Archive for June 2012
Daddy Magic
As a mother of five children ranging in ages from 17 to 6 it is fascinating to watch my husband in action with our children. In the early years of parenting, my role as a mother was unquestioned: babies are so clearly dependent on their mother! As children grow, the balance of relevance starts to…
Read MoreSmart Learning
A major part of successful learning at school and beyond can be attributed to simple organisation. Having intelligence and academic skill is important too, but these gifts will not deliver success unless the student learns to manage and develop them through consistent organisation and time management. The costs of disorganisation are high; too many students fail to reach their…
Read MoreChildren & Media
“Training in the proper use of the media is essential for the cultural, moral and spiritual development of children.” Pope Benedict XVI Raising children in the 21st century certainly has its challenges. There are so many influences on our children which enter our homes and our children’s lives without our permission and often without our knowledge. Music lyrics and videos, gaming,…
Read MoreYour Home: A Living Church
The Domestic Church The home is the place where we learn to love. It is in our homes that our children are first introduced to love; in our homes where husbands and wives most profoundly model sacramental love; in our homes where we learn and practice forgiveness, compassion, encouragement, humility, trust. We cannot know God without knowing what it is to be loved.…
Read MoreFamily Vocations
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York recently noted the link between marriage and vocations to the priesthood and religious life: “We have a vocation crisis to life-long, life-giving, loving, faithful marriage. If we take care of that one, we’ll have all the priests and nuns we need for the church.” In this Year of the Priest, it’s a clarion call to…
Read MoreCyber Rascals
Digital communications have revolutionised our social relationships. Text messaging, email and social network communities mean that today’s young person has instant access to friends and acquaintances across the globe. Unfortunately, like all innovative technologies, some young people choose to abuse the power of digital communications. A new brand of bullying has emerged and is wreaking havoc on the lives…
Read MoreGrandparent Power
Almost every grandparent thinks their grandchildren are pretty special. Grandparents are allowed to be biased – after all, every kid deserves a doting grandparent to counter the nuisance of stressed out, nagging parents. Grandparents enjoy a privileged relationship with their grandchildren. ‘All care, no responsibility’ is often cited as a license for fun… grandparents seem to relish the opportunity…
Read MoreParenting Tips
Andrew Mullins is the Author of Parenting for Character (2005) Finch Publishing. Through his extensive experience as a School Principal, where he regularly counsels parents, he has distilled his wisdom into a short article for CathFamily. The following is an excerpt. 1. Be united with your spouse. Unity between spouses makes parenting more likely to…
Read MoreThe Renaissance of Marriage
With the feast day of one of history’s most sainted couples occurring this month it’s an opportune time to affirm the contribution that marriage makes to our community. Marriage as a Resource When we in the Church think about marriage and family life, mostly we think in terms of supporting couples. We look primarily towards marriage and family…
Read MoreThe Quality Time Myth
Insufficient time together is a curse on relationships. Whether our relationship is steaming forward or drifting on the current, time together is like a balm, healing the bumps and bruises of life and stimulating our feelings of affection and tenderness. With St Valentines’ Day approaching, it’s the perfect opportunity to rethink our priorities and give the gift of time to…
Read MoreHeavenly Connections – All Saints Day
One of the most beautiful traditions of the Catholic Faith is the celebration of the lives of the Saints. Not only do these men, women and children give us inspiration by the way they lived their faith, and often died for it, they also continue to offer us help in our daily lives. Though it is common to…
Read MoreSaint Paul
Apostle to the Gentiles Passionate and fervent, St Paul is famous for his dramatic conversion recounted several times in the scriptures. As the story goes… Saul (his Semitic name) was a devout Jew and a Pharisee. Believing the fledgling group of Christians to be a dangerous cult, he set out to arrest the followers of…
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