Have you ever visited the Catholic Dads blog?
You haven't?
You should.
Why have I visited there, you're wondering? Clearly, all these years (you've been thinking to yourself) the Ark blog had a womanly touch. And you've been right. So, obviously, I couldn't possibly be a Catholic Dad.
Oh, but the wisdom of these faithful fathers is too good and too pure to be hidden under a bushel. I visit often and you should too.
This post written about the recent scandal of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford is a cautionary tale that shouldn't be missed.
Wives, don't forget to pray for the protection of your husband's hearts. They need our steadfast prayers each and every day. And offer a special intention for the governor and his family. They sure need it, too.
Showing posts with label faith-filled links. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith-filled links. Show all posts
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Faith and Investing
Did anyone catch Phil Lenahan of Veritas Financial Ministries on Relevant Radio last week during Morning Air? A woman nearing retirement called in and posed a very interesting question. She asked:
One of the main reasons I like listening to Phil Lenahan is that he gives good, solid financial advice tempered by his understanding of the Catholic faith. And his answer to the woman's question pointed her to an article that he asked the good folks at Catholic Answers to write.
I had never heard of either of those funds before. An important point he made before the call ended was that funds will not necessarily perform any worse or better whether or not they are following Catholic Christian principals.
So, armed with that knowledge, I wonder how successful these funds are compared to traditional, secular funds?
Given the volatility of today's stock market, was the timing right to transfer her assets from her various 401K plans to a more stable mutual fund--and specifically, to one of the Catholic funds (such as Ave Maria or Epiphany).
One of the main reasons I like listening to Phil Lenahan is that he gives good, solid financial advice tempered by his understanding of the Catholic faith. And his answer to the woman's question pointed her to an article that he asked the good folks at Catholic Answers to write.
I had never heard of either of those funds before. An important point he made before the call ended was that funds will not necessarily perform any worse or better whether or not they are following Catholic Christian principals.
So, armed with that knowledge, I wonder how successful these funds are compared to traditional, secular funds?
Monday, February 02, 2009
Hear My Voice
Before it gets too much farther into 2009, don't miss the opportunity to share this year's (cycle B) Gospel readings with your children in an appealing kid-friendly book!
Author, Jonathan Stampf, has put together a wonderful tool for families with younger children to help draw them in to each week's Gospel story. Reading the story before Mass each Sunday is a great way to motivate little ears to "listen" for the familiar story. During Mass, with a little help from Mom or Dad, children can follow along as the Gospel is proclaimed. And finally, the story can be read again--perhaps at bedtime or family prayers throughout the week--as a review of the Sunday Gospel message.
You can find more information here, including reviews, sample pages and ordering information.
Author, Jonathan Stampf, has put together a wonderful tool for families with younger children to help draw them in to each week's Gospel story. Reading the story before Mass each Sunday is a great way to motivate little ears to "listen" for the familiar story. During Mass, with a little help from Mom or Dad, children can follow along as the Gospel is proclaimed. And finally, the story can be read again--perhaps at bedtime or family prayers throughout the week--as a review of the Sunday Gospel message.
You can find more information here, including reviews, sample pages and ordering information.
Lenten Adventure
From the same great people who brought you Advent Adventure, Holy Heroes is offering a similar program for Lent.
You can visit their website for more details, plus check out their announcement regarding new product testing and how it will affect their store. This may be their "going-out-of-business" sale! But let's hope it's not!
You can visit their website for more details, plus check out their announcement regarding new product testing and how it will affect their store. This may be their "going-out-of-business" sale! But let's hope it's not!
Monday, February 11, 2008
One Came Back
What is more powerful than prayer?
How about group prayer?
Or intercessory prayer?
Imagine your prayer being lifted up by so many across the world to Heaven for God to hear. Sound good? Well, then I recommend you visit One Came Back--a sort of online virtual prayer journal--full of prayers of the faithful AND the response, if known. What a glorious use of this technology we have! You can read the origins of the blog here or click on the button above (or in the sidebar) to access the site's home page.
What is more powerful than prayer?
How about group prayer?
Or intercessory prayer?
Imagine your prayer being lifted up by so many across the world to Heaven for God to hear. Sound good? Well, then I recommend you visit One Came Back--a sort of online virtual prayer journal--full of prayers of the faithful AND the response, if known. What a glorious use of this technology we have! You can read the origins of the blog here or click on the button above (or in the sidebar) to access the site's home page.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Gifts of Our Lady
I was sent two beautiful gifts for my car from a dear friend with a deep devotion to Our Lady of Guadeloupe, whose feast we celebrate today.
