In one of his most famous dreams, St. Don Bosco saw a large ship being attacked by smaller ships. Eventually, the Holy Father steered the larger ship, which represented the Church, safely between two pillars: the Blessed Mother and the Holy Eucharist. Like the Holy...
Once upon a time, there was a horrible dragon who lived in a pond near a village called Silene. The dragon was terribly large with a pointed head and a flickering forked tongue like a snake. He had sharp curved claws bigger and sharper than any sword. Deadly, though...
Whenever I hear about teen suicide, my heart breaks for the family and community. I remember when I was in college seminary, there was a string of teenage suicides in Northeast Wisconsin, including in my own hometown. I didn’t know any of the families involved and...
Tradition – The Handing on of Faith St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the...
Recently I read an account of a martyr who was not an ordained religious. The author began the reflection by saying that this saint helps us to keep in mind that sainthood is possible in all states of life. While this statement is true and supplies hope and...
In more than 6,100 Catholic schools across the country the annual celebration of Catholic Schools Week is underway. While there is much to celebrate in our nation’s unique Catholic education system, there is also much anxiety over plummeting enrollment and shuttered...
I had the best intentions for my first year of virtual schooling. I imagined us waking up early, enjoying a healthy gourmet breakfast, praying the rosary together, reflecting on the daily readings, singing a few songs, and then...
I didn’t sign up to screw up my kids. Fatherhood was going to be GREAT - adventures, hugs, and giving better than I got. 27 years, 10 kids, 6 months of couple's counseling and 1 year of Catholic psychotherapy later, it's the...
St. Therese’s parents, as they are most commonly known, are incredible prolife witnesses. They didn’t found the March for Life or repeal laws or establish pregnancy crisis centers, which are all amazing ways to help protect and respect life from conception until a...
As fathers, as Catholic men, what are we doing with our free time? Certainly, there are many activities which can help us grow in virtue. And there are many activities which are distractions or diversions. These activities have their place, but are they truly...
Being Catholic in today’s world is difficult. Being a parent in today’s world is, arguably, even more difficult. Parenthood is a great gift from God. Children are an absolute joy. The responsibility, though, is overwhelming at times. There are so many things of which...
If you're a parent and you've ever taken a child to Mass, you've been there. Just as the priest elevates the host, your toddler slips and bonks his head on the pew. You frantically try to comfort and silently smother the loud screams of your child at the same time....
It has become more and more difficult to find a book for Catholic children to read. Growing up, I remember the classics, like Guess How Much I Love You, and their messages of love, kindness, and family adventure. Recently, my husband and I have discovered the need to...
I’m not a Dad, but when I came across this video online I knew it would be worth sharing. Every family-man longs to be a good husband and a good father. And they all try to do so, often slaving at a job they don’t particularly like. It’s often draining trying to...
When I'm out and about running errands with my children, it's inevitable that someone will comment on the size of my family. Are they all yours? Were you trying for the girl? My, you've got your hands full! And, my personal favorite, you do know how that happens,...
Summer is my favorite time of the year here in Ohio. I love everything about it, especially the warm weather and the long nights. Having my kids home from school can be incredibly exhausting, but it's absolutely the highlight of the summer months. So many...
Yup, that topic. Young children and the Mass. Little did I know seven years ago, before our first was born, what an expert I’d become on the topic. At first, it seemed so easy to go to Mass with a child. We’d go to Mass, infant Clare would nurse or sleep, and maybe...
During the holiday season, it’s so very easy to get caught up in the pretty packages, Christmas movies, hot cocoa, and the endless lists filled with names of all the people dear to us that it’s easy to forget what we are celebrating. While these things are wonderful,...
I've never understood those commercials that always pop-up around this time of year showing parents rejoicing as they send kids back-to-school . Of course, by the end of summer, I'm completely exhausted, but I never feel ecstatic about the start of a new school...
Disclaimer: This post is not meant to be a formula for raising Catholic kids; it's simply one family's experience of how the witness of parents shaped children who became faithful Catholic adults. Each of my siblings and I got to a point in life where we had to choose...
What does a Pope pray before bed? Pope Francis' bedtime prayer is one that we can all easily incorporate into our nightly routine. With the beautiful simplicity of this prayer, we can teach our children to come before the Cross of Christ and meditate on what He has...
Did you know there are several married Saints? As our society likes to frequently remind us, marriage is no easy task. To live out the vocation of marriage requires a great deal of self-sacrifice and self-discipline. In the Sacrament of Marriage, both the husband...
It seems that movies these days are no longer merely for entertainment purposes. The majority have an underlying social message that they are trying to get across to viewers. Is The LEGO Batman Movie one of these films? Well, probably not, but you will find several...
Events like World Youth Day or a young saint's canonization (recently, Saint José Sanchez del Río), tend to spawn a boom in vocations to the consecrated life like fungi after a storm. It’s only logical. These celebratory events in the Church can be very moving and...
In the United States, the number of single dads continues to increase. In the 1960's there were just 300,000 households led by single fathers, but in the most recent survey by Pew Research that number rose to 2.6 million. As a Catholic faith community, we must show...