When we mothers see our children suffering, the slip off the cliffs of despair can be easy. When Pope Francis tells us, “Let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God” (April 7, 2013), the trust doesn’t exactly overflow. Mercy would be nice, Lord; how about a cure please. But we are commanded […]
If we want our children to become saints, they will need to hear the call of God — a vocation to holiness that applies to all of us. But how will they be able to hear that call if their lives are full of noise? In our digital age, young people have more noise and […]
Fatherhood is likely to be a central part of the discussion when the world’s bishops gather at the Vatican this October. Pope Francis has called an extraordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops to consider the “Pastoral challenges for the family in the context of evangelization.” He also has asked bishops to meet in 2015 […]
Have you ever found a really good series of kids’ books, something the kids love to hear read aloud and to re-read on their own (or for our kids, to leaf through and look at the pictures again), but wished that there was something more in them than a light adventure story? I love reading […]
Why should your family have sacred rules and what should they be? Those are the questions Tim and Sue Muldoon set out to answer in Six Sacred Rules for Families: A Spirituality for the Home (Ave Maria Press, 2013). As the Muldoons state, “Rules keep everyone on the same page; rules help us plan for […]
Dear Anthony, I decided to give in and accept his interest in being more than friends, and we started dating. Long story short, it didn’t work out and we lost our friendship as well, which I’m still trying to get over. But what I have to deal with even more is the shock that this […]
Writing now in the midst of winter, I’d like to address a certain sort of winter day that flits about the calendar and weather reports in an almost fantastical and mythical fashion, that is, the Snow Day. What I’d like to suggest is that there are benefits stemming from the Snow Day that go beyond […]
Even those who have a great relationship with their own mothers can appreciate how the mother-daughter bond colors the way they parent their own children. Suddenly and without warning, we begin channeling our own childhood soundtrack in recipes, songs, and other traditions — for better or worse (“Because I SAID so…”). In Mothering Without a Map: […]
Modernity isn’t sure whether children are a burden or a blessing. The percentage of childless couples in the U.S. has nearly doubled since 1980. The cover of Time magazine recently bragged that increasing numbers of couples are remaining childless by choice, because they subscribe to the philosophy that having it all means not having children. Let’s face […]
The Church considers the family so important that it will be devoting the next two years to intensive discussions about the challenges the basic unit of society is facing today. Pope Francis has called an Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2014 on “pastoral challenges for the family in the context […]
Each time I make something for dinner that one or both the children don’t like, the familiar refrain resounds: “Tell us the story of the baked beans!” When I was about six or seven, my mother made homemade baked beans for dinner, which I refused to eat. After an hour of watching me poke at […]
Aimed at greater intimacy than the one-flesh union, married love “leads to forming one heart and soul,” states the Catechism. (Section 1643). How do married couples become one in heart and soul, especially when the demands of daily life keep getting in the way? Becoming One Heart Talk to your beloved about what’s in your […]
All of Rome is sold out for the end of this April. St. Peter’s Square, and every road around it will be jammed with people on Mercy Sunday (April 27, 2014). On that day, Pope Francis will announce the canonization of the most beloved Pope of modern times, Pope John Paul II. Never has there […]
Can women have careers without neglecting their children? Can women have children without neglecting their intellectual gifts? In short, can women have it all? My mother taught me that the answer was no. She quoted former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher fondly and often: “A woman can have a great career and a great marriage. […]
Have you ever gone on a karaoke date night? It can be a great way to get to know each other and see each other’s sillier side. And definitely, you can get up and dance together to a great song someone else is singing. You might be asking yourself “What if I embarrass myself or […]
I usually avoid marriage-help books like the plague because, in general, I find them far removed from the reality of married life. “Theology of the Body” is beautiful and the ideal, but at least in my sixteen years of experience, has relatively little to do with the ins and outs of getting up every day, […]
During a recent coffee meeting with a friend, he said, “You seem to have your act together on the fatherhood front. What’s your secret?” I was taken aback because I don’t think I have my act together at all. I don’t mean that out of false humility. I pray every day to be a better husband and father […]
This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its annual report,Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2012, to whining among journalists that the reason for the documented continued rise in syphilis (primarily affecting homosexuals) has more to do with homophobia than anything else. Consider the following from Bloomberg News: Gonorrhea and syphilis are on the […]
These days, it seems we all know young couples who are living together— a friend, perhaps, or even a son or daughter. With cohabitation so common, living together hardly causes “scandal” anymore. In fact, when a government study found last year that 48% of young women cohabited with a partner as a first union, one […]
You work with me every day. You buy your gas from me. You see me every Sunday in church. You enjoy every holiday with me. You live next door to me. You know me pretty well. But not as well as you think. I have a mental illness. You never would guess that to be […]
I must begin by saying that Disney has few more intense critics than this writer. I didn’t create an entirely Disney-free household for my children, but those materials generated by that empire that made their way past the threshold were clearly in enemy territory. We made a tenuous peace with some, but refused to be […]
People ask me what I teach my kids about evolution. The answer is, “I teach the science, but not the ideology.” The Evolutionists say, “You are failing your kids as an educator!” No, I’m teaching my children to keep a view of reality firmly in place, the very first thing a scientist ought to do. The Creationists […]
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 […]
Let me start by saying it’s okay to not know where your partner is or what they’re doing every moment of every day. There is an epidemic in today’s dating scene that is ruining relationships. It is the obsession to need constant knowledge of the whereabouts of the other. If you think I am being […]
