Adolescence
Is Your Family Important to You?
Raising a family in the way of love requires conscious effort on behalf of parents. Parents show how important their family is to them by the amount of energy and attention they put into their family’s development. This month’s reflection question asks parents to reflect on how their actions reflect the importance of their family to them.
Read MoreHelp Your Child See and Respect Dignity in All People
Raise Them WellSocial Maturity TRAIN THE YOUNG IN THE WAY THEY SHOULD GO;EVEN WHEN OLD, THEY WILL NOT SWERVE FROM IT (PROVERBS 22:6). A mother of a 4-year-old is anxious that her child will take toys away from other kids at preschool. A father of an 8-year-old son learns that bullying is happening at school. A…
Read MorePreparing Your Child for School
Raise Them Well Personal Maturity Train the young in the way they should go;even when old, they will not swerve from it (proverbs 22:6). Sending a child back to school a decade or two ago was much easier than it is today. Back then, parents worried about buying the right supplies and getting the kids into…
Read MoreHumility and Parenting: Taking an Accurate Look at Yourself
Download the PDF This past year has been a difficult parenting year for my wife and me. Our children have provided some unique obstacles for us. They gave us ample opportunity to grow in parenting virtues. One lesson that we learned came from a rather abrupt statement from a Christian parenting coach whose audio program…
Read MoreThe 10th Commandment – Self-Control and Contentment
As parents, we want to give our children the very best. But God calls Catholic parents to really examine what it means to give our children the best. My children will tell you that their friends get the best from their parents. Their friends have smartphones, video game systems, flat panel televisions, and the freedom…
Read MoreWhat to Do When You Think You Aren’t a Good Enough Parent
Click Here to Download the PDF Parenting is hard work. It is not easy to embrace parenthood and stick it out. That is why a group of parents asked me to join them in a discussion about parenting. They wanted me to listen to their situations and offer some ideas for hope. A mom talked…
Read MoreThe 8th Commandment: Do Not Bear False Witness
I can remember it like it happened yesterday and not 40 years ago. My 10-year-old brother was hiding under a table in the basement. He had his hands over his ears and his eyes were squeezed shut. I climbed under the table with him, placing my hand on his knee. He lifted his head in…
Read MoreThe Debt of Gratitude
Click Here to Download the PDF My daughter wanted to go to a friend’s house, but she first needed to complete a set of chores that she had been putting off for a few days. So, she rushed through her chores and declared that she was ready to go. However, when I checked on her…
Read MoreAffability In An Angry World
Is it just me or do people today seem more angry, desperate, and defiant? The news must think so because they often describe the U.S. as a divided nation. They write stories about family members who yell at each other, of hostile neighborhoods and workplaces where sides have been taken. The picture they paint is…
Read MoreThe 7th Commandment – Justice & Human Dignity
When I tried to foresee what challenges my wife and I would face as parents, I never imagined that one of them would be stealing. To me, “Do not steal” was such a basic Commandment – sort of like “Do not kill.” Only really bad people committed these sins – or people with major psychological…
Read More