Bless Us, O Lord

“I love this practical prayer book for families. Parents know that dinnertime is one of the few moments throughout the day when a family can sit down, slow down, and enjoy each other’s company. Catholic parents know that it is also one of the best times of day to pray with our kids. Robert Hamma has put together a creative collection of prayers to use as any family's dinnertime devotional. Hamma has a heart for the poor and the marginalized, and the prayers he offers in this Bless Us, O Lord invite us to share in that sentiment. This book will help families grow closer to God, closer to each other, and closer to the many people who go without food each day.”
Jared Dees 
Founder of The Religion Teacher website 
Author of Christ in the Classroom  

“In today’s busy world, the thought of praying together as a family may feel like a challenge. Thankfully, Robert Hamma’s wonderful resource Bless Us, O Lord offers a simple invitation to gather as a family around the table and to lift our voices in prayer. Hamma’s simple yet insightful words provide gentle structure and context for the moments and celebrations that fill our hearts and homes. Share them with your loved ones and witness how your lives are blessed and encouraged!”
Lisa M. Hendey
Founder of CatholicMom.com 

“Parents are often looking for ways to teach their children the rudiments of Catholic faith. Such education tends to occur in informal moments such as prayer before meals rather than through official catechetical curricula. In Bless Us, O Lord, parents will find a resource that will assist them in their work of teaching their children to pray. Eating together is integral to life within the domestic Church, not just because it’s a time to catch up with one another, but because it’s an occasion to develop the disposition of gratitude. Through these prayers before meals for nearly every occasion a family might experience, Robert Hamma has given Christian families a resource for developing a posture of gratitude in everyday life. The prayers connect as much to the daily events of family life as they do to the liturgical year of the Church. This book of prayers will be a gift to every family.”
Timothy P. O’Malley 
Director of Education
The McGrath Institute for Church Life
University of Notre Dame 

“Bless Us, O Lord is simply beautiful. Each family knows the difficulties associated with family prayer—giggling, wiggling, crying, pinching. It’s the blessed chaos of the home, which as parents we try at least to calm for prayer if only for a moment. Often it’s at the mealtime table that prayer is the hardest, which is why Robert Hamma’s book is so wonderful and so welcome. This book is special first for its clarity and breadth. Prayers involving the whole of life—saints, seasons, special occasions and even secular heroes such as Helen Keller and Anne Frank—help families capture the world for prayer, teaching us to gather up in prayer all things children (and even parents) learn and celebrate throughout life. But what is even more profound is that if families use this book well they will in time bring two important tables closer together—the table of the Eucharist and the family table—in one organic rhythm of life. "
Rev. Joshua J. Whitfield 
Pastor
St. Rita Catholic Community
Dallas, Texas 

 “Sitting at the table to share a meal as a family is a true expression of being domestic church. At the table we eat together, talk, learn, argue, laugh, and cry. At the table, we share the joy of being with relatives and friends as God’s blessings. Robert Hamma invites us in this fabulous book to start this intimate moment as a domestic church and community in prayer. Bless Us, O Lord is a superb collection of prayers that traveled to us through history, born in different communities and circumstances and offered by a great diversity of women and men who saw God in all things. These prayers are summons to pray and eat together, knowing that we are part of a larger whole and that God always journeys with us.”
Hosffman Ospino 
Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Education 
Boston College School of Theology and Ministry