How to have a ‘Couch Catechism’ family devotion time

“Couch Catechism” is a phrase I coined because we all sit on our couches in the family room to learn about our Faith. The beauty of Couch Catechism is that it doesn’t matter which educational path your children are on or what time of day you are able to sit and do this with your family. There is also plenty of room to adjust and adapt this time according to your family’s schedule and needs. The possibilities are endless.

I thought I would share what’s been working for us in hopes of giving you ideas that may work for your family.

These special times with my children, who are homeschooled, begin on our family room couch after breakfast, but you can choose a time that’s right for your family. For about 10-15 minutes, we do the following together:

  • Each person has a turn to offer up daily prayer intentions for family and friends.
  • We recite the Morning Offering together.
  • I read the daily devotion from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young that I actually won on a fellow blogger’s blog. (Note: Jesus Calling by Sarah Young is not a Catholic resource, but my kids seem to enjoy it and we discuss Catholic teaching where it lends itself. For example, if the daily devotion is about how Jesus forgives us, I will tie in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and how and why God has given us this beautiful sacrament.)  Each devotion is written as if Jesus was speaking to us and I’m always amazed that each devotion speaks to my own heart and what I need to hear. I hope my children can say the same.
  • At the end of each devotion in Jesus Calling there are about two Scripture verses that goes along with what Jesus is calling us to do for that day. I pick one of the verses and my children take turns looking in the Bible for the verse and reading it out loud to their siblings and me.
  • Next, I read the saint for the day from Saints for Young Readers for Every Day, Vol. 1 (Jan.-June) or Vol. 2(July-Dec.). I can’t say enough about these books! They are my favorite books to learn about the saints because the stories are short and can be easily understood by children. My children love when I ask them if they think the saint is a boy or girl after I read the saint’s name for the day. Some of them are obviously boy/girl names, while others are a bit tricky to figure out. I also throw in a little math if there is a birth date and death date given for the Saint. After I read about the saint’s life, I ask my children to calculate how old the saint was when he/she died. They use mental math to get the answer. We are all amazed by how young and old some saints were when they left their earthly home!
  • Finally, I read a card from the Friendly Defenders Catholic Flash Cards, Set One or Set Two.  The front side has a picture of a child asking a particular question about the Catholic faith while the backside of each card has another child answering the question with an explanation and Scripture verse. These cards have been a great springboard for many faith discussions that I have had with my children which are moments I savor with my children!

So that is a brief summary of our Couch Catechism Family Devotion Time.

If you have daily devotions with your family, what resources/prayers do you use? Let us know!

A version of this post by Tracy Bua Smith originally appeared on the A Slice of Smith Life blog and contains affiliate links.