Association Of Catholic Bloggers

My son plans to go to his first New Year's Eve party since he turned 18. Here's a letter I wrote to explain why I'm such an obnoxious parents. Dear 18-Year-Old Brain, Thanks so much for managing my son for all these years. What a time you two are having together! I remember when you learned where your toes were, how to count, and what hot and cold felt like. I'll never forget the day you solved a complex math problem that I could not. Believe it or not, it delighted me to realize your development was surpassing my own in that way. A few weeks ago, we celebrated your 18th birthday. Congratulations! I am so proud of who you are and of all you've learned. You are a senior in high school, and so many blessed opportunities await you. Funny thing, though: you sort of thought passing that 18-year-old mark means you're all grown up. In many ways, that's true. You can now vote, join the armed services, get married, buy firearms, sue in your own name, and...

I have written several times about guided meditations I do with my young boys. Now I am working with my oldest, who is in 7th grade, to help him take the next step in mental prayer. He is a choleric, and I hope to write in more detail about this method in my upcoming book A Spiritual Growth Plan for Your Choleric Child. I plan to make a template for children to fill out as they practice. Here is the method I am planning to use for my eldest now. I will show you an example along with the method. 1. Read a small section of the Gospels. First, choose one of the four Gospels to pray through from beginning to end. Then choose a passage of 10 to 20 verses. For this example, we’re using Mark 1:1-11 , last Sunday’s Gospel. Read it silently and slowly. 2. Use your senses. Record the sights, sounds, smells, etc. you would encounter if you were present when this story took place. Brainstorm as many as you can think of. Here are a few for our example: John’s camel hair ...