Association Of Catholic Bloggers

It’s good to be posting again! I was in an unexpected blogging break because we moved on short notice from Iraq to the U.S. (Pittsburgh area). We aren’t fully settled in yet, and are still job hunting, hoping we find something soon so we know we can definitely stay in the area and start getting put together. It’s been an absolute whirlwind of a month, with so many unknowns and unexpected changes, hopes and disappointments, sad goodbyes and happy hellos as we left our friends, family and community in Iraq, and have started making new connections and renewing old ones here in the U.S. We are still praying so hard for the community we left behind in Erbil, and are so deified by the solidarity with which they have welcomed all the refugees that have come to the city from other places in Iraq. I think it’s going to take a long time to fully process everything that’s just happened (and still is happening as we try to keep getting settled on this end). God was blessing us so much

Once I was at a meeting with a group of church leaders. One woman there was the mother of a teenage daughter. She was lamenting how some of her daughter's friends had gone astray and she was wondering how we could keep our own children from going astray. One of the men spoke up and said, "We just need to pray continuously for them!". This didn't sit well with me. Afterall, how much prayer would be enough? Also, that seems to put it all on us. It also makes God out to be an ogre who witholds his mercy and grace from his children. Continue Reading>

  Today I’m taking a break from talking about my book to return to the new project I’ve talked about a little before–making a spiritual growth plan for children of each temperament.  First I’ll give a little overview of the four classic temperaments, tell you a little more about this project, then delve in deeper to help you with your choleric children. At the bottom you’ll find a special download to help you. What are the four temperaments? The four classic temperaments are choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic, and sanguine. Catholic philosophers adpoted them from the Greeks. There are several good sources for learning about the temperaments from a Catholic perspective. Art and Laraine Bennett have written several books on the temperaments. Fr. Conrad Hock’s treatment of the temperaments can be read online. Traditional books on spiritual direction usually address the temperaments as well. To figure out which temperament you have, ask yourself two questions: Ar

The Family of St. Thomas More by Rowland (Wikipedia). Here are 10 activities you can do as a family to support religious freedom and true marriage in the two weeks between June 21 and July 4. You can do all these even in a diocese with no scheduled events. 1. Pray the family Rosary. Pray the Luminous Mysteries together for the recognition of marriage as one man and one woman. Pray the glorious mysteries for the protection of our God-given right to religious freedom. 2. Make an extra visit to the Adoration chapel. This is a great opportunity to introduce your children to Eucharistic Adoration, or bring them back if they haven’t gone for a long time. Make this a special trip for the intentions of the Fortnight for Freedom. Don’t worry if you can only stay ten minutes with all the little ones. 3. Watch and discuss A Man for All Seasons. June 22 is the feast of Saints Thomas More and John Fischer (also Corpus Christi this year). Learn about the saint who died for

Have you ever thought of having a spiritual director for your kids or grandkids? Have you ever thought of being one? It’s not enough to teach children “religion”–i.e., Catechism. We also need to teach them how to become saints. I am developing a spiritual growth plan for my three older children. (J is a little too young at age three!) Here are the areas I am considering: Temperament D is almost purely choleric, M is melancholic-phlegmatic, and C is primarily phlegmatic. (I haven’t completely figured him out yet–he’s eight and doesn’t know himself as well as the others do.) Each of the four classical temperaments has a different perspective on life. Each has typical strengths and weaknesses. I seek to encourage my boys in their strengths and help them fight their weaknesses. I plan to do much of this through reading. Books will inspire them where lectures won’t. Continue reading at Contemplative Homeschool.

Back in Advent, Dan and I sang The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came as part of our Evening Prayer. It struck me how perfect this hymn was for teaching children about the Annunciation. I conceived the idea (yes, that’s a pun) of teaching children the meaning of the mysteries of the Rosary through song. Here it was I came up with for the Joyful Mysteries. My primary goal in our Contemplative Homeschool is to teach our children how to grow in union with God. Christian meditation is a vital part of that process, teaching all of us to listen to God’s voice in the Scriptures, and to ponder His character in order to love Him better. The Rosary provides a bridge between the vocal prayers we learn as children and more mature mental prayer. Through the Rosary, we meditate on the most important mysteries of our faith. Many people have created ways to share the Rosary with children. In Singing the Rosary, I have the following goals: leading children to see the Rosary as a mea

