In this episode: the house progresses, the O’Brien family, the problem with evil, why do bad things happen to good people? Does God will bad things?, Feature Films for Families, Mail Bag: Jim Beeghley, Mary in Virginia, Mary in Minnesota. (Read on …)
Dear friends of the Catholic Family Podcasts:
Blessings of these mid-summer days. May the Lord bless you all… and in a human way of wishing you well – may your air conditioning never fail and may your nights be cool enough to open the windows!
The topic I want to try to work on today and for this month is the topic of family life – generally - and family life among Catholics. To set the tone or stage for this – let me tell you that I have a good friend, a holy man, a husband and father who is ‘totally Catholic’ and is raising a wonderful family. He works in a chancery for a diocese. He is extremely well read and he has good contacts within and outside of the Church. I lead with these thoughts so you and I might try to pay attention to some of what he says about the state of family life in America. I’ll call him ‘A’ – and for the sake of brevity – I’m editing some of his comments.
Deacon Tom (DT): If you were to give a state of the union address on Christian families, what would you say and what would you recommend?
(A): God wants us to have happy fun filled families where time is spent around the breakfast and dinner table telling fun stories and praying together. [So much of family life seems dominated by the world of entertainment. TV’s are on, kids play games during meal or family time, or they do text-messaging, etc.] We should not let the entertainment industry rob us of these [true family] kinds of joys.
So great vigilance is needed if we would have happy families. This means that parents should listen to the little voice inside that warns them when something is not quite right with a school program, or a group of friends, or with the amount of time children spend watching TV or playing video games. Do not be afraid to speak out and protect the innocence of those entrusted to your care while they are young, and to protect their honor when they are older.
This kind of vigilance requires great sacrifices, trials, and even suffering rejection by those we most love. But the happiness of our families and the holiness which God calls us to, requires that we stand firm and do not lose heart. When we protect our families, they become a school of love in which everyone learns to rely on the Lord. Those who know the joy and sense of honor that only such a school provides are the ones who give hope to society, who become a light that shines in the darkness. America needs this light today more than ever.
(DT): Your words and comments suggest a sort of heaviness or darkness regarding [Catholic or general] family life in America. How would you respond?
(A): Catholic families are suffering in the same ways as families in the general population. Contraception, abortion, pornography and divorce have desecrated almost everyone’s extended family if they have not already crept into one’s immediate family situation. Perhaps because of this, parents (and society in general) are not confident in their particular competency in their own children’s lives.
As a result, moms, dads and their children do not have a healthy sense of their dignity and honor, and without a personal sense of honor, it is difficult to offer and cultivate the sacrificial love that family life demands. Families need to rediscover what it means to be “a school of love.”
(DT): I just wrote a column for a Catholic Mom’s site (www.catholicmom.com) and I wrote about Sacrificial Love. It’s a different way of looking at the call to ‘tough love.’
(A): Families a couple generations ago did not suffer the kinds of things that families do today, at least not to the same extent. Furthermore, Catholic families tended to practice more piety within the home. Practices like the family rosary helped parents hold things together even when it seemed impossible. It was also true that parents did not need to compete with an entertainment industry in educating children in family values.
Finally, parents were more confident about their role and their ability to be mom and dad for their children. This is true in general of course. I think there were plenty of families where important values, including the life of faith, were already eroded. Although there were probably more vestiges of a Christian society than we enjoy today, there were already great cultural struggles taking place two and three generations ago that got us to the place where we are today.
(DT): You have studied areas of success in ‘fighting the good fight.’ I’ve seen your words on Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Therese of Lisieux, etc. Can you share any practical words to end this interview?
(A): [Catholic families… Christian families are called] to cultivate reliance on the Lord; families need to spend more time in prayer together. Going to Mass and Confession regularly is important. But on a daily basis praying a family Rosary and spending time in common prayer before bedtime [or in the morning] is vital. At least, this is my experience. This period of prayer allows the Lord to communicate to each member of the family a sense of honor and purpose as well as the other resources needed for sacrificial loving. When families pray together, the entertainment industry cannot compete because children and parents taste something that is more meaningful and fulfilling.
(DT): Thank you dear (A) – your words are at times somber and challenging. Yet they are filled with a hope to return to the values that were so important years ago – and they are still so much more important today.
Blessings. Deacon Tom
In this episode: Happy Birthday, Jennifer, Allyson’s weekend schedule, I hate you, Mom! Grotto Dedication, Catholic New Media Celebration, Mail Bag, Sean the Duck Tape Guy, Martin from Ipswitch, Mary from Minnesota.
