The Catholic Family Podcast

CATHOLIC (FAMILY) LENTEN LIFE IS DIFFERENT

Hello and blessings! Deacon Tom with you again. What a continuing joy to have Jesus, the Catholic Faith, the Church and my wife and family in my life.  God has splashed me with blessings – those mentioned here – and of course, becoming a deacon has been (mostly) a great gift. So too, it is a blessing to have e-befriended David and Allyson and to be a part of Catholic Family Podcast. 

I wrote my first Catholic Family column last year – it was titled Catholic Family Life is Different. With a little bit of starter prayer, and in thinking about possible topics for this column, I decided to pose the topic you see above. I did this first and then thought I would see if I am guided in any ways for the words to support this topic.

As we have been setting up our new house (in Arizona) in recent months – one of the ‘joys’ we have is hanging pictures and other items. My lovely wife Dee wants things down lower – I seem to want them higher. It’s become a sort of joke that if we can sell a house, move to a new location, hang pictures and agree on where furnishings go – we are probably going to make it.

One of the new small items we put up on the wall at the entrance at our front door is a small sign: THIS IS A CATHOLIC HOME. There is also a crucifix and some palm branches. Anyone who enters or sees inside is able to tell where we are coming from. And – in fact – it just happened that a Jehovah’s Witness came to the door. He introduced himself and showed me a publication he was carrying. I courteously welcomed him and told him that I was a deacon in the Catholic Church, and that Jesus Christ was my Lord and Savior and that I loved my faith. I also said that his visit was an opportunity for me to pray for him and his congregation. He immediately said ‘thank you very much’ and left. No contest!

Somewhere in Scripture (I’m a little too lazy right now to look it up), it says something about being willing to give reason for your belief and faith. That, dear hearts leads me to the challenge for anyone who is interested to tackle this idea about a different form of Catholic Lent.

Yes, we’re probably all going to get ashes on our foreheads… and yes we will likely attend a parish reconciliation service… and maybe we’ll try to pray more or read some Scriptures or inspiring words. No disrespect intended. But – are you willing to make this Catholic Family Lenten Life different for you? Perhaps for your family?

What does the ‘deke’ mean when he says ‘make this Lent different?’ Well – what could you do that would ‘mark’ you for Lent – just the way that ashes mark you for one hour or one day? I don’t have the answer for you and you and you. But I do have some starter ideas to throw out.

Have you ever invited anyone over to your house to pray? In our previous community, we started a regular Rosary in the Home gathering. Anyone who wanted to come was welcome.

Nothing fancy – just Catholics coming together to pray. At the beginning, anyone that wanted to announce petitions and intercessions was welcome to do so. We would do the Rosary together – and later we added the Chaplet of Divine mercy. We were done in about 30-45 minutes. We would offer some store-bought cookies or something else easy to do. Yes I know this is Lent – but I’m trying to stretch us beyond candies and cookie type Lenten thinking. We’d offer coffee and tea – and we’d be done in about two hours. If you’ve never done anything like this – would you consider doing this once a week during Lent? Because Catholic Family Lenten Life is Different!

Do you have someone recently widowed in your community? Would you consider having them come for dinner? Or taking them out to breakfast? Would you be willing to take the kids by to meet an older person in the parish? Because Catholic Family Lenten Life is Different!

Have you gotten away from the regular practice of Confession – the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Has your busy life taken you from the rhythm of regular prayer time? Have you ever written letters of spiritual love and support for your pastor or your bishop? Have you ever sat down to plan your funeral? That may sound morbid – it isn’t. It’s beautiful and it’s realistic. And I mention a bunch of these ideas because Catholic Family Lenten Life ought to be different! My wife and I pray for you regularly. Blessings. Deacon Tom.  www.deacontomonline.com

 

 CFP074: Wii Hours [41:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode: Family Life: Thanks for donating to SQPN/Rosary Army, house grows, need bathtub advice, Kathryn’s bedtime, Wii Tickets, Church Life; What is a liturgical conference? Mail Bag; Elizabeth, Ozg, Stanley, Kay, Brian from Whidbey Island, WA, Bob McWilliams on SuperPoke.

