I don’t have time to pray I have almost always struggled to feel like I pray “enough.” Believe it or not, the last time that I could definitively say that I didn’t struggle with that was before I had kids. I have 5 kids now and we also have some neurodiversity in the...
“What was wonderful about childhood is that anything in it is a wonder.” - G. K. Chesterton As a child, I remember exploring in the woods for hours with my cousins, playing in the creek and climbing trees. I would get lost in my imagination and in the beauty of it...
911 Lone Star lead actor Rob Lowe stars in Netflix’s latest movie, Dog Gone. It’s one of the first feel-good movies of the year based on a true story of a father and son who search for a boy’s lost dog along the Appalachian Trail. Catholics will enjoy two saintly...
Saint Teresa of Calcutta was known for spending countless hours attending to the dying, the sick, and the poor. This flowed from her rich prayer life: Daily Mass and a daily holy hour. Where did Mother Teresa learn to sacrifice herself for others? Her first teacher in...
“I do.” These two words are the cornerstone of the domestic church. In the context of the marital vows, these simple words have the power to join man and woman together, to make of two one, with the purpose of leading them together toward eternal life. If these...
“To create ties.” This, according to the fox in the French novella, The Little Prince, is the meaning of the word tamed. When consulting my dictionary app, I found no definition that quite matched the fox’s, but for the purposes of this reflection, it’s the one I’m...
“What’s the point of Christmas?” we ask our kids after their 82nd time watching Elf this week. “Jesus!” they shout. Whew! We drill that question into our children every few days during this season of Advent to help them remember the focal...
The Bible says to pray without ceasing, yet how many of us go hours without so much as giving a thought to prayer? In today’s world, it is hard for us to even fathom how it could be possible for us to follow this command. Saint Basil tells us how: “This is how you...
A common complaint I hear around this time of year is that people are struggling with family members. Old grudges are present, new additions may not be accepted, some family members may choose not to be present, and tensions can be at an all-time high. When...
“Well, the children have always come first” is a remark that echoes in the offices of too many marriage therapists. Imagine if their wedding vows had been, “I, John, take you, Jane, to be my beloved wife. I promise to stand by idly, but with deep emotional pain...
Children’s Literature is my preferred reading diet. It is no easy task to keep a child engaged. Their minds wander easily. They can see through facades of boorishness and sermonizing. But every now and then, an author crafts a tale that is the perfect blend of drama,...
I often wonder how God is interacting with my autistic daughter. Everyone’s inner relationship with God is to some extent secret, but for many we have learned to recognize the imprint of the Spirit on a person. Indeed, we have a very convenient list of such things in...
Who are the angels and how should we talk to our children about them? It’s an important subject for Catholics to consider. After all, the existence of angels is an absolute doctrine of our Faith. The Islamic religion believes in angels too, and so does Judaism. Even...
I would say that going to art galleries and contemplating a piece of art isn’t something people do very often these days. Honestly, it’s not something I do often either, but this painting has been a staple in our living room the past six months, and it has slowly...
As she traveled through life with her wayward son Augustine in the 4th Century, St. Monica came upon many road signs pointing the way forward. Eventually, she came to a crossroad and needed heaven’s help to decide her next move. That turn of direction eventually...
This is the third installment of our series on bringing children to adoration as part of a response to the USCCB’s call for a Eucharistic Revival. In the first part of the series, we looked at why it is both appropriate and important for children to go to adoration....
Welcome to the second part of our series on bringing children to adoration. In case you missed it, the first part is here. In the first part, we established that not only is it acceptable to bring children before the Lord in adoration, it is, in fact, encouraged....
This year, the USCCB has announced a three-year Eucharistic Revival. The goal of the revival is to draw people to the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. A significant way that this call for revival is being lived out is through an increase in Eucharistic...
As you may know, many couples use fertility-awareness methods like Natural Family Planning (NFP) to try to become pregnant, but NFP can also help couples carrying the cross of infertility. Learning about the body’s signs and signals of fertility can often reveal...
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a beautiful and effective way for married couples to remain open to life while also following Church teaching against contraception. For many couples, NFP can be a way for them to grow closer to each other and as a couple grow closer...
Connotations surrounding sport can differ greatly. While sport has traditionally been a welcomed activity, it has more recent added benefits of being a terrific distraction from newer technology trends in the younger generations. This trend has been followed by other...
I find that the term “spiritual warfare” often makes me think it’s more dramatic and epic than it actually is. I think of saints doing heroic penances and exorcists fighting off demons, but truly spiritual warfare is often a subtle battle the devil wages against us to...
Need some help learning or relearning Natural Family Planning (NFP), Fertility Awareness Method (FAM), the Marquette Method, Boston Cross Check™, or the Billings Ovulation Method®? Here is a list of providers that offer virtual courses so that you can learn these...
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If you could ask a few male saints how they were raised, what do you think they would say? Certainty, every Catholic father wants to raise a saint, but not every father is willing to make the sacrifice or knows where to start. The Father Of St. Thomas More Let’s...