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Ferdinand Georg Walmuller Sonntagrune 1859 "Every mother is like Moses... she prepares a world she will not see."  (Pope Paul VI)

I have been blogging lately about my method of contemplative homeschooling. Here is an example of a unit I did a few years ago with my boys on Jacob and Esau. The best way to start these units is for you (the parent) to meditate on the Scripture passage you will study with your kids. In this case, prayerfully read Genesis 25:29-24, 27:1-40. Since this passage is long, you could spread your meditation over 2-3 days or choose a smaller portion of the text to meditate on.  Identify the main elements or themes of the story that speak to you and use them as part of your studies. The themes I chose for this unit were twins, telling the truth, and comparing and contrasting. (I created this before I began starting each unit with my prayer time.) Narration: Read "Esau and Jacob" from The Golden Children's Bible aloud. If you have a different Bible, use only the parts of the story that correspond to the sections of Genesis noted above. Have your kids narr

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I was named after a tugboat. Seriously. I was born in the late 1950s and many girls I went to high school with shared that tugboat’s name: Cheryl Ann. Apparently in the mid 1950s there was a popular show called “Waterfront” which starred Preston Foster as the captain of the L.A. Harbor tugboat. To this day, whenever I run across a woman who appears to be around my age and whose name is Cheryl, I can almost be certain that her middle name is Ann. In fact, I spoke at a recent conference and while signing books was asked by a woman if my own middle name was Ann. Her nametag identified her as a “Cheryl” and we immediately connected. A chuckle erupted between us and our heads nodded in agreement. Yep, we were each Cheryl Ann. How we choose to name our children is important. In her new book “The Catholic Baby Name Book,” Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur takes that importance very seriously.  With more than 10,000 names, Fagnant-MacArthur covers a lot of ground. Flipping through the pages I found

"I’m not that interested in 'mass' communications. I’m much more interested in what happens between this person and the one person watching. The space between the television set and that person who’s watching is very holy ground." The traditional family unit has been negatively hit from so many directions in our world in recent times.  Now state and federal courts are, at a few homosexuals' constant and indignant urgings, adding to the destruction of the traditional and healthy institution of marriage by passing legislation redefining marriage to allow same-sex couples to enter this institution.  It completely shocks and amazes me how these educated and elected individuals can be party to the destruction of the central and so necessary human structure.  But, alas, the members of traditional marriage have sadly and selfishly been part of the destruction of marriage, too with spousal abuse, divorce, and infidelity. How can we po

I cried at my eldest daughter's First Communion, but promised myself that I wouldn't cry for my middle daughter's. No such luck. Standing behind my sweet Maria as she received communion from the priest, I broke down and barely managed to receive the host myself. As for the wine, forget it. Much to my delight, my daughter Maria chose to receive Holy Communion in the mouth rather than in the hand. During the First Communion training session, the Director of Religious Education told the children they could receive the host either in their hands or in their mouths. Then the Catholic schoolteacher told the children they had to receive in the hand only. Our poor Maria was confused as to which instruction to follow. More...

    Everyone has an idiolect --a collection of personal speech habits that is different from anyone else's. Have you ever thought about your spiritual idiolect ? Since your soul is unique, you have a personal way of speaking to God that no one else completely shares. Today I am announcing the creation of a new blog that will help you find and fine-tune your spiritual idiolect. Catholic Spirituality Blogs Network is a community of Catholic bloggers who have come together to promote growth in Christ. Each of us has his or her own blog on authentic Catholic spirituality. Some of us are Carmelites. Others are Benedictines. Some practice Ignatian spirituality. Others' blog posts are more eclectic. We hope that by sharing our spiritual idiolects, you will find yours. You have a secret name known only to God   Jesus told the Apostle John, "To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name writt

Following Mary's steps in hope, faith and love

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

Since I'm now a monthly columnist with CatholicMom.com, I can't really write an unbiased review. But this is still an awesome site! It has articles from more than 150  columnists , who write mainly on the topics of faith, family, and fun. Updated content appears frequently, averaging between ten and fifteen articles a day. The site also offers  podcasts ,  videos , and  give-away contests . More...