We're planning a Mexican feast for dinner. There is a lovely menu available here. Those of you who are in my neck of the woods might consider a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadeloupe or just a virtual stop-over. We're also planning to read Tomie De Paola's book, The Lady of Guadeloupe. It is an excellent retelling of the account of her meetings with the peasant Juan Diego.
But, I'm interrupting myself, back to the gifts. One was a brightly colored car air-freshener displaying the image of Our Lady, which is, for the record, the perfect perfumy-ness. The other was a car magnet, which both supports the pro-life movement and gives an opportunity to witness to others just what we really believe about Mary. I have to admit these are just about the nicest feast day gifts anyone has ever given to me, but the best gift of all regarding Our Lady is her tireless effort in bringing all her children back to the Father.
There are numerous stories, too many to include here (perhaps a topic for another post...) of people who found their way back to Jesus through His Blessed Mother. Today, as I taxi around town, the slightest scent of roses filling the air, and the beautiful images from Juan Diego's tilma in view; I will remember those people whom Mary helped guide on their journey home. Especially the ones near and dear to me. And I will be grateful for her for her constant intercession. And from one mother to another, I will humbly thank her for never giving up on one of her children.
"Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything."
— Our Lady to Juan Diego
I was sent two beautiful gifts for my car from a dear friend with a deep devotion to Our Lady of Guadeloupe, whose feast we celebrate today.
We're planning a Mexican feast for dinner. There is a lovely menu available here. Those of you who are in my neck of the woods might consider a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadeloupe or just a virtual stop-over. We're also planning to read Tomie De Paola's book, The Lady of Guadeloupe. It is an excellent retelling of the account of her meetings with the peasant Juan Diego.
But, I'm interrupting myself, back to the gifts. One was a brightly colored car air-freshener displaying the image of Our Lady, which is, for the record, the perfect perfumy-ness. The other was a car magnet, which both supports the pro-life movement and gives an opportunity to witness to others just what we really believe about Mary. I have to admit these are just about the nicest feast day gifts anyone has ever given to me, but the best gift of all regarding Our Lady is her tireless effort in bringing all her children back to the Father.
There are numerous stories, too many to include here (perhaps a topic for another post...) of people who found their way back to Jesus through His Blessed Mother. Today, as I taxi around town, the slightest scent of roses filling the air, and the beautiful images from Juan Diego's tilma in view; I will remember those people whom Mary helped guide on their journey home. Especially the ones near and dear to me. And I will be grateful for her for her constant intercession. And from one mother to another, I will humbly thank her for never giving up on one of her children.
"Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything."
— Our Lady to Juan Diego
Monday, December 10, 2007
Merry Tossmas
If you haven't seen this before, click on over now and check it out. What a humorous way of making a serious point.
And while you're there, check out What's Your Roe IQ? and then take the test.
H/T Amy for the link
If you haven't seen this before, click on over now and check it out. What a humorous way of making a serious point.
And while you're there, check out What's Your Roe IQ? and then take the test.
H/T Amy for the link
Monday, November 26, 2007
Advent Resources
One of my favorite books to celebrate the liturgical year is a great book called the Big Book of Catholic Traditions. I think I've linked it in a previous post here. It is full of great ideas. And for recipes--A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz is great! Also, author Cay Gibson has a couple of great books (but a recent addition specific to Advent) that can be found here.
Do you have any Advent resources that are your tried and true favorites?
One of my favorite books to celebrate the liturgical year is a great book called the Big Book of Catholic Traditions. I think I've linked it in a previous post here. It is full of great ideas. And for recipes--A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz is great! Also, author Cay Gibson has a couple of great books (but a recent addition specific to Advent) that can be found here.
Do you have any Advent resources that are your tried and true favorites?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The Doctor is In
Since some of you asked...here's the rewind on Dr. Ray Guarendi's talk at our parish tonight.
First, let me just say that if you like him on his radio show, you'll love him in person. He is every bit as down-to-earth as he sounds and ten times more funny. He is like a walking caricature of himself.
He covered a wide range of topics-including parenting (discipline in particular), his adoptions, the wisdom of the plethora of parenting *experts* in our culture, and even touched briefly on his journey back to the Catholic church.
