Adolescence
Longanimity: Patience for the Long Haul
Our culture is broiling with anger and turmoil. Pandemic, lockdown, riots, and political vitriol surrounding presidential elections are making us irritated, frustrated, and angry. We could all use a greater strengthening of this month’s virtue: longanimity. Also known as “long-suffering,” longanimity refers to patience over a long period of time. The word literally means “long-souled” and is closely related to the term magnanimity, which means “great-souled.” Being willing to put up with suffering and frustration, especially out of love for others, is one way we express the greatness of Christlike love. In our parenting, longanimity means playing the long game, putting up with current challenges in order to help your children become who God created to be. Learn more about this powerful virtue in this month’s “Circle of Virtue” article.
Read MoreA Great Virtue for the New Year
A friend and I were discussing the fallout from last year. I admitted to him that I caught myself saying, “I don’t know what or who to believe anymore,” nearly every week. He agreed that discerning the truth was a daunting task made more difficult because people seemed to make decisions based on how they…
Read MoreLet’s Be Reasonable
My son proclaimed at the dinner table one night, “The Bible is homophobic!” He was hoping to get a rise out of me. It almost worked. But I controlled my emotions and began engaging my son in a discussion instead. Not only did we have a great dinner conversation, but hopefully my children learned a…
Read MoreThe Heart of the 4th Commandment: Do What Love Asks
You’ve been there, right? Your kids are not complying to a simple request that you’ve made. You don’t want to yell or berate or lose your temper. So you do the countdown – one, two, three… You hope that counting will move your kids to get to business. If it works and they do meet…
Read MoreHope: Trusting God Through the Chaos
Your family needs the virtue of Hope, now more than ever. There is no doubt that you are raising your family in tumultuous times. Confusion and chaos abound in both the culture and the Church. It would be easy to throw our hands up in despair and cry out, “Why even bother? What’s the use?”…
Read MoreGod’s Plan for Us: Faithfulness to God
Click Here to Download the Printable Version in PDF Format Parents want what’s best for their children. And the desire to give our children the best goes beyond providing for our children’s physical needs. As Catholic parents, we know that ultimately giving our children what is best means helping them to develop an intimate relationship…
Read MoreCreate a Circle of Virtue
We’re rolling out weekly parenting tips to help you embrace your role as a parent. Your journey to Christlike parenting begins here. Click here to get them for free! Preparing for this school year looks totally different than last year. Besides buying supplies, shoes and other necessities, parents must watch for any signs of illness,…
Read MoreEstablish a Great School Year
Click Here to Download the Printable Version in PDF Format Another school year is about to begin and families are quickly shifting gears from summer into school mode. In some ways, it is exciting to prepare for school (anticipating the new activities). But in other ways, going back to school is challenging (establishing earlier bedtimes…
Read MoreParenting Toward Adulthood: Serving Life
Convincing a young adult to reserve sexual activity for marriage is one of the greatest challenges a parent will face. There are many reasons for this. First, many parents themselves did not wait until marriage so they do not think they can expect their children to wait either. Secondly, some parents think that sexual activity…
Read MoreParenting Toward Adulthood: Developing Society
By the time your child is 18, he should have the knowledge and virtue to go into the world and live as Christ lived. This means that parenting during the teen years should focus on readying your youth for participation in the world outside the home. In general, this means checking in with your emerging…
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