A Book By New York Times Best Selling Author Raymond Arroyo Raymond Arroyo, international broadcaster, Fox News Contributor and Managing Editor of the World Over on EWTN has written a book for younger audiences entitled “The Thief Who Stole Heaven”. This is a beautifully illustrated book about the New Testament character of The Good Thief […]
It was a beautiful sunny day for a man to be at a playground with his preschool grandchildren. That’s exactly where I was. I took my grandson and grand-daughter to a playground at a nearby elementary school; one child sat on my lap while the other stood on the back of my electric wheelchair as […]
Divorce, malnutrition, poverty. Children “are the first victims.” For all the talk about being pro-life and pro-family, and for all that our post-Protestant nation worships children, are we really aware of the damage done to children by sin and injustice? Just as Christ suffered as the son of the Father, and just as Christians give […]
The memories of my first born getting to know his baby sister are forever etched in my mind. From the second she arrived home from the hospital, he watched her in awe and stood proudly beside her. He tried to include her in his games and delighted when she began to smile and giggle at […]
We were made male and female.
It’s a troubling fact today that many Catholic children don’t know the basics of the faith. Many come to religious instruction in parishes without knowing how to make the Sign of the Cross or recite the Our Father or Hail Mary. Teaching children growing up in a secularized world, catechists and teachers can’t assume that […]
As Catholic parents we all want to see our children grow in the Faith, overcome their temptations, and ever approach sanctity, but when John and Jane are screaming at each other over who is going to get the stuffed monkey, we might wonder how they are going get there. Rather than telling them to share, […]
Electronic devices are everywhere. We know about the negative effects of too much TV, but now kids are watching videos in the car and accessing games and social media on computers and mobile devices. There was a time when kids would snuggle up with a good book to read or have their parents read to […]
News today that Belgium has approved euthanasia for any age. From BBC: Parliament in Belgium has passed a bill allowing euthanasia for terminally ill children without any age limit, by 86 votes to 44, with 12 abstentions. When, as expected, the bill is signed by the king, Belgium will become the first country in the […]
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 […]
I am a conundrum: a rather outmoded sort of woman, ridiculed by modern career women, vilified by the earth’s prophets of doom and sanctified by the religious right. I was the least likely candidate to have a lot of children. I had never even held a baby before my first born.You would think having nine children would have […]
The first ever hospice in Russia for children with terminal illnesses is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The project was started by the Russian Orthodox priest Aleksandr Tkachenko, who came recently to visit the international headquarters of the Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in the town of Königstein, near […]
Groucho Marx used to tell of a man who went to see a psychiatrist: So you see, doctor, the problem is that my brother thinks he’s a chicken. Well, have you told him he’s not a chicken? No. Why not? Because we need the eggs! As the implosion of Western Civilization accelerates, the once unthinkable […]
One Sunday a while back, a family of five filled a pew at church near where I was sitting during Mass. That family grabbed my attention. The pew was much larger than needed to accommodate a regular group of five. But this family, in addition to the two parents, included three young children. Three energetic, […]
Sometime ago, my father and I went to get some fast-food for lunch. While there, a mother and three daughters came in. My father became silent, and discreetly watched them order their carry-out and then leave. “Do you know them?” I asked, when they’d left. “No. Not really” he said, then proceeded to tell me […]
A fellow writer recently asked somebody to write something positive about motherhood. She said “Some of us not-yet-moms are scared of motherhood because all we hear is that you’re miserable and debilitated for nine months, then have a day of the most excruciating pain ever, then you don’t sleep for 18 years and everybody’s throwing […]
To: Marybeth From: Dad is Desperate for a Date My husband says we should have “date nights” without our three kids, but free evenings are almost impossible to find. Our children’s schedules are full of school, sports and social activities that keep us coming and going, and when we finally choose date night, I’m either […]
In 1999, Tracy Sands was inspired while listening to Christian music at a church event. With only a pen and the program she received at the door to work with, she began sketching quickly. The urge to create was so strong she “felt as though she would pop if she didn’t get the ideas out […]
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 […]
My husband and I have three young boys (Joey – 5, Nicky – 3, Ritchie – 11 months). These kids are my heart and my favorite people on the planet, but they are the reason that we haven’t heard a homily in five years. When Travis and I were expecting Joey, we were blissfully unaware […]
I overheard him make the plans. On his way home from work he picked up the perfect wrist corsage. He wore his nicest suit, and waved to the kids and I as he drove to her house to pick her up for a night of dancing. I knew all about her, but I was okay. […]
During the summer of 1998, our family faced the sudden death of our twelve-year-old son. He was perfectly healthy that morning, but during the night, his airways had a spasm and closed up. We discovered him blue and not breathing. I said “faced” because we came face to face with death; waiting for medical help, […]
With nothing but the angel’s words as confirmation of her condition, she hastened toward her cousin’s house to see if the impossible had indeed come to pass. It had. Amazingly, inexplicably, the devout old woman positively glowed as she regarded her much younger kin, at once gratified and awestruck at the hidden miracles that rested, […]
“I never, ever EVER want to go to school again!” declared Rose Parker dramatically, flopping on to a couch. She had just returned home after an unfortunate day at school. “Oh Rose, it’s not all that bad!” her friend Sarah Rae said, trying to comfort her. Everyone is sure to forget what happened, eventually.” “Eventually?” […]
