Resources on Parenting & Family Life

The “still small voice.” The still small voice is how Jesus spoke. As the winds and thunder of chaos swirl about us in these times we are invited to be present to our Lord in the silence of Eucharistic Adoration. What a gift we give our children when we provide opportunities for them to escape the noise and constant activity and come before the Lord to adore HIm; to worship Him; to talk to Him; and to listen to Him. As we spend time with Jesus, we are strengthened; consoled and guided. We are transformed.

Come Back to Me with All Your Heart

"The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole life and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger,

“ where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” Romans 5:20

God’s love and mercy knows no bounds. He invites us to come frequently to the Sacrament of Confession to be healed and strengthened. Check out these resources for making a good confession.

“Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he,
Humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Zechariah 9:9

The King, riding on a donkey, first in the womb of His Mother to make His entrance into the natural world and finally to Jerusalem to make His return to the Heavenly Kingdom.

For Catholics, November is the month we remember the dead. 

On November 1st, we celebrate all the saints in heaven, who are our hope and help and inspiration. The rest of the month, we focus on the holy souls in purgatory. (They are also called poor souls . . . same souls, they are "poor" because they are suffering, and "holy" because they will definitely get to heaven some day, it's just a matter of time.)

Practical tips for Celebrating the Feast of All Saints and All Souls Day as a family.

Reprinted with Permission, Catholic Education Resource Center

And when we stop praying, that's when things begin to go wrong.

You and I were created for prayer. Life is about learning how to pray. If the very purpose of human life is to know God and love God in eternity, then the purpose of life is prayer.

And the more we pray, the happier we become. The more we pray, the less anxious we become, and we are filled with a greater peace of mind and heart. The more we pray, the more we understand ourselves, for we come to know God more intimately, by experience and we really only know ourselves to the degree that we know God personally. The more we pray, we begin to see the hand of God in our day to day life, that is, we see Him acting in our life. We begin to see that He loves us, personally. That makes life so much more meaningful.

So much to teach our children, and so quickly the years go by. As a parent, the responsibility can at times feel overwhelming. The math, the reading, the sports and activities all contribute to the development of our children and have value and importance. But there is that One thing or more precisely the One Person that supersedes all other lessons in value.

For Catholics, November is the month we remember the dead. 

On November 1st, we celebrate all the saints in heaven, who are our hope and help and inspiration. The rest of the month, we focus on the holy souls in purgatory. (They are also called poor souls . . . same souls, they are "poor" because they are suffering, and "holy" because they will definitely get to heaven some day, it's just a matter of time.)

Recently, my five year old announced that he wanted a different haircut. The minimalist, efficient buzz-cut given to him by his mother was no longer sufficient. He instead wanted a longer, more shapely cut so he could wear his hair like mine.

Family life at times can feel like a race…. this past year and half pandemic probably compares to a very long and grueling marathon. Indeed, the journey to Heaven, like a marathon, requires a plan that includes training; discipline and commitment along with times of rest

Family prayer can create an extra special bond between all the family members and teaches them to pray. The Bible says to, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). There is no better way to teach than through example. Children not only see the parents praying but it is a great support to them in their prayer life as well.

By repetition, to rosary helps children to learn their formal prayers like the Our Father and Hail Mary.

No one else can do your part in God’s Divine plan. You were born for this day. You were born for this time.

Helpful and timely advice for you and your loved ones.

Allison Ricciardi is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in New York, in practice since 1990. In 2001 Allison founded CatholicTherapists.com, the web’s #1 resource connecting Catholics with faithful Catholic therapists. She is also the director of The Raphael Remedy which offers counseling, coaching and wellness support from an authentically Catholic perspective.

These are unprecedented times. We are praying for all families. We trust that the Lord will sustain us and draw our families closer to him and one another. The Lord reminds us . . .

“A three-ply cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12

We trust that the Lord will sustain our families and draw us closer to him and to one another.

Never before have we experienced a Lent or Holy Week like this. We may be separated as a community but spiritually we can be very powerfully connected through prayer and observance of Holy Week in our homes. The Lord knows our sacrifices, our sorrows and our fears. He knows our hopes and our joys. Let us gather as a community and offer our prayers and sacrifices from wherever we are at. We are united in the Lord.

Are you ready for Lent? Check out our Lenten resources!

"The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole life and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger,

Candlemas, which occurs 40 days after Christmas on February 2nd, celebrates the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. This was the day that, in keeping with Jewish law, Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple for the first time. When Holy Simeon saw the baby, he had a lot to say, but we’ll focus on the end part: “For my eyes have seen your salvation which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a LIGHT for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”

From these words comes the traditional Catholic practice for the day, which is the blessing of candles. Families would bring a supply of candles for the year to Mass, and the priest would bless all of them. Some churches do this still. And even if they don’t, there’s no reason why you can’t bring your candles and ask Father to bless them for you after Mass.

As a Church family, we’re witnesses to the beauty of life, even in the midst of life’s messiness: caring for sick family members, puzzling over our family budget, rushing to get to hockey practice, shushing our toddlers at Mass. (Go on, admit it - I’ve done my share of shushing.) God calls us to affirm life’s goodness in the midst of a skeptical culture. That sounds tough to do, when the skepticism takes the form of seeing abortion as a “right.”

We can do it.

This post is reprinted with permission from The Catholic Education Resource Center

The partridge in a pear tree is Christ. In nature, a mother partridge will feign injury to lure predators away from her defenseless nestlings. In the same way, our Lord protects us, vulnerable human beings, from Satan. The pear tree symbolizes the salvation of mankind, just as the apple tree symbolizes Adam and Eve's Fall from Grace. 

Two turtle doves represent the Old and New Testaments.

Let’s talk about Hallowtide, shall we? All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween), All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1), and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2) make up what is traditionally called Hallowtide.

Don't worry about how "well" you pray the Rosary. Just pray it. As with anything new, you may stumble at first but it will soon become natural and you'll begin to miss it if you skip it! Give the Rosary a try and pray one decade today!

Happy October! In honor of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7th, and the whole month of October, which is dedicated to the Rosary, this month’s Catholic All Year Liturgical Living video is about . . . saying a family Rosary. We know we should be doing it, but why is it so hard to actually, ya know, do it?

God is here. Now. In this moment. He is closer to us than we are to ourselves. Indeed, if he ceased to be present, we would cease to exist. How rarely we feel or experience this truth! Yet, holy men like Jean-Pierre de Caussade or Brother Lawrence, who both wrote wonderful books about finding God in the present moment, tell us with full conviction that we can learn to do so. How? We must train ourselves to see and perceive God’s presence.

Exemplary Mother of the Great Augustine,

you perseveringly pursued your wayward son,

not with wild threats but with prayerful cries to heaven.

Intercede for all mothers in our day

so that they may learn to draw their children to God.

Pray that your home may be a peaceful haven where the presence of Christ is felt.

Teach your children and model hospitality of the heart by being by being friendly and treating all those we come in contact with respect and dignity –especially those within our own families!

We are going to look at celebrating Pentecost with your Catholic kids by breaking down what happened on the first Pentecost. Sometimes looking at a break down of the different parts of the day we are celebrating helps to spark an idea for how to celebrate it. Read more