My family usually accompanies me to Pro-Life events. My children are 6, 4, 2 and a baby to be born anytime now. Sometimes, at home, my four year old, who saw me sharing my testimony, brings me a piece of paper and says: “Mommy, that’s for you. You go talk to the people.” Anthony, My […]
Growing up, I always knew what I wanted to do for a living. I also had a ready list of things I would never pursue as a career. Carpentry, for one. I tended to have all thumbs when it came to hammers and saws and wrenches. Schoolteacher, for another. Not nearly enough patience. I wouldn’t […]
Five years ago, I stepped into a room to cover a news story for work. I was flustered because I was almost late getting there. I’m only going to be interviewing children, I thought to myself. It shouldn’t be a big deal. The session began. Fifteen children sat in a circle, an adult with them. […]
Some years ago a group of men from my parish were providing escorts and security for an all-night Eucharistic Adoration vigil for life. I drew one of the wee hours. My relief didn’t show up, so I stayed on for some more hours. I brought with me a little book: The Ways of God by […]
It’s all well and good for a single gal to tell y’all to be good, but when you’re really in love things can get hard. After last week’s post on chastity, some of you might be wondering how on earth people do it. From what I’ve gathered, it generally involves more than just a strong […]
As the father of eleven who also knows the heartache of miscarriage, I was moved by a recent post by blogger Stacy Trasancos titled “The Spiritual Abortion Called Limbo,” exhorting even those who accept the longstanding theological opinion of the “limbo of the infants” to please pray for those innocent young souls who die before […]
Every once in a while, educational fads turn toward “back to basics.” Schools emphasize necessary and useful subjects–meaning, useful for getting a job. Math, reading, and science take center stage. Other subjects get cut. In fact, one of the biggest criticisms of the new Common Core Standards is its utilitarian, vocational perspective on education. In […]
Sometimes, I find myself aspiring to be a “contemplative.” But looking at the long and somewhat complex definition in the Catholic Encyclopedia, I wonder if that really is possible for those of us who have to live “in the world.” I won’t bother you with much of that entry in the encyclopedia. Suffice to say […]
My husband married a woman who had the ability to laugh things off, to be spontaneous, to work hard and get ‘er done. And then I got pregnant, had a baby, got pregnant, had a baby, and so on five times in a row. My five kids are aged 5, 4, 3, and 1 year […]
It may come as a surprise to many, but dating is a relatively recent phenomenon. So says Jason E. King, author of Dating: A Practical Catholic Guide, published by the Knights of Columbus Catholic Information Service. Prior to our modern conception of dating, which arose in the 20th century, says King, a family was much […]
Planning a wedding is a lot of pressure. Everyone you know is invited, it’s (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime event and it’s the most formal occasion of your life. That in itself can make any bride or groom a little antsy. Yet more than that, in the modern world, it is a life goal that is right up […]
Good versus good hardly seems like a movie plot, but in Grace Unplugged in theaters October 4th, Divine good and worldly goods are pitted against one another. At the heart of the conflict is the pull of a father’s love and concern for his 18-year-old daughter and her push to get out from under his […]
It’s not hard to make an argument for chastity. After all, STDs are terrifying and unplanned pregnancies aren’t ideal. And there are the statistics that show increased depression in sexually active teens and increased rates of divorce among those who had multiple sexual partners. But if you’ve ever been in love, you know that scare […]
Like Mount Zion are they who trust in the LORD, unshakable, forever. — Psalm 125 Do you ever think about how much we trust every single day? For instance, every time you turn on your car and pull out of the driveway, you are trusting the people who assembled that car and the mechanic who […]
It was time to make another dreaded phone call telling my wife that problems had come up and I wouldn’t be coming home the next day as scheduled. I was thousands of miles away, yet I could hear the disappointment in her voice as she tried to be understanding. She was used to this happening, […]
My short answer to this question is yes: I absolutely think it’s possible for a woman to pursue a man, in a real, genuine way that neither defies who we are in our femininity nor buys into what the culture has to offer. Until I was in my 20s, my dating experience was limited, to […]
Many have noted that sports can teach young people valuable lessons which are transferrable to life: submission to authority, working as a team, practice and hard work to achieve goals, etc. I was never a star athlete, but I did play on some teams in high school and have done my share of coaching. Whether […]
You’d better sit down because this is going to come as quite a shock. Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth have broken their engagement. I know. You probably need a minute to collect yourself. Who wouldn’t? They’ve been together since 2010 when they met on the set of a forgettable film called “The Last Song” (would […]
We do not really want a religion that is right where we are right. We want a religion that is right where we are wrong. We do not want, as the newspapers say, a church that will move with the world. We want a church that will move the world. –G.K. Chesterton With the start […]
One Sunday a while back, a family of five filled a pew at church near where I was sitting during Mass. That family grabbed my attention. The pew was much larger than needed to accommodate a regular group of five. But this family, in addition to the two parents, included three young children. Three energetic, […]
For generations, American girls have been exposed to unrealistic and even unhealthy images of painfully thin women, and subtly encouraged to fit within a very narrow definition of beauty. While it’s certainly nothing new, this pressure has risen to an unprecedented level in today’s technologically advanced, celebrity-saturated world. Kids spend more time in front of […]
The hugely successful Small Steps for Catholic Moms: Your Daily Call to Think, Pray, and Act by Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss was originally published in 2010, but fell victim to a publisher closure and went out of print. Ave Maria Press has re-released this popular book as part of the CatholicMom.com series of books. […]
Have you ever been on an “I’m not sure if this is a” date? We probably all are more sure than we say we are, but deny that we’re sure so if we discover that one of us isn’t getting what we want, it doesn’t hurt. It’s one of life’s little dramas. This is how […]
Our children are often the impetus that draws us closer to God. In between diapers, sleepless nights and planning for college, parents contemplate something more. For many poorly catechized Catholics, however, the “something more” is a bit intimidating. Our children have souls that need more than the ABC’s and a good college fund, but where […]