The Holy Trinity , Unknown Russian Icon Painter, 1690-17-10 [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  John 14:23-29  (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) Jesus said to his disciples, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, ne

Catholic Mom's Cafe: My recent adventures at the EWTN network to film C... : For some time now I have been creating and preparing a five part television series for EWTN called "Catholic Mom's...

  A couple of weeks ago, I wrote briefly about my faith-based method of homeschooling . To recap: I see methods such as Catholic Heritage Curricula, which bring the faith to individual subjects, as using a sermon format. In contrast, our Contemplative Homeschool starts with a Bible passage. I look for the themes in that passage, and add as many subjects as I can into the discussion of those themes. As my kids get older, I hope to make writings of the Church Fathers and official documents and creeds a starting place for our curriculum as well. Here are some advantages to using the homily format. 1. Homilies promote meditation on Sacred Scripture.   The Contemplative Homeschool is all about teaching our children to put prayer at the top of their priorities. It encourages a prayerful attitude and teaches methods of prayer, especially Christian meditation. As one blog commenter said, meditating on Scripture is like preaching a homily to oneself. My boys are form

Some of the roles I see for myself as Mom is that of Memory Maker, Heritage Creator, and Event Planner! As such, I have tried to make each of my children's Baptisms, First Communions, and Confirmations memorable, meaningful and fun. I have been through six baptisms, and five first communions and confirmations and I think I have done pretty well with each one.  But with Rosie's first communion I feel as if I haven't done enough or that it won't be as memorable as the ones for the other children. This time, the god parents won't be able to be here, and Calvin has another clinical to do before he finishes his program, my sister can't be there because she has to go to a graduation and grandma won't be there because she has been dead for four years.  It might be that last one that is hurting me the most I guess - this child doesn't have a living grandparent, and my mother won't be here to see her youngest grandchild, her name sake, receive her firs

Those who enjoyed Nancy Bilyeau's debut historical novel The Crown will find its sequel The Chalice   even more heart-wrenching and suspenseful. Once again we follow the adventures of former Dominican novice Joanna Stafford as she is torn from her peaceful country life and thrust into the maelstrom of Tudor-era intrigue. Having survived the dissolution of the monasteries, Joanna is trying to start a tapestry business in order to earn her living, when suddenly her wealthy and prominent Courtenay cousins arrive in town. They take her to stay with them in their mysterious old house in London where Joanna soon discovers that people and situations are not always what they seem. To her great discomfiture, it is revealed to Joanna that she is the key figure in a prophecy, a prophecy which pursues her wherever she goes. In the meantime, she struggles to keep her Catholic faith in a hostile environment, as well as deal with temptations of the flesh. It is not always clear to me what Jo

 ( the boys in seventh and fourth grades) The passage of time rarely troubles me. I never have been a sentimental parent. When friends mourned children moving from one grade to the next, ("Can you believe kindergarten is over?") I never felt sad, only excited for them.  Keep Reading...

Fr Patrick Hurley  beside a photo of  Bishop Edward Galvin  (1882-1956) , Co-founder of the Columbans. Fr Hurley will   turn 89, God willing, in June. Two of his brothers, Father Dermot (1920-1999) and Father Gerard (1926-2002), were part of the pioneering group of Columbans who went to Fiji in 1952. Sister Catherine Hurley, their sister and now retired, served as Superior General of the Columban Sisters from 1970 to 1981. Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  Gospel  John 13:31-33a, 34-35  (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) When   Judas had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified; if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. A new commandment I gi

Prayer takes energy. When you are stressed, you may find you can’t use your imagination to meditate. You may be too worn out to converse with God. This was the case with me last year, when homeschooling three kids with a baby overwhelmed me. Several times when I went to pray, I had too little strength to picture a scene from the Gospels. I could barely muster the energy to think the words, “Jesus, I love you.” But I knew I had to pray. And I knew Jesus was there. I knew His love was constant. That meant He was loving me at that moment. So I decided just to soak in God’s love, like I might soak in the sunlight. I sat silent, reminding myself briefly every few minutes that God’s love was surrounding me. I let Him love me, and that was my prayer for half an hour. I’ll never forget one trip to the confessional at this period of my life. I don’t remember what I said to the priest–certainly no specifics about my prayer method–but his advice astonished me. He sai