To this day we family members might be living in different countries and US cities, but we are extremely close. We pray for one another and we guide one another.

In addition to this strong Catholic background, I had twelve years of Catholic education including college. I earned a BA in English from St. Joseph College in Brooklyn NY and began teaching intermediate level (6th, 7th, and 8th graders) in the New York City public school system. It was during this time, I had been given an opportunity to go as a pilgrim to Medjugorje. Interestingly, several months before my pilgrimage, I had been receiving a monthly Catholic pilgrimage magazine. The front cover headline was Medjugorje specials. This was the case month after month.

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