One of the most important things that I think he spoke about was the resolve of parents, the ability to stick-it-out with our kids for as long as it takes to discipline them. As he said, society doesn't take kindly to "undisciplined" (read: whiny, pouty, my-way-or-the-highway, spoiled, bratty) individuals whether they are 3 or 33. Heck, we, as parents, don't like it when our kids act that way. He talked about all the labels which exist that "excuse" this sort of behavior: the difficult child, the strong-willed child, the high maintenance child, etc...Then he talked about the need for the BIG people to stop kowtowing to the LITTLE people and stop offering them excuses and start showing them that our will to help them become a person of strong moral character is stronger than any will they might possess. Why? Because we love them that much.
He asked how long we, as parents, thought this process might take; how long we would need to persevere. In silence, we considered his question. Then, he called to our pastor in the back of the church and asked, "When people come in for confession, Father, do you usually hear, 'Well, I've pretty much conquered all my sins. Thanks for your help. See you later.' or do you hear, 'It's me again, Father, here I am with the same list of sins I've been confessing for the past 40 years.'"
I'm not sure about the rest of you, but that convicted me right on the spot. If God loves me enough to hang in there with me and repeatedly forgive me, while I persist in what is surely incredibly frustrating behavior to Him; then as His example to my children, they deserve nothing less than my unending love-through my commitment to discipline them to become who God wants them to be.
Dr. Ray's talk is available on DVD here. And whaddya know--you can even watch clips of his talk as well!
Since some of you asked...here's the rewind on Dr. Ray Guarendi's talk at our parish tonight.
First, let me just say that if you like him on his radio show, you'll love him in person. He is every bit as down-to-earth as he sounds and ten times more funny. He is like a walking caricature of himself.
He covered a wide range of topics-including parenting (discipline in particular), his adoptions, the wisdom of the plethora of parenting *experts* in our culture, and even touched briefly on his journey back to the Catholic church.
One of the most important things that I think he spoke about was the resolve of parents, the ability to stick-it-out with our kids for as long as it takes to discipline them. As he said, society doesn't take kindly to "undisciplined" (read: whiny, pouty, my-way-or-the-highway, spoiled, bratty) individuals whether they are 3 or 33. Heck, we, as parents, don't like it when our kids act that way. He talked about all the labels which exist that "excuse" this sort of behavior: the difficult child, the strong-willed child, the high maintenance child, etc...Then he talked about the need for the BIG people to stop kowtowing to the LITTLE people and stop offering them excuses and start showing them that our will to help them become a person of strong moral character is stronger than any will they might possess. Why? Because we love them that much.
He asked how long we, as parents, thought this process might take; how long we would need to persevere. In silence, we considered his question. Then, he called to our pastor in the back of the church and asked, "When people come in for confession, Father, do you usually hear, 'Well, I've pretty much conquered all my sins. Thanks for your help. See you later.' or do you hear, 'It's me again, Father, here I am with the same list of sins I've been confessing for the past 40 years.'"
I'm not sure about the rest of you, but that convicted me right on the spot. If God loves me enough to hang in there with me and repeatedly forgive me, while I persist in what is surely incredibly frustrating behavior to Him; then as His example to my children, they deserve nothing less than my unending love-through my commitment to discipline them to become who God wants them to be.
Dr. Ray's talk is available on DVD here. And whaddya know--you can even watch clips of his talk as well!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Check out this month's Catholic Carnival!
You absolutely must visit KT Cat at The Scratching Post who hosts this month's carnival. I do believe it is a combination of two of my favorite things-cats and Catholicism. I wonder if KT is a fan of Cat Chat? Hmmm...Either way, the carnival presents interesting commentary (including one from yours truly) on the Catholic faith and The Scratching Post is a cleverly written stop for all blog readers.
You absolutely must visit KT Cat at The Scratching Post who hosts this month's carnival. I do believe it is a combination of two of my favorite things-cats and Catholicism. I wonder if KT is a fan of Cat Chat? Hmmm...Either way, the carnival presents interesting commentary (including one from yours truly) on the Catholic faith and The Scratching Post is a cleverly written stop for all blog readers.
Couple of Links
Michelle, at Dei Gratia, has been updating her blog with some of her families' Advent/Thanksgiving traditions. She has a bunch of great ideas you can check out, but be sure you don't miss the Blessing Box and the Blessing Mix. These are two super ideas that I've never heard of before.
Anyone have any other great suggestions for what your family does to celebrate Thanksgiving? (I'm going to re-ask the same question about Advent once I get our family traditions all sorted out in my mind, perhaps after Halloween is finished!)
