Sunday Meditation: Celebrating the Lord's Day around the "Altar" of the Domestic Church

Grandchild generation experiencing the
Sunday brunch tradition.

Growing up, my mom always made dinner a family meal. She was sometimes frustrated that Daddy was slow to respond to the dinner bell when everyone else was seated and ready for prayers. In later years when he was commuting from Baltimore to Washington for work, Daddy was seldom home for meals and I think that was a sorrow to my mom that the younger of my siblings (There were ten of us.) didn't experience that evening celebration of our little domestic church. I was out of the house by then and on my own, but how well I remember those family dinners and the way it helped form my own family. Dinner together was not an option and nothing came to the table in those freshly-washed hands!

Several months ago my husband and I returned to the practice of the Sunday brunch which was a staple of our growing family. Often in the early years we spontaneously invited another family to join us when we chatted in the parking lot after Mass. The more the merrier!


I particularly remember our daughter Tara on her First Communion day asking to stir the scrambled eggs. I still treasure a picture of her, an apron covering her white dress, veil still framing her sweet face, busy at the stove. The brunch was always a family affair. And oh...those Krispy Kreme doughnuts fresh from the shop on Route 1 in Alexandria.

Since one of our daughters and her family live nearby, we enjoy a weekly gathering for the meal. Her
two youngest (one and three) are often dropped off before the 10:00 a.m. Mass (We go to 8:00.) and the three-year-old helps stir and mix whatever is on the menu while his little brother crawls around. Max loves to help cook and bake.

Prepping for a Camp Kreitzer grandkids tea party.

Often we invite my brother and his wife and/or friends to join us as well. It's a great way to celebrate the "Sunday rest" and make the Lord's day really special. Jesus would approve after all, I think. How much He must have loved spending time with Lazarus and his sisters.

The grandchildren love the brunch and they help with all the chores involved in a big meal. The five-year-old often tells us she never wants to go home, so sometimes the day ends with plans for the next visit or a sleepover.

We like to think we really have made our home a little domestic church, a family retreat center, where prayer and partying create treasured memories that will be passed on in the next generation. I wish all our children lived nearby! But they are often here for holidays and they all love "Camp Kreitzer."

Today when we pray the rosary, we will be especially mindful of Sunday joy. It's my favorite day of the week!

So how do you celebrate the Lord's Day in your family?