God's Fatherhood Is Basis of the FamilyHoly Father's address to those taking part in the 14th plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family. (4 June 1999).
Christian FatherhoodCatholic Answers Live interview with Steve Wood, founder of St Joseph's Covenant Keepers (requires RealPlayer)
Effective ParentingCatholic Answers Live interview with James Stenson (requires RealPlayer)
Effective ParentingCatholic Answers Live interview with Debbie Brock, well-known speaker on the do's and don'ts of effective parenting, home schooling and the effective use of time
Tithing and Family FinanceCatholic Answers Live interview with Phil Lenahan, founder of Financial Foundations for the Family (requires RealPlayer)
When Public Schools Raise Your KidsCatholic Answers Live interview with Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder of Eagle Forum (requires RealPlayer)
Websites
American Family AssociationThis site contains a great deal of information designed to assist us with Christian living on a practical level. The AFA offers many thought provoking articles
Family for Familiesby Francis Filas (1947) Reflections on the Life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Listen, SonPublished in 1952 by the Franciscan Herald Press. A father's talks on the facts of life and Catholic ideals of social conduct. Twelve heart-to-heart talks of a father and son, broken down in different age periods.
Mother's Little HelperPublished in 1952 by the Franciscan Herald Press. Twelve heart-to-heart talks of a mother to her daughter. A helper for the mother in the difficult task of instruction and training their growing daughters.
Our Children's Year of Graceby Therese Mueller (1955). Considerations for use in the home - school by parents who wish to teach their children to live throughout the year with Christ and his Church.
Parents, Children and the Facts of Lifeby Fr Henry Sattler (1952) A text on sex education for christian parents and for those concerned with helping parents
And Rachel Mournedby Marianna Bartold. A story of a homebirth without a happy ending. This is also a story of the mistakes we can make when we trust our human nature and understanding too much, and God's too little.
Childhood Chores and Adult Successby Elizabeth Foss. Studies have shown that having household responsibilities as children is one of the strongest predictors of adult success.
Corner on the Worry MarketElizabeth Foss gives a personal example of how worry instead of faith accomplishes nothing and how the things that might cause us to worry can be an opportunity to be faithful and trust in God.
Family AltarCreating and maintaining a family altar will make a difference to your family's prayer life and to the atmosphere of the home.
Family at the Heart of a Culture of Lifeby Stratford Caldecott. The bonds between the Church, the Holy Family, and the "domestic church" founded on the sacrament of marriage are intimate and profound.
Fatherhood of Godby Mark Kelly. This Scriptural reflection on Fatherhood shows that establishing or heading a family, feeding it and maintaining it are essential to an understanding of what it means to be a father.
Five Little Souls in Heavenby Ellie Hrkach A story about the loss of miscarriage, the joy of children, and the growth in following God's will.
Flight Into Egyptby Catherine Fournier A story of family adventure, faith journeys and God's Providence even when unexpected.
For Our Children And For Us Allby Most Reverend Roman Danylak. S.T.L., J.U.D.. A policy statement on Religious, Family Life and AIDS Education from a brave Canadian bishop.
Give Me Childrenby Nancy Grubbs. A powerful story of faith and love.
Gotta Catch Em All!: The Pokemon Crazeby Charles Colson. In an era awash in media it's hard to distance our kids from companies that see them as just another target to exploit. In effect, these companies are telling our children the Bible gets it wrong when it says, "Thou shalt not covet." Indeed, Pokemon's advertising slogan - "Gotta Catch 'Em All!" - teaches kids that coveting is cool, that it's what life is all about. Kids are being indoctrinated in consumerism, big time.
Holy Card ShrinesWhat to do with all those holy cards and saints cards, while encouraging devotions and identification with our heroes in Heaven - the saints.
Holy Families!by Robb Klucik. A father describes the family network called Holy Families!
Holy Familyby Charles M Mangan (from Catholic Faith, January/February 1999)
House That Love Builtby Geraldine Hertz. A wonderful story of how a family worked hard and made a dream come true - and learned what dreams are for at the same time.
Kids in Churchby Rob Stout. The father of 5 children says he and his wife have always taken all their children to mass. Here are some guidelines they have worked out over the years.
Make Your House A Child-Friendly HomeElizabeth Foss suggests that while parents should not let the home environment be dictated by children. It should be peaceful, encouraging and supportive of them.
