A rather staid church found itself actively confronting a world which they had tended to ignore, even to shun. Pink Mohawks and chain-bedecked leathers began to be seen at Sunday worship services. A new energy and purpose steadily grew among the congregation; they were forced out of their insular attitudes and petty prejudices in order to confront the vast question, “What does it mean to preach to the whole world?”

In Robert Frost’s famous poem “The Road Not Taken,” a traveler recalls a moment in his life when he reached a crossroads. He comes to a turning point on the journey and pauses to consider which path to follow. Both roads have fair prospects and great allure.

The weather is changing and the holiday season is upon us. Decorations have been up in stores for weeks, a bright mishmash of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas displays to entice the consumer to buy, buy, buy. It’s so easy to get caught up in the hoopla and the craziness and lose the true meaning of what we are celebrating.

In Kenneth Graham’s The Wind in the Willows Mr. Toad, the owner of Toad Mansion and the great traveler on the Open Road who is always on a new vehicle going to faraway places, cannot comprehend how Mr. Rat can find contentment in a simple cottage on the river where he dwells all year and never explores the wider world of new sights and foreign lands: “You surely don’t mean to stick to your dull fusty river all your life, and just live in a hole in a bank, and boat. I want to show you the world.”

We are not alone in our fervent desire to help our children remain true to their Catholic Faith. The Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Queen of Heaven and Earth, earnestly desires their salvation as well, and she can show them how to stay close to Jesus throughout their lives.

As I took a little trip down the memory lane of my mind, I started to explain to my little children that, although I was 42 years old, I had never quite “graduated” from the kids’ table. At first this bothered me, but I had come to respect the camaraderie, the conviviality...

While it is a most human to desire the ideal, seek the best, and have the highest goals, all human lives suffer damages and require rebuilding. The unfaithful husband or wife, the deaths and illnesses in a family, the rebellion of the prodigal son or daughter, the loss of income or work all inflict destruction of some kind that forces another beginning, a fresh approach, a new idea, or the exercise of a heroic virtue.

One year ago, one of my daughters was given a gift subscription to American Girl Magazine. When the subscription ran out, I chose not to renew it even though my daughter wanted me to.

by Mary Lou Warren | Do you find that you never seem to have enough time to do important things in your life? Is your time frittered away with minutia and time-wasting activities? How much time do you spend on repeated actions and routines that brings you no closer to where you want to go, to do, or to become?

As we parents sit down to help our children with their homeschooling, I think we would have to admit that some of the biggest distractions are often the ones inside ourselves—the ones that keep popping into our minds as we attempt to teach.

As the freshness of childhood and the exuberance of youth fade, and life assumes a regularity and familiarity, it is all too easy to become jaded and blasé. Instead of ...

Tonight I’m making chicken noodle soup for dinner. I need the comfort that it brings to me because today my meds aren’t working. One of the hardest challenges that I face as a homeschooling mother is dealing with hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid gland).

by Fr. Pablo Straub | At first it seems contradictory that there would be similarity between those who marry and those who go into a monastery or the priesthood. Can there be any two things more unlike?

In passing, I mentioned to a co-worker the other day that college was my first classroom experience. She said “Really?” I explained that, “Yes, I was homeschooled from Kindergarten through 12th Grade.” She said “Oh, wow, cool!” A few minutes later she walked by my desk and said “Wait a minute, aren’t you too old to have been homeschooled???” Well, thanks for that.

Some think that a chaotic home means you can't homeschool. John Clark disagrees, and encourages you to focus on establishing something more important first.

Several days ago, I was in the kitchen whipping up a pot of pumpkin chili, (recipe included below!) while reflecting on some thoughts regarding faith. Earlier in the day, when my daughter was sitting at the kitchen table working on her Catechism lesson, the subject of faith came up. My daughter wanted to know if everyone who believes in Jesus is a Christian.

When I went to retrieve the mail from my mailbox, I saw a Costume Express catalog in the stack of mail waiting for me. I smiled when I saw the catalog because it brought back a memory to me many years ago, when we were teaching our children about prayer.

Homeschooling mom Lorraine Espenhain has had bad days, with too much to do, long headaches... Sometimes the only answer is to put life on hold. 'Me time.'

When I was four years old and living in the Philippines, there was an elderly man who would come around our street once or twice a month to beg for food. He was ill and had a difficult time speaking. Nobody in the neighborhood seemed to know his name. Every time he came, my Lolo, or grandfather, greeted him with a hearty "Hello My Friend!" From then on, all of us children called him "My Friend".

by Lorraine E. Espenhain Several weeks ago, I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of time available to me to study God’s Word, read good Catholic books, and ...