Links in this episode:

• Link to the show
• Southwest Liturgical Conference, 2007
• Artwork by Namelessblob

NFP Links:

• CFP Episode 25
• CFP Episode 26
• Rosary Army NFP Series

Contact us [at] catholicfamilypodcast.com or call 206-350-2584

Final Song: Reunited: Jesus is On the Main Line

Reunited
“Jesus Is On The Main Line” (mp3)
from “Jesus Is On The Main Line”
(Silverwolf)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at GroupieTunes
More On This Album

HAPPY WIFE – HAPPY LIFE Or: Let’s Say Goodbye to the Bickersons in 2008

Hi dear friends of Catholic Family Podcast. Happy New Year and blessings. I hope you prayerfully and joyfully welcomed the Christ-child into your hearts and homes. And I send up a wish that we can find ways to draw closer to Him in 2008. And this quickly brings me to my topic for this e-column. [Please remember that I’m ‘neutral’ in what is going to unfold here. I’m neither Democrat nor Republican. I’m an Independent.]

Okay: Those of you who like Allyson, and think she’s lovely and that she should get more respect… more airtime… less nagging from David …. Please stand over here to my right…. (Pause)…. “Oh my gosh… Allyson – just look at all your supporters and fans…. Maybe you could consider doing your own show? And Allyson – if you need someone to manage your ‘fan club’ – please consider hiring a true ‘independent’ person, will you?”

Okay now: Those of you who think David is a charming leader and a sheer delight and should keep doing what he’s been doing to become one of the leading Catholic Podcasters – please stand over here on my left…. (Pause)…. “Well David – I think these few men (just a few beer-drinking men) standing here on the left – they’re just not representative of all your talents and skills. Some political candidates are having the same problem – so we’ll work together on your image, okay?”

Now back to Deacon Tom’s column.

Do you know who my favorite Podcasters are? Well of course it’s the Sweeneys…. And I’m not just saying that because they hired me as a very high-priced personal deacon – uh uh! I also love Greg and Jennifer. (Jennifer – I think Massa Greg picks on you far too much…) And I’m often I-tuned to Mac and Kathryn (and as a neutral observer, that show couldn’t continue if it wasn’t for her).

But guess what I’ve discovered about all of them? Those Catholic couples all ‘bicker’ back and forth – not just once in a blue moon, either. They do sound, at times like the husband and wife couple of years ago called the Bickersons. Did you ever listen to that couple?

On a recent Catholic Family Podcast (Episode 71, 12/14/07), I heard the Sweeney’s doing minor ‘fussing’ at each other… talking about their two-path, two-track lives… David going at Allyson (the ‘Princess’) a little bit about her not supporting his running – imagine Allyson focusing on her music and not first consulting with David about his plans for doing marathons. Oh – did I mention Allyson complaining about having to live some 14 years in a cramped house with no bathtub and her raising four kids … almost all by herself?

As I’ve said above – I’ve listened to Mac and Kathryn who could be the prototypes for the Bickersons. And poor, poor Jennifer – I bet people are praying on string rosary beads just for her to stick in that marriage… (…  ). Well of course I am mostly exaggerating. But the purpose of my January Catholic Family Column is to discuss bickering. Is it natural that all of us married couples bicker?

\Is it possible to change? Change even a little? I wonder. I pray. Is it possible that we could forget New Year resolutions about weight or sweets? Those are New Year’s resolutions like we’ve made in past years? Could we consider adding a dimension of love and respect in our marriages that will blossom into more loving and respectful communications?

I tell you what brought this to mind. In the same episode of CFP mentioned above – David and Allyson were sharing about a family problem they have experienced (with Austin)… and thank you dear hearts for your openness. There was a brief discussion of Passive/ Aggressive Behavior. This is something we experienced in our child rearing as well. David is the (advanced-degree) expert about all of this stuff – but I began to wonder if our children might not be helped by parents trying to find ways to reduce the (slightly) negative words and themes that parents expose them to? I don’t know; I wonder?

When we were joined in the sacrament of marriage – there were promises to love AND HONOR all the days of our lives. Is ‘harmless’ bickering an indication that “I’m now taking you… or taking our marriage for granted?” Would our relationships be improved if we prayed together for the addition of more respect and less bickering in our day-to-day lives? (If you talk to my wife, she will probably want to know if I’ve signed up for this as well.) Would you be willing to consider – prayerfully consider adding this as a real New Year’s Resolution? Let me know what you think?
Blessings. Deacon Tom. www.deacontomonline.com