Making Holy Cardsby Sheryl Hobbs A fun and easy way to customize Holy Cards for bookmarks or special gifts.
Mortal Foe of My Children: Invasion of the Imaginationfrom "A Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind" - Michael O'Brien. For all those teachers and parents who have felt uneasy - without quite know why - about the whole genre of modern children's fantasy, i.e. Goosebumps, Fear Street, and the Dune novels, here is Michael O'Brien's incisive analysis, showing precisely what the problem is and how such materials can contribute to the corruption of a child's conscience and their understanding of their proper place in the universe. This should be read after the chapter "The New Illiteracy".
Mortal Foe of My Children: The New Illiteracyfrom "A Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind" - Michael O'Brien. Scientific studies have shown conclusively that within thirty seconds of watching television, a viewer enters a measurable trancelike state. This allows the material shown to bypass the critical faculty, so that images and ideas are absorbed by the mind without conscious reflection. Even when the contents of a program are not grossly objectionable, hours of boredom and nonsense are tolerated, because the viewer keeps hoping insanely that the show will get better. Television beguiles many of the senses at once, and the viewer is locked into its pace in order not to "miss anything".
Mortal Foe of My Children: Vigilance, Paranoia, and Uncle Waltfrom "A Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind" - Michael O'Brien. Michael O'Brien reviews all the major Disney films in terms of the moral lessons they teach our children. While some of the early films are quite good, more recent Disney remakes of the timeless classics tend to trivialize the characters and strip the tales of their original moral content. The most important lessons many of the new "Disney classics" convey are consumerism and pragmatism rather than virtue and character. Playing around with supernatural powers and manipulating others is just fine as long as it helps one get what one wants. Traditional religious people tend to be represented as either corrupt hypocrites or foolish clowns.
Mortal Foe of My Children: Where Is It All leading?from "A Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind" - Michael O'Brien. About 40 years ago there began a culture-shift that steadily gathered momentum, a massive influx of children's literature that appeared good on the surface but was fundamentally disordered became the new majority.
MotherBeautiful poem by Cardinal Mindszenty praising motherhood.
My Daughter Talks to Angelsby Maggie Geene. Our Youth Minister talks about teaching our children about the angels.
Not Quite Narnia: The Harry Potter booksby Jason Boffetti. With five million copies in hardcover and three million in paperback, the Harry Potter series is a dramatic success. But not everyone is wild about Harry.
Our Little Thereseby Pat Callahan. A wonderful story of an adoption, and of the adventure and power of prayer.
Out of the Mouth of BabesElizabeth Foss reminds us that, if we only pay attention, our children will teach us in so many ways what it means to love God.
Parents and Schools and Human Sexuality.by the Couple to Couple League. A Couple to Couple League Press release discussing recent debate over the rights, responsibility and role of parents, and educators in this subject.
Parents' Presence Makes the DifferenceElizabeth Foss encourages parents to become involved with their children's friends and extend the family atmosphere into the community.
Reading, Writing, 'Rithmetic, and RitalinAn estimated two million children have been labeled with Attention Deficit Disorder and are taking a powerful drug to treat it. Yet there are many questions regarding the diagnosis of this "disease."
Subversive Masculinityby Sarah E Hinlicky. Promiscuity undermines masculinity. Fatherhood perfects it. The time has come to reconnect masculinity and morality. Giving in to lust and money and cultural pressures is just so easy. Winning the heart of a good woman, raising a child to love and fear the Lord, and contributing to a worthy vocation are not so easy. But they are the signs of a real man.
Teaching Maturity and Considerateness at Homeby James Stenson. James Stenson provides a brief, but clear outline of what exactly we mean when we speak of maturity, why it is so important, and how to go about teaching it in the home and at school.
There's a Stranger in Your Houseby Jerry McGuire . There's a stranger in your house. On average, every day that stranger talks to our children more than most parents do in a month. We allow the stranger to teach them things and use language for which we would have a real stranger arrested. Without hesitation, the stranger mocks parents, belittles people of honor, makes fun of moral values, denies honorable beliefs, and scoffs at family and cultural traditions. Fortunately, the stranger is not entirely evil. Like any visitor, it has characteristics of value and interest. However, its behavior and influence on the lives of our children must be monitored.
Why I Have So Many Kids.by Catherine Fournier. My conversion story. In it, I relate how through the growth of my family, my understanding and appreciation of the Catholic faith and my vocation in it, also grew.
Family