Prayer

As parents, there are days when we are burned out, wiped out, overtaxed, and overwhelmed. Each stage and phase of parenthood has its joys and its sorrows. It is a hectic and exhausting task to run a Christian family in a modern world. There…

I am easily distracted in prayer. This hardly makes me unique — even many of the great saints confessed to this struggle, so at least I am in good company. Different things will pop up to derail me. Sometimes the events of the day intrude.…

Mother Angelica, St. Teresa of Kolkata, and St. Padre Pio each had prayer lives to be admired. In the latter part of her life, a visit from baby Jesus gave Mother Angelica a new appreciation for the devotion to the Divine Infant; St. Teresa…

Take a few minutes on Independence Day or any day of the year to pray for the United States. 1. Prayer for our Nation God our Father, giver of life, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. You are the rock on which…

One of the favorite activities for young children is a book at bedtime. When parents, grandparents, or big brothers and sisters curl up with a young child to read a good book, relationships are strengthened, bonds are built, and both heads…

It’s that time of year again. Time to make a list of resolutions for the new year and forget about them before the month of January comes to an end. Or at least that’s how it usually goes for me. No matter what your resolutions are, if you…

For appreciating others We thank you, Father, for the gift of Jesus your Son who came to our Earth and lived in a simple home. We have a greater appreciation of the value and dignity of the human family because he loved and was loved within…

We’ve all got our temperaments and our children do too. It easy to pick out which of my children is the heart-on-her-sleeve mini-me of her father and which one is the spitting absent-minded image of myself. But our children don’t just get…

The Joneses — that family down the street or (nowadays) on Facebook who always have the best of everything. As the outsider looking in, it seems like life is amazing for them. Maybe it’s the car that never breaks down or the house that’s…

When the weather starts to turn warmer, a great event typically takes place in my house — spring cleaning. With the windows wide open to let the fresh air blow through the house, I clean, scrub, organize, donate, and simplify my home where…