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Essential Parenting
by Dr. Gary L. Welton
Model and support a life of religious faith and practice.
Category: The Catholic Family
Movie Review: Despicable Me 2
by Sr. Helena Burns, fsp
Gru and his yellow, gobbledygook-spewing, Contac-capsule-shaped minions are baaaack! Despicable Me 2 picks up where Despicable Me left off, but if you didn’t see the first installment, no worries, “2” is a hoot without it. All you need to know is that Gru (Steve Carell) is a former dastardly doer of evil deeds on a […]
Scrapbooking in a Digital Age
by Claire Boeck
Scrapbooking is one of my passions. It’s no surprise; when I was a young child my father (a history teacher) dubbed me the “family historian”. I have always been fascinated with family relationships and their history. When I discovered scrapbooking twelve years ago, I jumped at the chance to document my family history while exercising […]
Modesty: Who’s Responsible?
by Dr. Frank Moncher
Some recent events in the news have highlighted just how difficult it is to affirm modesty as a virtue worth instilling. In one particular instance, a public school principal took a stance for modesty, and may end up in court as a result. The principal refused admittance to two girls attending their high school prom […]
Now My Eyes Have Seen the Light
by Jake Frost
PVC is amazing stuff. Its versatility rivals that of Duct Tape. And growing up, we always had plenty of both around the house. The PVC was mostly for Dad’s plumbing work on our house, which seemed constant. I guess eight kids put a lot of mileage on the pipes. As for the Duct Tape, as […]
When Gay “Marriage” Affects Your Family
by Terry McDermott
On June 26, 2013, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was struck down in a five- to- four decision by the United States Supreme Court. Gay activists south of the border were overjoyed. Here in Canada, it was just another marriage equality day since our Supreme Court redefined marriage with the passing of the Civil […]
Slouching Toward Adulthood
by Lisa Hendey
I recently received an interesting book for review, the softcover edition of Sally Koslow’s Slouching Toward Adulthood: How to Let Go So Your Kids Can Grow Up. Let me underscore up front that this is in no way a “Catholic” or even a religious book, although it does touch upon spiritual issues. Here’s the primary […]
“I Have Missed You, Father”
by Mike Eisenbath
The “God moment” arrived during the performance of a high school musical one year ago. Not that it should have been confused with just any high school musical. This was the Youth Sing Praise program, an outstanding combination theater camp and religious retreat that has been operating for one week in June for the last […]
Can We Stop Fretting About Modesty?
by Mary C. Tillotson
Seems like, lately, everyone’s been writing about how much women should wear, why it matters (or doesn’t), how too-strict standards can be emotionally damaging, and how we’re all contributing to the rape culture. I agree that modesty is important, but I’m sensing an unhealthy dose of fear, insecurity, judgment, and tunnel vision. Guys, we all […]
Requiem for the Ballerinas
by Dr. Gerard Nadal
The corruption of innocence is a deadly sin, because it corrupts the innocents. Better a millstone be tied around the necks of those who corrupt the innocent and they be flung into the sea, said Jesus. He really never pointed out too many particular sins attaching to them a ‘woe betide’. About the only other […]
The Real Racism Question of the Day
by Mary Biever
The current question of racism is a red herring. It’s easier to focus on a single word uttered by a single celebrity than it is to address the real issue and tragedy of racism. The “N” word is an abomination to me. Thirty-eight years ago, I lived briefly as a Yankee in the heart of […]
Insurrectionary Options: Ballots vs. Bullets
by Robert Struble, Jr.
It is time for believers in God and country to get real, and face the fact that the enemy is at the gates and starting to come over the wall. They might not feed us to the lions, but already they’re throwing us to the lawyers. Just ask Baronelle Stutzman, the Christian florist in Tri […]
Christ in My Beloved: A Cop’s Wife Counts Her Blessings
by Misty
For nearly two decades, I’ve been the wife of a police officer. Invariably, friends whose husbands do not require body armor to go to work ask how I cope with the inherent dangers of his job. They ask, as politely as possible, how I can live with the every-present possibility of being widowed and having […]
Helping Our Children Discern Their Vocations
by Terry McDermott
When I grow up, I’m going to be a priest and a policeman.” “I want to be a nun who rides horses and sings. Can a nun have babies?” “Mummy, when I grow up I’m going to marry you.” I smile as I remember these statements made by some of my children when they were […]
Book Review: The Catholic Baby Name Book
by Mary Kochan
Considering that no one in my family is expecting, it might seem strange that I have been so happily perusing a baby name book. But The Catholic Baby Name Book by Catholic Lane Senior Editor, Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur, is a complete delight and of nearly the same interest whether you are looking to name an expected […]
Summer Camp: Exploring New Passions
by Kate Daneluk
At some point between the ages of 5 and 12 most children find a passion. It may be a vocational kind of passion like an animal-lover on the path to veterinary medicine, or an avocation like a softball player who one day applies that determination to passing the Bar Exam. At this tender age, it’s […]
Lying is Normal, But Not Okay
by Marybeth Hicks
You’ve caught your child fibbing time and time again — even about inconsequential things where telling the truth would not result in consequences. Do you have an issue with integrity? Is it a normal phase of child development? Or are you raising a serial liar? I’ll never understand why children try to lie their way […]
Abandoned by God?
by Mike Eisenbath
It is late, almost midnight. The St. Louis Cardinals ballgame ended just a few moments ago, so I turn off the radio on the nightstand. Now, the house is quiet, the bedroom dark. The only sounds I can detect are the dog’s snoring and my wife’s soft breathing as she lays sleeping next to me. […]
Catholic School Incisive, Not Divisive
by Tom Purcell
I don’t know what President Obama was thinking. Speaking in Northern Ireland last week, he said Catholic schools are divisive: “If towns remain divided — if Catholics have their schools and buildings and Protestants have theirs, if we can’t see ourselves in one another and fear or resentment are allowed to harden —that too encourages […]
What are You Grateful For?
by Terry McDermott
The question stared back at me from the email sent by a nurses’ professional group where I hold membership. I read it on a wet, dreary morning as I fretted about having to go to work. I wondered aloud when I would ever win the lottery. Still feeling sorry that I wasn’t an instant millionaire […]
Five Things About Homeschooling I Didn’t Expect
by Stacy Trasancos
I have been hesitant to write about our first year of home schooling because I don’t know if my insights offer anything new, but nonetheless, we’ve done it and as anything else goes in life, it was a learning experience for us all. We are not home schooling zealots; we have public-schooled, parochial-schooled, and even […]
Oh No, He’s Discovered the Opposite Sex!
by Marlon De La Torre
As soon as the men of the world perceive that you seek the devout life, they will launch forth all their raillery and slander against you; the most ill-natured will pronounce your altered ways to be hypocrisy, affection, or bigotry; they will assert that the world having slighted you, rejected by it, you turn to […]
Cardinal Burke: Families Must Proclaim the Gospel of Life
by Stefano Gennarini, J.D.
The family is the central way of proclaiming the “Gospel of Life,” a top Vatican official said this week during a weekend-long celebration of Blessed John Paul II’s letter by that name. In the family “children witness the Gospel of life in the relationship of their parents with one another and in the relationship of […]
The Lost Art of Education
by Ken Connor
When American parents send their children off to college, the deluge of emotion can be overwhelming. No matter how much time and money you spent preparing yourself for this most pivotal transition in the life of your child, you always feel as though you could have done more. Will they succeed? Will they be safe? […]