Also, for those of you who live in the Chicagoland area, Dr. Ray Guarendi is coming to speak at our parish on November 12th at 7pm. There is no cost for the event, but a free will offering will be collected. He is a psychologist specializing in family/children and has a wonderful "no-nonsense" approach to problem solving. He is also the father of 10 adopted children, many of whom have special needs. You can hear some of his wisdom here and read more about him here.
Michelle, at Dei Gratia, has been updating her blog with some of her families' Advent/Thanksgiving traditions. She has a bunch of great ideas you can check out, but be sure you don't miss the Blessing Box and the Blessing Mix. These are two super ideas that I've never heard of before.
Anyone have any other great suggestions for what your family does to celebrate Thanksgiving? (I'm going to re-ask the same question about Advent once I get our family traditions all sorted out in my mind, perhaps after Halloween is finished!)
Also, for those of you who live in the Chicagoland area, Dr. Ray Guarendi is coming to speak at our parish on November 12th at 7pm. There is no cost for the event, but a free will offering will be collected. He is a psychologist specializing in family/children and has a wonderful "no-nonsense" approach to problem solving. He is also the father of 10 adopted children, many of whom have special needs. You can hear some of his wisdom here and read more about him here.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Women's Scripture Study tonight
For the past two years, I have led our parish's Women's Scripture Study. It is something I really love to do and feel a little guilty for always volunteering to lead it, as I think I get much more out of it when I'm tasked with its preparation.
So, tonight begins our 2007-08 study. We will be finishing up Stacy Mitch's "Courageous" Series.
This year, we are covering the final book shown above, Courageous Virtue. It should be a very interesting topic as lately virtue is portrayed as antiquated behavior left only to goody-two-shoes, who when it comes right down to it (according to society today) are really just don't know how to have a good time. What is interesting, in my research about virtue in society today, is that schools in America are clamoring to instruct children about virtue and living a virtuous life, but wish to do so without the slightest mention of the scriptural origin of virtue. So now, we pander programs such as *character* education to grade-schoolers, with no moral compass attached. I understand where these programs are trying to go, but I'm not quite sure they ever get there.
What do you think? Can virtue be extracted from faith and still have meaning and understanding for children today? Or does it leave them with a half-baked notion of that virtue was crafted out of thin air? Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.
For the past two years, I have led our parish's Women's Scripture Study. It is something I really love to do and feel a little guilty for always volunteering to lead it, as I think I get much more out of it when I'm tasked with its preparation.
So, tonight begins our 2007-08 study. We will be finishing up Stacy Mitch's "Courageous" Series.
This year, we are covering the final book shown above, Courageous Virtue. It should be a very interesting topic as lately virtue is portrayed as antiquated behavior left only to goody-two-shoes, who when it comes right down to it (according to society today) are really just don't know how to have a good time. What is interesting, in my research about virtue in society today, is that schools in America are clamoring to instruct children about virtue and living a virtuous life, but wish to do so without the slightest mention of the scriptural origin of virtue. So now, we pander programs such as *character* education to grade-schoolers, with no moral compass attached. I understand where these programs are trying to go, but I'm not quite sure they ever get there.
What do you think? Can virtue be extracted from faith and still have meaning and understanding for children today? Or does it leave them with a half-baked notion of that virtue was crafted out of thin air? Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Couple of Links
The Online Catholic Newspaper of the Third Millenium
This just appeared in my email box this morning. This is the description that accompanied the link:
The Online Catholic Newspaper of the Third Millenium
This just appeared in my email box this morning. This is the description that accompanied the link:
Description: The Online Catholic Newspaper of the Third Millennium featuring news content provided by YOU! Tell us what's going on within your local parish or diocese by submitting a news item and we'll share it with the world. Support the Pope and the Church by combining your voice with thousands of other faithful Catholics.
It looks like an interesting site for news (both local, national and international) from the perspective of the faithful. It is a new site, however, so I'd check in from time to time to see what they're posting, but for now it looks spot-on. You can find the link in the side bar or click here to check it out.
Catholic Women of Worship
in cooperation with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Center for Chicago are sponsoring a Charismatic Conference for Men and Women beginning July 5th and running through July 8th.
From their website:
To go deeper into worship & experience the Glory of His presence! We believe that this conference will affect our nation, the Church and our families.
It looks like quite a schedule. You can read more about it here and here.
in cooperation with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Center for Chicago are sponsoring a Charismatic Conference for Men and Women beginning July 5th and running through July 8th.
From their website:
To go deeper into worship & experience the Glory of His presence! We believe that this conference will affect our nation, the Church and our families.
It looks like quite a schedule. You can read more about it here and here.
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