Guide Your Family Through Future Generations With Family Ritual
Download the PDF What do you think of when you hear the word “ritual”? Does your mind turn to liturgy and prayer or formal ceremonies? You might be wondering what ritual could have to do with parenting and family life. The answer is that family rituals can be potent tools for building your family community,…
Read MoreTrue Joy Comes from Self-Control and Striving
Download the PDF Where do your children find joy? I teach at a Catholic school whose motto is “Joyfully Catholic.” Students will sometimes claim that we are not living up to our motto because we hold high standards for them. We give our students homework and expect them to complete it. We expect them to…
Read MoreResolve to Waste Time with your Children
Download the PDF A few years ago, Pope Francis sent out a challenge to parents across the globe. His simple and direct tweet said: Parents, can you “waste time” with your children? It is one of the most important things you can do each day. This mike drop tweet from our Holy Father reminds me…
Read MoreReady for the New School Year?
Download the PDF My parents had a wonderful practice of asking questions during dinner. They enjoyed getting us to think about topics and issues through conversation. I remember one question in particular; one that was asked the night before the start of another school year. What do you think you are going to discover at…
Read MoreWho Has the Greatest Influence On Your Children?
A your children grow toward adulthood, they come under the influence of a multitude of voices. Do they listen to their parents anymore? How can you continue to have the influence God calls you to? Learn what it means to be the primary educators of your children as they become more independent.
Read MoreParenting in the Early Years: Developing Society
The third task of parents is to develop society. This task revolves around the virtue of hospitality which is the friendly reception and treatment of guests. As parents, it is your duty to teach your children that everyone in the world is a guest, worthy of friendship and charity. Hospitality In the early parenting years,…
Read MoreParenting Style Matters
Parenting is complicated because every child is unique and each situation is different. This means that parents can seemingly lose their minds trying to decide the best way to help their child grow in love. Diane Baumrind, a research psychologist for the Institute of Human Develop at Berkeley, looked at the relationships between parental behavior…
Read MoreRe-creation, not Recreation
Sexuality is all about love. It is learning how to give and receive love as a man and a woman. That’s why it’s so important. It is core to who we are as human persons, called to love in the image of God. Learn the total meaning of sexuality. It’s not as scary as you think!
Read MoreYour Guidance Has a Destination
Sometimes in amidst the humdrum tasks of parenting (feeding, clothing, sheltering, and disciplining our children), it can be difficult to keep in touch with the loftiness and dignity of the vocation of parenting. But all the guidance we give to our children has a destination, and it’s a destination of glory.
Read MoreThree Key Catholic Teachings About Sexual Intercourse
The final step in the “stair-step” approach to teaching your child about sexuality is teaching about the act of sexual intercourse. In addition to the biological facts about intercourse, there are 3 key points to teach about God’s plan for life and love. Point #1: The most important Catholic Church teaching about sexual intercourse is…
Read MoreCivility: Time for a Comeback
Click Here to Download the PDF A recent experience literally made me stop in my tracks in disbelief. While on my nightly walk, I noticed a group of grade school children arguing in a neighbor’s yard. Their voices boomed with anger as they stood face to face poised for physical combat. Unmistakably, a line had…
Read MoreWe ARE Capable of Self-Possession and Self-Control!
Click Here to Download the PDF PLEASE PRAY THAT Parents will lead their children to self-control and self-possession. Our culture will start to value a fully human life rather than animal self-indulgence. Families can become a place of loving correction, true repentance and true forgiveness. Catholics will return to the Sacrament of Confession and fully…
Read MoreBegin with the End in Mind
In the book, Seven Habits of Effective Families, written in 1998, Stephen Covey directs families to develop a mission statement that will guide them. He firmly believes that if you want to achieve a goal you have to begin with a statement of your purpose – a clear description of who you want to become.…
Read MoreCultivating Virtue
If you like the content on this page, then you’ll love the video segment “Develop Virtue” from the Embrace Parenthood DVD Program! You can watch this video segment for one week and download relevant workbook pages for only $2.99. Are you ready for some “heart work”? That is what cultivating virtues is all about. Virtue…
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