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: Form a Community of Persons
The first task of your family is to become a community of persons. With the birth of your child you have gone from a couple to a family. Even though this is a small community (and hopefully one that will grow) it is a unique and important one. There are three main objectives that parents…
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…
Read MoreParenting in the School-age Years: Forming a Community of Persons
Even though your child wants more independence during these years, it is your obligation to keep him firmly rooted in the norms and expectations of the family. This is the first task that you have as a parent. In order to ensure that neither you nor your child bails out of the family during this…
Read MoreParenting in the Early Years: Participating in the Life and Mission of the Church
Babies and very young children interact with the world physically and emotionally. While children cannot understand the faith at this young age, they can develop habits that will grow into understanding later. The important task for parents of children at this age is to create the atmosphere within which the habits of faith can be…
Read MoreParenting in the School-age Years: Serving Life
Parents who have been honoring God’s plan for love and life and responsible parenthood up to this point will find the task of serving life in the pre-teen years much easier. Because they have lived marital chastity during the early family years, they will have a firm foundation of knowledge and wisdom in the matters…
Read MoreLessons of Life and Love
A proper, full understanding of love is just as important as a proper, full understanding of sexuality. Authentic love isn’t first about self-fulfillment. It’s about self-giving. Learn what true love really is.
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!
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