Archive by tag: familyReturn
RSS
The Evangelization of Attraction

The Evangelization of Attraction

No matter what your background, evangelizing friends and family is not an easy task. When engaging with loved ones who have fallen away from the Church, it is easy for us to focus on what they’re doing wrong or on what we’re doing wrong when we try to witness to them. But the more important thing is to concentrate on God’s desire for all of us to become saints. When we allow God to purify our inconsistencies that keep us from clearly communicating Jesus to our loved ones, then we will be able...
Read More
3 Keys and 4 A's of Evangelizing the Family

3 Keys and 4 A's of Evangelizing the Family

I, no doubt as many of you, heard about the work of the Synod on the Family through glaring news headlines earlier this week. It was a couple of days before I located the document itself (in its unofficial translation) on the Vatican’s website. By the time I read it I had already been bombarded with bloggers and journalists that had either usurped the Synod document to confirm their agenda or rejected it outright as a sell-out.This morning I found the Message of the Synod Fathers issued at the ...
Read More
Families as Sowers of Seeds of Faith

Families as Sowers of Seeds of Faith

 In preparation for the Synod on the Family, Pope Francis made it clear that the Synod Fathers do not have to “fix” the family. Rather, he is concerned that the family, rather than being an object for concern and study, be the subject of evangelization.It took me awhile to get to the meaning of the phrase “subject of evangelization.” My memories of diagramming English sentences in school helped me. A subject, Sister taught us, is who or what is doing the acting and an object is who or what i...
Read More
5 Tips for Families Facing Challenges

5 Tips for Families Facing Challenges

A friend just called me to ask for prayers for a sister who is having problems with her teenage son. We talked about many things including the challenge of being there as family members struggle through issues and challenges in today’s society.  The fabric of our relationships stretch and strain to absorb so many challenges today—big and small! The good news of the Gospel is that being born into a family is being born into a community.Particularly as Catholics we have an inescapable connection...
Read More

Pope Francis Wrote A Letter to You: Did You Receive It?

The buzz has been out since 2013 that Pope Francis has decided to convoke an Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to treat the topic: The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization. The Synod is less than a month away now. On October 5-19, Pope Francis will bring together key religious leaders from around the world for the Extraordinary Synod on the Family. So what is a Synod on the Family going to do, you might ask. You may have heard about already in t...
Read More
Using Movies to Help Teach Values to Kids

Using Movies to Help Teach Values to Kids

Hi Moms! Have you ever had to deal with your child whining, “Mom, why can’t I have that?” as you navigate the grocery store? Hey there, Dads! Do your kids sometimes want to do some activity that’s a bit too old for them and you have to tell them, “When you get older, OK?” and they don’t particularly like that response? I know my parents did when I was growing up and I wasn’t always ready to hear what they were trying to teach me about not being selfish and thinking of others before mysel...
Read More

"How Can I Make You Happy?"

“How can I make you happy?” Most days I don’t really know the answer to this question—if you ask my husband he will tell you honestly he has been trying to figure that one out for thirty-plus years! But we both know one thing that consistently makes me happy—a book. As a publicist here at Pauline Books & Media, I am surrounded by books, and am blessed to work with many talented authors. Sometimes, however, God reaches out with his grace and touches me with the words of an author I will ...
Read More
3 Things to Pack for Vacation

3 Things to Pack for Vacation

Summer months are here. Kids are out of school. Some of the pressures that fill our lives from September to May are not as heavy. We have the chance to steal away for vacation, even if it's for just a week-end. I often think of all the vacations we went on as children…. They were great fun…for us kids. While I’m sure my parents enjoyed them also, they were still the parents even on vacation, still doing the driving, the disciplining, the listening, the teaching, the ...
Read More
Irreplaceable: A Unique Documentary About the Family

Irreplaceable: A Unique Documentary About the Family

A beautiful documentary about the importance of the family, co-produced by Focus on the Family with many Christian and Catholic filmmakers and experts, has a one-day, one-time theatrical evening showing in mainstream theaters: Tuesday, May 6th in the USA, and Wednesday, May 7th in Canada. The film is not rated; Focus on the Family recommends it for teens 15 and older because topics such as sexuality and family issues may be spoken about too explicitly for children. From the film's webs...
Read More
Heaven Is for Real Film Commentary: Invitation to Resurrection Faith

Heaven Is for Real Film Commentary: Invitation to Resurrection Faith

Summary:Heaven Is for Real gets off to a slow start, but ultimately engages and inspires us as we witness an ordinary, devout Christian family who together deepen their faith. Sentimental but not hokey, this appealing family film based on the popular book will probably be appreciated more by the adults in the family.  An Inspiring Family FilmTodd Burpa (portrayed by the amazingly talented Greg Kinnear) is the hard-working husband, father, and preacher who lives with his family in ...
Read More