Official website for the Catholic Church | www.vatican.va
Monica McConkey
March 6, 2014
12,825 Views
by Monica McConkey | Lent is a great opportunity to refocus our efforts to draw closer to Jesus. Although we can certainly give up a few of our favorite things, we can also add extra prayers and sacrifices. It’s easy to lose focus or momentum throughout the 40 days of Lent. We can get discouraged when we falter or fail our Lenten promises. Sometimes a tangible way of tracking our progress can motivate us to stay on track or even return to it!
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Contributing Writers
March 5, 2014
43,993 Views
by Fr. Robert Skeris | The Gospel of the eight Beatitudes is surely one of the best-loved passages in all of Holy Writ, and deservedly so. For the fact is that men of all climes and times have regarded the Beatitudes as the ladder, so to speak, or the staircase by which the saints ascend to Heaven.
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Contributing Writers
March 4, 2014
8,793 Views
by Liz Beller | As a new stay-at-home mom, I’ve been going through a lot of adjusting. Since when did staying at home all day leave me with less time than I had before?
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Contributing Writers
March 3, 2014
14,902 Views
by Jennifer Tutwiler | These days, the measure of good parenting seems to be how care-free and enjoyable an existence we have enabled for our children. Children are expected to play with their toys, play outside, play with their friends, play sports, play with video games... and yet today’s children are some of the most behaviorally challenged in human history.
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Contributing Writers
March 2, 2014
9,552 Views
by Kerry Costanzo | I love the poem, "The Beautiful Hands of a Priest," and I began thinking the other day about how one could write a similar reflection on the hands of mothers. While a mother’s hands do not share the dignity of those of a priest, they nevertheless have their own special value.
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Contributing Writers
March 1, 2014
8,369 Views
One of the ends of marriage is the procreation and education of children. Procreation has gotten a good deal of attention in the recent history of the Church, but education is often of less interest.
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John Clark
February 28, 2014
15,754 Views
Inspired by C.S.Lewis, John Clark explores 5 options to help your homeschooler become a home-grown philosopher - because the world needs it.
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Contributing Writers
February 27, 2014
12,200 Views
by Kerry Costanzo | Let's face it. In this kids-eat-your-treats-and-break-your-things world, it's every mom for herself. How many of you moms out there have faced this scenario: It's 11 PM at the end of another homeschooling day.
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Ginny Seuffert
February 26, 2014
12,455 Views
by Ginny Seuffert | Master educator, John Taylor Gatto, abandoned the New York City government school system in the early 1990’s stating that he was not longer willing to “hurt children.” He has devoted his life since then to articulating a different vision of education that turns children into lifetime learners.
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Dr. Mitchell Kalpakgian
February 25, 2014
6,922 Views
by Mitchell Kalpakgian | According to Chauntecleer, books are the final authority of truth. Pertelote, who stays below in the farmyard, views the subject of dreams exclusively in terms of personal experience. Never in her life does she remember a dream that came true.
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Kevin Clark
February 24, 2014
10,023 Views
by Kevin Clark | The legislature of Arizona recently passed a law which allows a business to assert a free exercise defense if it is accused of discrimination for refusing to provide a service to a customer. The Arizona law, which has gone to Governor Jan Brewer to sign or veto, closely tracks the wording of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
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Kids Corner
February 22, 2014
7,728 Views
Kids' Corner | Download this 'Catholic Saints’ Word Puzzle! A fun activity to for all ages! Search for these words: Agatha, Bakhita, Bernadette, Blaise, Cyril, Lourdes, Marto, Miki, Scholastica, Slavs, throat, Valentine
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John Clark
February 21, 2014
9,708 Views
by John Clark | As I have written previously, on the nights when I’m able, I like to watch the show Jeopardy and try to amaze my kids with my knowledge. (These are the kinds of things you do when you’re old—you get exhausted by failing to impress the world, so you spend your evenings in front of a television set in the hopes of dazzling your offspring.)
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Marc Postiglione
February 20, 2014
8,541 Views
by Marc Postiglione | The next World Youth Day will be held in Krakow in 2016 and Pope Francis has written a short message to the youth of the world to help prepare for this momentous occasion. Each year, Pope Francis will reflect on a different Beatitude in anticipation of Krakow 2016. The first Beatitude that the Pope reflects on: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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Dave Armstrong
February 19, 2014
8,723 Views
by Dave Armstrong | Sometimes people say that the Bible and tradition are against each other (with tradition being the “bad” thing). But the Bible itself teaches that tradition was already around before the Bible was put together. In fact, the Bible itself is part of the Christian tradition, just as the Catholic Church also is.
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Dr. Mitchell Kalpakgian
February 18, 2014
9,347 Views
by Mitchell Kalpakgian | Listening to the talk shows on television every night, watching athletic events all day Saturday and Sunday, and spending hours on the Internet do not organize the day, deserve priority, or require the discipline of will power. They do not breathe life, nourish the mind, or lift the soul. A person does not need more time to do these essential things but a greater desire to do first things first.
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John Clark
February 15, 2014
9,127 Views
by John Clark | This Christmas, I prayed to God: “I know that there are certain and special ways in which you want me to spiritually advance this Christmas. Please show me what they are.” During late December of last year, I read John Janaro’s book, Never Give Up: My Life and God’s Mercy, and I believe that this book was part of the answer to my prayer.
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Contributing Writers
February 14, 2014
7,589 Views
by CCC | It seemed like an ordinary lunch hour for a Legal Clerk in her mid-twenties, even working for a Supreme Court Justice. Yet the normal lunchtime banter with her Boss somehow took a turn for the extraordinary. Soon, they were engaged in a discussion on the Catholic Dogma of Mary as the Immaculate Conception.
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Dr. Mitchell Kalpakgian
February 13, 2014
8,721 Views
by Mitchell Kalpakgian | The whole episode made no sense to him, and he was at a loss for some possible explanation for his great frustration. The only comfort his mind offers is the knowledge that the accident was not a great tragedy. He acknowledges with gratitude the escape from other “torments and evils to which even this wasted wine would have seemed a wretched jest.”
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Marc Postiglione
February 12, 2014
9,565 Views
by Marc Postiglione | One of my fondest and earliest memories of childhood is the way we as a family celebrated Sunday. Sunday always started with morning Mass. We were not a sleep late family and were out the door for 9:00am Mass.
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