I work full time in marriage ministry. I have the honor to work with excited, newly engaged couples anxious to start the prep process. Their exuberant joy is quite contagious. After gathering the critical contact information, I like to pose deeper questions to ascertain where they are at in their understanding of marriage, and to […]
When members of Congress were debating the Affordable Care Act, many Catholics suggested that the Catholic Principle of Subsidiarity was particularly instructive in the ongoing U.S. healthcare debate. Although mindful of the many relevant Catholic principles involved in the discussions of U.S. Healthcare (e.g., common good, separation of Church and State, life, primacy of focus […]
The pain of infertility or impaired fertility comes in more than one form. The first is the obvious suffering of the couple who wants so badly to have a child but, for whatever reason, is unable to. The second is the judgment of others in their Catholic community. I’ve experienced this first-hand, despite having three […]
When I was a kid my Mom used to embroider old sayings and decorate them with stitched designs and images. When they were finished she’d frame them and hang them on the walls, so that walking through our house was a little tour through the patrimony of wisdom from the ages, all arrayed in a […]
There once was a very special girl. Sarah was her name: a name that means Princess. This princess happened to be born with Down syndrome. Little Sarah grew up telling those around her that she had a perfect life! “If someone made an unkind remark about her appearance, she would smile and wave at […]
Single Catholics: the Vocations Solution It is widely known, in both Catholic and non-Catholic circles, that the Catholic Church is experiencing a shortage of priestly and religious vocations at this time. We often hear prayers at Mass for an increase in these vocations. There are those who are called by God to this vocation who […]
Conscience is the voice of God speaking to a Christian. It is the “law written in their hearts” (Romans 2:15) by God; and each Christian has a duty to make sure that God’s message is not corrupted. In short, a Christian must form his or her conscience – it must be “well formed” – and […]
“While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.” Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 When I see a young parent cradling an infant, I always smile. I’ll never forget those early days of motherhood, especially the […]
Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic. When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him. Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13A, 17B-28A […]
In nine years, I’ve never gone into my Catholic Mom’s Bible Study / Book Club and said, “We need to read this book today,” but I did that with the latest book by Kate Wicker. If you are always perfectly fulfilled in your role as a mother and you have a group of well-behaved children […]
Christmas has always been a season of Hope, especially for children and most especially for young children. We invest so much in our children, trying to make them happy, secure and successful. But new statistics have shown how our secular lifestyles are threatening their future, the future of society. As Christians we are not supposed […]
Coming out of high school in 2012, Joe Burger was not offered a scholarship to Ohio State University. Undeterred, he worked hard at contributing to the team in any way he could. His work has paid off, as he was awarded a scholarship last year. And now the linebacker is a senior captain of the […]
While preparing for the celebration of the birth of Christ this year, we must also think about the wonderful blessings that Joseph and Mary experienced when God chose them to be the parents of His Son. Mary, who was conceived without original sin, and Joseph, who was vowed to Mary’s virginity and to his role […]
Pro-family leaders from around the world recently gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, to roll out and sign a declaration that aims to protect the family and traditional marriage. In its five short paragraphs, the Cape Town Declaration recognizes the family as the “first and primordial community” and “the bedrock of civil society.” It reaffirms […]
Banning Christmas Trees The public display of Christmas trees might hurt someone? The only people who ever claim that a Christmas tree inflicts emotional damage are the Christian haters. They would have been the ones that showed up at the Roman coliseums to watch Christians get eaten by lions. If these people are disturbed by […]
Shortly after I got married, a good priest gave me some sage advice: look at all your daily frustrations as a source of holiness. Later that day, my husband did something that irritated me, so I said to him through clenched teeth: “You are making me so holy right now.” Of course, this made us […]
A question that occasionally comes up when the topic of single Catholics is raised has to do with priorities. Some would say that the Church is too busy addressing the many moral evils in today’s society to be concerned with single people. This line of thinking, however, prevents the Church from seizing a great opportunity. Assisting […]
A three-year campaign to have the General Assembly endorse “comprehensive sexuality education” programming fizzled out during negotiations this year. Sponsors of the annual General Assembly resolution on the “Rights of the Child” did not include “comprehensive sexuality education” in the draft resolution that is being considered for adoption, resulting in a kind of ceasefire on […]
It’s no secret that Catholic schools have seen a continual decline in enrollment since the 1960s, and the threats to Catholic education perpetuated by the Obama administration certainly haven’t helped schools thrive. Trying to stave the flow of student attrition, Catholic schools are implementing new business and financing models, collapsing and consolidating school systems, and […]
It seems many people have marrying an idiot as their goal. The amount of couples getting divorced proves to me that many have already become experts. Sadly, there are still those hold-outs who insist on taking their vow of “till death do us part” seriously even when they get bored with one another or a […]
The last time I checked, the mortality rate in this country was still 100%. To die usually involves unavoidable suffering. I don’t think these things will be changing any time soon. This is not a cause for anxiety or dread. Christ our Savior has made death and suffering into pathways to eternal life. “Precious in […]
VidAngel is the market-leading entertainment platform empowering users to filter language, nudity, violence, and other content from movies and TV shows. It continues to earn a surge of grassroots support as the company prepares for its preliminary injunction hearing in late October. Disney—along with Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm—has taken legal action to […]
Mary’s Way: The Power of Entrusting Your Child to God by Judy Landrieu Klein is the latest offering in the CatholicMom.com book collection. In the Introduction, Klein states that “it is among a mother’s most important labors to pray diligently for her children.” She also offers two life lessons that she has learned from motherhood: […]
On the same day dissenting theologians are presenting a statement at the United Nations in New York intended to change Catholic Church teaching on contraception, more than 500 Catholic intellectuals released their own statement affirming the Church’s teaching during a press conference yesterday at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The statement of […]