In this episode: swim season ends, house has granite, cultured marble, homeschooling tip, Susan Bauer, SQPN Catholic New Media Celebration, parenting tip, send us feedback for our 100th episode, feedback from Pat and Deacon Ron. Final Song: Stingray: Last Night, from the Podsafe Music Network
Call our comment line at 206-339-8993 or email us [a.t.] catholicfamilypodcast.com
In this episode: Allyson and David talk about the dedication of the Grotto at Christ Our Light, Nibbling Catholics, and a lengthy discussion of morals vs. religious beliefs. Final Song: Jessica Smith-Wright: Overcomer from the Podsafe Music Network.
David and Allyson cut this episode short with a promise to finish their discussions on nibbling Catholics and Morals vs. Religious Beliefs tomorrow. In this episode, Grace Before Meals, Catholic New Media Celebration, St. Ignatius of Antioch Podcast, Homeschool Concert.
Catholic Family Chaplain
Hello and blessings! By the time you read this, your Catholic Family deacon will be on the road to re-creation. That’s what the Servant of God Catherine Doherty called summer vacation: re-creation… a time to re-create ourselves through time away from the work-a-day world that has occupied us for perhaps fifty prior weeks or more. Catherine is the foundress of Madonna House – an apostolate of men, women and priests in northern Canada and around the world. Catherine wrote that ‘doing things together makes us know and love each other more. (Vacation) joy binds us, and laughter cements our relations.’
Interested in a unique and almost no-cost summer vacation idea? Would you and your family be interested in a way to bring Christ and his Mother along on your family vacation? No less than Pope Pius XII was the inspiration for the Madonna House founding of Cana Colony – a (virtually) free summer vacation in a rural wooded lakeside setting in Canada. Each family is assigned a simple cabin. Other vacationing families are nearby. Although in separate cabins, the week throws families of different backgrounds together and great friendships are made. The presence of a priest adds tremendously to the graces of the week through the Eucharist and Sacraments as well as the discussions on the practical application of the Gospel to their family life.’ If this sounds ‘too churchy’ – be assured there’s plenty of free time for swimming, hiking, games and cookouts.
The summer weeks that this free program is offered usually book up quickly and it may well be too late for this year. But if it sounds interesting or you’d like more information, you can go to the Madonna House website which is at www.madonnahouse.org/programs/cana.html
As a sidenote: If you don’t have a family and would like a wonderful and inspiring vacation alternative – consider a week or two of a working retreat at Madonna House in Canada. My wife did this once and it is a holy, inspiring and fun way to spend time with the loving folks of this great community. Okay – on to other thoughts….
If you were to poll our four kids about summer vacations – they would likely tell you about their favorites from our early family years. Perhaps it was the houseboat rental on a clear lake in the Ozarks? Perhaps the time we rented a lakeside cabin and a fish pulled an unattended fishing pole into the lake? We families need these vacation times – and God will help give us the graces to enjoy these times… We need to remember to take Him along.
Now I would guess that this will seem completely unrelated – but if possible, I’d like to propose that you consider some way to let the grandchildren – your kids spend time with their grandparents this summer. There is a special magic form of re-creation that happens when young ones are able to spend a week or more (alone) with their grandparents.
Carey – a seven year old puts it this way: “Grandparents are real happy to see kids because they don’t see them all the time…. Parents are different. They see their kids all the time.” (Isn’t that the sad truth?) And six year old Mandy says “Some of the best people I ever met are grandparents.” And Luther, her older brother said, “Grandparents make you feel good and they never, ever laugh at you.”
An aging Victor Hugo once said, “winter is on my head, but spring is in my heart.” The grandkids get a chance to meet and learn about a new and different form of being young-at-heart… they get a glimpse of what is important to an earlier generation. Grandkids learn about not going to the supermarket without the coupons… and getting to the restaurant so you’re in time for the ‘early-bird’ specials…
Grandkids get to help make cookies and muffins or clean the garage. They learn to not take the last hot dog on the dinner table without asking if someone else would like it. Grandkids learn about the love of a God-like figure who loves with no reservations… no holding back.
Over this summer, as we journey to a New Mexico wedding, Missouri, (Franciscan University in Steubenville Ohio and Pennsylvania, we will be in prayer for you. May God re-create you and your family.
Deacon Tom.
Here’s part 2 of the Sweeney House video. We’re in the homestretch and will probably be done by the end of June.
Feedback: us [at] catholicfamilypodcast.com Comments: 206-339-8993
In this episode: challenges, end of the school year, house update, funny sayings, Hannah’s three wishes, David’s retreat, needs vs. wants, sequence, Mail Bag: Deacon Tom, Britt, Mary.
Links in this episode:
Deacon Tom’s article with our picture in it
Sex in the Sacrament Podcast
Catholic Family Kids Episode #10
Final Song: Davis Coen - Since I Laid My Burden Down from the Podsafe Music
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