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 […]
ANALYSIS/OPINION: In this week’s email, a question comes from parents who don’t want their fourth grader to take the school district’s sex ed class: From: Too Sexy for 4th Grade To: Marybeth In our school district, sex education classes are presented to children starting in fourth grade. My husband and I don’t want our children learning about […]
How can your family find healing, strength, and protection in the sacraments? They can learn how in the book, Seven from Heaven (The Crossroad Publishing Company) by Elizabeth Ficocelli. As a matter of fact, that question is the exact subtitle of her book. “God’s powerful presence in the seven sacraments is the reason they hold […]
When we perform an act of faith, hope, or love in God, we are in direct contact with Him, and this is especially true at Mass. God is no longer remote, He is as close to us as any two persons can be because Christ is not only present in the Eucharist, He dwells in […]
When most people think of Roma Downey, they think of angels due to her long-standing role as Monica in Touched by an Angel. It will probably come as no surprise that she is the executive producer of an exciting new DVD series for children called Little Angels. She took a few minutes out of her […]
“He said what?!” These were the first words that came out of my mouth when I heard my Confirmation teacher explicitly go into detail about how it was perfectly all right to have sex with your girlfriend if you truly “loved” her. Naturally, he told us he had sex with his girlfriend because he loved […]
Recently, I noticed some social networking posts by a Catholic woman friend about her enjoyment of FOX’s show, “Glee.” This is a woman I respect so I assumed that “Glee” was a wholesome show that any Catholic woman could watch without worry to her conscience. I was enthusiastic in hope that, finally, prime time television […]
What does Scripture say to parents about evangelizing their children? At what age of the child should parents begin? One day, the Pharisees tested Jesus with an important question – of all 613 of the Bible’s laws, which is most important? The Lord quickly shot back a response: “you shall love the Lord your God […]
When my daughter was researching prospective colleges and universities a few years ago, she claimed for a time that her No. 1 choice was a world-famous Jesuit university in the East. A friend, revealing a touch of cradle Catholic cynicism, joked, “I thought you were looking at Catholic schools.” Ba dum ching. Or maybe you […]
What if our children could be given the gift that Solomon received? During his audience with those gathered at the papal summer residence in Castel Gondolfo recently, Pope Benedict XVI spoke in reference first Mass reading of Sunday July 24, which described Solomon’s request to God for a “docile heart” so that he would know […]
Dads, when you let the National Education Association, Hollywood and the cast from Glee raise your daughters, you shouldn’t be surprised if they turn out to be self-absorbed, painted little Paris Hilton wannabes. As Doug Giles, columnist and host of the nationally syndicated Clash Radio program puts it: “Fathers, don’t let your babies grow up […]
[This report was prepared on behalf of a group of Catholic parents to address issues locally that may also be going on elsewhere in the country. It is published here as a resource for parents who may find it useful.] The Role of the Eucharist and the Mass in the Catholic School: Parental Concerns and […]
When I was in my late teens/early twenties, my friends and I used to talk about what our live would be like when we got married and had kids. A couple of my friends swore that they would not let parenthood change their lifestyles at all. I remember thinking this was a little naïve, but […]
Today two ideas collided. It didn’t hurt so much, but it did shake things up. Shaking up can be a very good thing. I remember a quote on our fridge from youth: “Sometimes God knocks us off balance so we’ll take a step forward.” So true. Socrates, Copernicus, St. Francis, Einstein, John Paul II… all examples […]
The crime alone was heinous enough. According to police in Cleveland, Texas, an 11-year-old girl there was gang raped six times last fall by a total of at least 19 assailants, some of them boys, some of them ex-cons more than twice her age. Her assailants documented their attacks using cell phone videos and photos […]
Our then 4-year-old daughter decided that she’d had enough. We’d heard the complaints about a small group of boys in her preschool class and their trucks for a while. I can’t remember now exactly what it was the boys were doing with those trucks, except that they were breaking preschool truck rules in a way […]