David and Goliath from the Breviari di Marti, 14th-15th century (photo credit: Wikipedia). I’ve had a lot of requests lately, especially since my interview on Carmelite Conversations , for more details on teaching children to pray. So I’ve decided to write a step-by-step post to help you create these meditations for your children or students. I will walk you through a meditation I created for my boys. We’ll use the story of David and Goliath as a basis for this meditation, because everyone is familiar with it. You can write a meditation for your kids without first praying over the Scripture passage yourself. I was making a Bible-based curriculum for the boys for a few years before I realized how akin it was to Christian meditation. At that point, I tried meditating on the Scripture passage first. What happened? The lesson became more personal. I was more excited about it. My kids and I were then focusing on the same things in our spiritual lives.   Read the rest

In Daddy’s Arms by Nilson (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons). Today is my dad’s 75th birthday. I’ve been thinking about my relationship with him a lot lately, especially while writing a chapter on fathers in my upcoming book, Trusting God with St. Therese. Louis Martin was St. Therese’s prime example of God’s character. God made all human fathers to be mediators between Himself and their children. Fathers are the priests of their family. Here are 10 ways dads can help their children grow in holiness. Practice authoritative parenting. Authoritative dads are firm, but affectionate. They discipline when their kids break the rules. They show mercy when their kids are repentant. They kiss owies when moms aren’t available. Love and respect your wife. Fathers represent God in their families. Mothers represent the Church. Lay down your life for your wife. Tell her you love her often–in front of the kids. Never tolerate a child’s disrespect for her. Be humble. Don’t

Don't just forget last year's New Year's resolutions. Evaluate them and use them as a guide for this year's resolutions. For 2014, you can renew the good resolutions from 2013, revise the okay ones, and ditch the impossible ones (or the ones you've fulfilled). Most of all, ask God for his help in setting and achieving these goals. He wants us to be better people with stronger wills, and he wants us to keep our promises to ourselves. So don't give up. Every new year is a second chance to accomplish good things and become the people God wants us to be. With that back-drop, let's see how I did on  my 2013 New Year's Resolutions . I'll even grade myself. You can do the same for yourself, if you like. I made one resolution for each member of my family, and I definitely achieved greater success with some than with others. Resolution #1: Help to manage my 12-year-old daughter's ADD. Grade: B We managed to find a kind and empathetic child psychi

Just in time for Christmas, here are some awesome book suggestions for nearly everyone on your list. For Married or Engaged Couples For Better... Forever!: A Catholic Guide to Lifelong Marriage, by Greg Popcak . This modern Catholic classic has been offering helpful advice to couples for more than a decade. Give a gift that helps love grow all year long. Click here for  my review . For Moms and Dads Growing Up in God's Image, by Carolyn J. Smith.   One of the biggest struggles parents face is teaching their kids a healthy outlook on sexuality. You can start laying the groundwork when your kids are very young by teaching them respect for their bodies. Then, it's much easier to talk to them as they get older. Learn how in this helpful book. Click here for  my review and link to buy . Catholic Family Fun, by Sarah A. Reinhard.   The family fun can last all year round if you use the ideas in this clever book. Imagine always having something wholesome to do that will

Advent activities for your family December 3, 2013 By Connie Rossini Leave a Comment (Edit) D lights the first Advent candle a few years ago. Advent is here and with it our six-week break from homeschooling. Instead of doing school work, we do an activity each day preparing for Christmas. Some are distinctly religious. Others are not. Here are some ideas for activities you can do with your family. Learn and sing Advent hymns   Sunday at Mass, D was amazed that I knew many of the verses of O Come, O Come, Emanuel by heart. Well, that was the only Advent hymn I learned in Catholic school, and I don’t recall singing any other one at Mass in the 70s and 80s. It wasn’t until I started praying the Divine Office as an adult that I learned some of the beautiful hymns I had been missing. Here are some you will want to learn along with your kids, if you don’t know them already: People, Look East . This song by poet Eleanor Farjeon helps you to see all the prepar

Me to my 7th grade daughter: "You can go to the school dance, but you can't slow dance with any boys." My 7th grade daughter: "The principal said we're not allowed to say no." This conversation, naturally, almost shocked me into a full-blown panic attack. Then it got worse. Me: "Are you  sure  that's what the principal said?" My 7th grader: "Yep! And she said she wouldn't tell  anybody  who we dance with. The teachers can't tell either." I think I actually felt my heart hiccup. Because we all know who "anybody" is, don't we? Paranoid parents like me. Why would the principal ally herself with the students as the one who knows their secrets and won't tell? I had to know. Click here to read more...

