Prayer for the Family: Teach Us to Overcome Challenges

Dear Joseph, Mary, and Jesus: You three made up the Holy Family together. No novels have been written about you, and I find that comforting.

You lived a quiet, routine life, like I do with my family. Yet, even you had your struggles. We ask for your intercession throughout life’s challenges. You know it best. From the beginning, you three had difficulties of your own.

Prayer for the Family

[B]ehold, the angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this Child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”

(Matthew 1:20–21)

It is incredible that the Holy Family almost did not stay together. There was a misunderstanding, and Joseph most likely was confused and hurt.

He must have wondered how someone so special and pure as Mary could have deceived him. And indeed, she would have wanted to explain. 

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Yet, what trust in God that Mary remained in silent prayer, allowing the Lord to reveal all in His good time! What confidence in God that Joseph, who initially planned to divorce Mary discreetly, later heeded the words of an angel!

What trust in God that Jesus humbled Himself to be formed in Mary’s womb, beginning as a tiny, hidden soul and growing as the Word-Made-Flesh, born of a woman, to dwell among us. Lord, help my family. I trust in You as the Holy Family did.

Joseph and Mary’s Journey to Bethlehem

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

(Luke 2:4)

Sometimes, the world has terrible timing. Joseph and Mary shouldn’t have been required to travel to Bethlehem when their child—the Son of God—was expected to be born at any moment.

But even so, they obeyed the census requirements and trusted that God would provide everything necessary for welcoming His Son into the world. Lord, help my family and me obey civil authority with obedience and trust in You to provide for all our needs.

Jesus is Born to Mary, His Mother, and Joseph, His Foster Father

While [Mary and Joseph] were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

(Luke 2:6–7)

Lord, help us when we feel unwelcome, displaced, or even shunned by those who should show kindness. Bless us when we are vulnerable and in need of your mercy.

Help us look beyond our humiliation and discomfort so that we may care for others, as Mary cared for Baby Jesus, tenderly laying him in a manger so that He might rest peacefully.

Dear Joseph, Mary, and Jesus: Hear this prayer for the family. Bless us to remain attentive to the Lord’s guidance and one another.