FILTHY: obscene, vile, impure, indecent, lascivious, lewd, pornographic, raunchy, vulgar In other words, not a very nice wish for the new year. But that is exactly what Planned Parenthood is offering our children. Not too long ago a mother wrote to me: “I am very concerned that, by using an abstinence-only approach to educating our […]
There have been certain times in my life when I felt uncomfortable about my relationship with Mary. And by Mary I mean the mother of God. I felt that I was supposed to be close with her, as a Catholic, but I just wasn’t sure what that was supposed to look like. When my sister became pregnant […]
I’m like a Christmas caterpillar. During the holidays, I put on a fuzzy sweater and eat my way through the season. By the Epiphany, the sweater is a little snug. But that’s ok. I think of it as just a phase in my evolving yuletide metamorphosis, as I pass through different stages of development on […]
The art of daily discernment is a practice and a virtue that many of us tend to forget and at times ignore. By definition the act of discernment from the Latin meaning discernere means one’s ability to distinguish what is happening around them whether positive or negative and to move toward a sound resolution of […]
Since it’s too soon for the Twelve Days of Christmas, here are twelve tips for celebrating Advent instead. These tips include what you should do, what you shouldn’t do, and what you can get away with (I’ll promise never to tell). What to Do this Advent 1. Explore other cultural traditions: Learn how the custom of […]
Growing up, Saint Nicholas Day meant three things: the fireplace, stocking caps, and the biggest pair of shoes you could find. It started the evening before, when we finished the family rosary. We always ended our rosary with the ‘blowing of the candle.’ Well, actually it wasn’t a candle, it was a little oil lamp […]
Have you ever looked at a priest or religious and wondered how it was that he or she came to be there – what made that person willing and able to say “yes” to God’s call? Susie Lloyd, author of Please Don’t Drink the Holy Water and Bless Me, Father, For I Have Kids, decided […]
Can I be honest here for a sec? This is a review about a book about NFP –Natural Family Planning- and in the interest of disclosure, I feel like I need to tell you something up front – I hate NFP. My husband hates NFP. Hate. It. Oh, but the bluebirds of sunshine say, think […]
Today is my first “normal” day back at work (from my home office) since Chris came home. Now, under ideal circumstances (everyone but me — including the dog — out of the house for an eight-hour stretch, the house clean and crock pot simmering), I enjoy working from home. However, since “ideal circumstances” seldom present themselves […]
This is a story about defeating autism, the practical attainment of hope for devastated parents, and a whole new way of approaching a scourge upon our beloved children. Our son, Joseph, happens to be its protagonist; but the joyful hope in this story resides in the certainty that it is a template into which parents […]
St. Thomas Aquinas writes: God foresees with prudence all future things, good or bad. Before they happen, He knows them and sees the good or evil that will result from them. This would seem pretty difficult to imitate at first glance; after all we can’t predict the future. On the other hand, I recently read […]
A third-inning, bases-loaded double off Fenway Park’s Green Monster was the spark the Boston Red Sox needed to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 and clinch the World Series championship. The star who supplied that pivotal hit was right fielder Shane Victorino, who celebrated as he stood on the base by pounding his […]
“It seems to me that a principal cause of the loss of faith is the dropping off in the practice of the family rosary … the abandonment of the family rosary is a main reason why so many Catholics have lost the faith…. the Church of the future is going to consist solely of those […]
Thomas Aquinas writes: …all goodness is pleasing to Him by nature, always and everywhere, whether it be in angels, in men, or in other creatures…Similarly all evil displeases God everywhere and always and in whatever it exists. Dads, do we delight in the accomplishments of our kids? I’m sure we do most of times. If […]
When I visited a fertility clinic for diagnostic tests a few years back, the place was packed to the gills. The nervous energy pulsed through the air as women considered investing their savings for treatments. But this isn’t just another infertility story. This one includes a miracle from an obscure Medieval saint: St. Leopold of […]
Liturgy is a lot like parenting. No. Liturgy IS parenting. Jesus Christ is the groom and His Church the bride. Together they have done a wonderful job of cosmically birthing a multitude of Christians. In an effort to raise their children to the heights of charitable virtue, they provided us with the rhythmic order of […]
As each of my kids approached mid-fall of their second grade year, an excitement comes over me in anticipation of the Saint project! My oldest son had a thing for St. Francis. He loved animals and thought that Francis was the man for him. We read up on the saint’s life, found a hooded brown robe, tied a rope around […]
The Archdiocese of New York has published three handy booklets for parents, providing suggestions and examples on how to talk to their kids about the gift and responsibility of human sexuality. Each booklet focuses on a particular age group: primary grades, middle schoolers and teens. Fathers for Good spoke to Kimberly Quatela, chastity education coordinator […]
In every family there are there are three primary relationships for the father. In descending order of importance: the first is the father with God; the second is the father with the mother; the third is the father with his children. Constancy in love: Dad must pray every day-on his own and with his family. […]
According to research published by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, our teens may have more wisdom than we give them credit for when it comes to sex education. Most teens (94 percent) think that adults should inform them that they ought to wait to have sex at least until they get out of […]
Thomas Aquinas writes: In God there is a primary perfection, which is that He never changes His nature. … Let us strive therefore to acquire a stability of spirit… God does not change. His ‘anger’ or ‘wrath’ we sometimes read about in Holy Scripture is not really God changing His mood or His feeling for […]
Some parents call it a meltdown, others use the more familiar word tantrum. I call it the Land of the Terrible Twos. It’s a place never far away where our active boy goes when he doesn’t get his way, or when he wants more attention. He’ll be happy with his dessert as mommy and daddy […]
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 […]
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. […]