A warm mug rests in my hands while fairies, gossamer skirts and wings floating, chase their little monster through the house. I watch them run past empty and full laundry baskets, over the clean, unfolded towels and sheets. The breakfast dishes wait on the table while I stare at holiness in bare feet, Christ in comforting disguise.

When the cover story of  Time magazine  brags that having it all means not having children, the culture badly needs a reminder that getting married and having kids is actually a good idea. That having children, whether one or five or ten, is not only praiseworthy but worth it. The percentage of childless couples has nearly doubled since 1980, and  the percentage of families with three or more kids has dropped by almost half.  Today's burning question is no longer why would any couple want to remain childless. It's why would anyone want more than one or two. Big Hearted , by Patti Armstrong and Theresa Thomas, answers that question in a collection of moving, true-life stories, each one more inspirational than the last. The stories in  Big Hearted  open up a window into the private thoughts and feelings of parents of large families. Not all of them love babies, although some of them do. Some mothers walk away from corporate jobs without a backwards glance, and others lock the

I never met a mom who thought she had enough help. So here's a few ideas to make your days a little easier. Some ideas come from me, and some from other moms, but they're all offered from someone who's been there, done that, and wants to pass on what she's learned. 1.   Ask for it.  Moms sometimes have trouble asking for help, either out of pride or because they don't want to burden those around them. "For me, the word ‘help’ stuck in my throat like a fishbone," admitted author   Serena Kirby . "When you don’t ask for help you don’t get support and research shows with decreased support comes increased isolation, anxiety, fatigue and depression," she continued. So, overcome your reluctance, and ask for the help you need! Continue reading...

" Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain'; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that'" (James 4:13-15). This passage from James the Apostle can almost seem silly. Should we really preface every statement of intent with "God willing?" I used to ask myself this question. That changed in the summer of 2002.  I was a new mom, struggling to adjust to sleepless nights and no time to myself, when it became clear that I would have to return to work. Never in my life had I considered being a working mother. In fact, I'd had many discussions in which I had said, "There is absolutely no way I would work when I had small kids." But circumstances were against me. I had no other choice,

Cindy Montanaro is a Secular Carmelite and former homeschooler. She is also the mother of Tim, a boy she and her husband adopted as an infant. Tim had Tourette Syndrome, phobias, and other mental health issues. In 2005 he died tragically. Their story was published recently by Roman Catholic Books. Dairy of a Country Mother --so named by Tim when no one dreamed he was soon to pass away--is a gem to share with any mother this May. "Five years ago today I picked up my pen and started a year-long journey of prayer, meditation, and writing. I envisioned an extended period of time in which to record, before memory failed me, all the little humorous and profound incidents that made up my son Tim's short life. " So begins this beautiful memoir of a boy who loved people. It is a story of the joy he brought to everyone he met. It is a record of his mother's faith and acceptance. It is an exploration of the meaning of Tim's life, which Cindy generously s

Watching the events of the last few weeks unfold, I have been struck anew by how many former Catholics there are in the news media. None of them have a clue about what it means to be Catholic. That, coupled with this post at 8 Kids and a Business, got me thinking about how to keep our kids Catholic. I decided to create a list. Please note: my children are still preteens, so I cannot say, "It worked for us." But I have done some research on the matter, and observed other Catholic families. I've often wondered how my husband and his siblings all remained good Catholics, while some of my siblings did not. I almost left the Church myself in my 20s. I also know that a parent can do everything right, and his children can still choose to leave the Church. We have freewill. This list is not meant for pointing fingers or accusing other parents of failing. It's meant to help those who are raising their kids now and want to do the best they can. View the

A couple weeks ago, Pat Archbold started a discussion on boys and "cursing" at the National Catholic Register . I was late in reading the post, but thought that, as a mother of 4 boys, I should address this issue. I firmly believe that the double standard between boys and girls on moral issues has got to go. Some commenters denied that cursing was a sin. Others said it should be expected of boys until they are civilized by their future wives.  Let's look at this issue rationally, instead of just emotionally. What do the Bible and the Catechism say? What is the example of Christ? Why is this issue important? Read the entire post

As promised, this is an example of a concrete meditation on Scripture for primary-grade kids. Please read Teach your children mental prayer for background. I will go through all the steps outlined there, and add in some other subjects for homeschoolers at the end. Read the entire meditation .