Start Small

Inspired by St Therese the Little Flower whose feast day is Thursday, October 1st, I want to encourage the families in our land to start small in passing on the faith to their children. Saint Therese put it plainly when she said:

“Remember that nothing is small

in the eyes of God. Do all that you do

with love.”  

-St. Therese of Lisieux

As a parent I feel as if most of my days are gobbled up with the small acts that keep our family on task and moving, so it is a consolation to know that God does not discount the littleness of my daily tasks.

I am currently thinking about my daily habit of cleaning up the floor around our family table. I often lament to my husband that I am so tired of cleaning the same exact areas of my house over and over again; yet I find solace in remembering that the Lord sees me and my efforts regardless of how small or mundane they are.

As I round out my third trimester and anticipate the busy holiday season to come, I personally find peace in knowing that none of my efforts go unnoticed by the Lord, no matter the size. There is nothing like the final weeks of a pregnancy to remind you how dependent you are on the Lord. Praise God that he loves us where we are at, in our littleness and dependence.

St. Therese says:

“Jesus does not demand

great actions from us, but simply

surrender and gratitude.”  

-St. Therese of Lisieux

As a mom I feel such a peace reminding myself that Jesus simply asks for my surrender and gratitude. That sounds like such a simple ask, yet I know how tightly I hold on to things that are not our Lord’s garment.

Ansleigh Munn

Project Coordinator, The Dominus Project

Practice Makes Perfect

St. Therese’s words remind us that we don’t have to do giant, heroic things to be holy parents or caregivers. We can begin by asking: What am I currently being asked to surrender? And where can I grow in gratitude?

After talking to Jesus about these two things, we recommend trying any of the following ways to start small with passing on the faith to your children:

1. Buy a beautiful religious book to add to your bookshelf. We have some recommendations on our website!
2. Bless your children before bedtime. Unfamiliar with what that entails? Read more here!
3. Share with your children when the Lord showed up for you that day!
4. Pray your daily prayers in a more common space to be a witness of what your prayer time looks like to your children.
5. Include religious art in your home.
6. Light a candle when praying night prayer with your family.
7. Remind your children of the Creator when gazing upon His creation.
8. Share your experience after going to confession.
9. Read the Daily Gospel Reading or play it on the Hallow app!
10. Write down Saint quotes/Scripture quotes and sprinkle around your house.

What We’ve Been Up To

The three pillars of our ministry are (1) intercessory prayer, (2) discipleship, and (3) the cultivation of resources.

For the first, the team has been spending an hour each Monday interceding for you and all the families we have or will encounter, as well as all the people, ordained or lay, who work in the vineyard of our land to help families live their vocation as the domestic church. We then, on Wednesdays, offer you and your intentions to the Father through the Body and Blood of our Eucharistic Lord at Mass.

For the second, we have finished a consultation project with the amazing team at the Cane Catholics tri-parishes (including our friends Deacon Duane, April, and Kristen) and look forward to continuing our collaboration with them. We’ve also been working on a project to help the parents at St. Vincent de Paul hand on the faith to their children, so stay tuned for that! Finally, we are prepping for a new season of sacramental prep and hope to continue our work of discipling small groups of parents to share special moments with their kids to form them for First Communion or Confirmation. If you think your parish would be interested in trying this powerful way of forming children, reach out to us! You can catch parents talking about their experience doing formation this way on our Instagram or on Youtube.

For the third, we were overjoyed to welcome Dr. Matt Breuninger to FranU for a two-part talk on “Managing Emotions: Our Children’s and Ours.” It was a packed house, and the feedback we received was spectacular. You can watch the video of the event on our website under “resources” or by clicking the Youtube link below:

Coming Soon!

The following events are right around the corner! Join us for the Cathedrals Tour and Born to Run.

The Cathedrals Tour with Matt Maher and Sarah Kroger

Catholic music artists Matt Maher and Sarah Kroger are touring the beautiful churches of the country to offer evenings of worship, music, and prayer, and they are coming to Sacred Heart Church in Baton Rouge on October 29th.

The Dominus Project has been offering families the chance to win Artist Circle tickets (close to the front, usually $81 ea.) and we only have two tickets left! If you want to claim those tickets, send us a video of your family singing your favorite Matt Maher or Sarah Kroger song. Send entries or share them with thedominusproject@gmail.com.

You can check out the video our team did for inspiration by clicking the picture below:

Born to Run 5k and 1/2-mile Fun Run

We are, once again, forming a team to support Woman’s New Life Center’s annual Born to Run race! Last year’s Dominus Project Team had several top 10 finishers in various age categories!

We’re excited to announce that FranU is opening registration to our entire university to join us in this endeavor. Training for and running/walking the 5k or the 1/2-mile race is a great way to glorify God in your body as a family, and it makes for a fun way to gather with lots of Catholics and other Christians in our land who care about supporting mothers and their children.

Use the link to join our team, below. *Those who register by October 26th will receive a team t-shirt, and, like last year, The Dominus Project will be giving free swag to those who join our team!

Join Our Team Here

*At the bottom of the registration page, it will ask if you want to create or join a team. Select “yes,” then choose “join” and select the “FranU/Dominus Project” team.

Save the Date!

We have some fantastic and festive events coming up next year that will help you plant the flag and proclaim that Jesus is the Lord of your home! Fr. Josh Johnson, Brother Isaiah CFR and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and Sarah Mackenzie headline a big year for our ministry.

Join Our Mission: Spiritual and Financial Discipleship

The Dominus Project is run by Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, a non-profit, small-but-mighty Catholic university in Baton Rouge. We care about the community. We care about families in our land. We would love for you to join our mission by praying and sacrificing for us and by asking the Lord if He might want you to contribute financially to us. We also want to pray for you! We have a team holy hour and Mass every week for our Dominus family, so let us know whom and what we can offer up.

How can we pray for you?

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