Catholic Home Schooling

To homeschool or not to homeschool.  That is the question.

But with great resources like the ones listed below, hopefully you will have the information to make that decision.

Check out http://www.educatingforheaven.com/ if you are located in Central Ohio.

Seton Home study http://www.setonhome.org/

Seton Educational Media http://www.setonbooks.com/

Mother of Divine Grace School http://www.motherofdivinegrace.org/

Emmanuel Books http://www.emmanuelbooks.com/

Catholic Heritage Curricula  http://www.chcweb.com/

Ecce Homo http://www.eccehomopress.com/

Homeschooling through highschool www.hslda.org/highschool

Children of Mary, Retreat House

Have you heard of 'Children of Mary'?

Consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, this religious community has devotion to Blessed Mother Teresa, Saint Theresa and Venerable John Paul II.

Children of Mary are located in Newark, Ohio and offer a retreat house for the public.  Individual or groups, day or weekends, the public can access their grounds to have a day of retreat.... I think I might just take them up on this offer!

Visit http://www.childrenofmary.com/ for more information.

Catholic Youth Summer Camp

Catholic Youth Summer Camp is a high adventure camp for students entering grades 6-12.  Activities at CYSC range from paint ball, jet skis and tubing to archery and bonfires.  Along with high adventure activities, CYSC helps to form a high adventure faith, celebrating daily Mass, daily prayer and small groups. 

Visit www.cysc.com for more information!

EWTN Evangelization Opportunity

Did you know that EWTN offers an opportunity to Proclaim the Good News?

Recently at the Columbus Catholic Women's Conference (which was fabulous btw) I saw a booth that was being taken care of by a dad and his daughter.  Basically EWTN offers the EWTN Media Missionaries. 

The requirement is 10 minutes a month.

The Media Missionary will volunteer their time to assist with placing the EWTN program guide in their parish or offering a their pastor a seasonal bulletin announcement with an accompanying poster during Advent, Lent and other special occasions.

If you are looking for a volunteer ministry that won't take up a lot of time go to www.ewtn.com for the opportunity.

Why do Catholics have a devotion to saints?

Imagine you know one of the advisors for the President.  (ok, imagine the president is pro-life).  This advisor has studied the president, tried to live a life similar to the president, loves the president and truly wants to please the president. The advisor has even thrown himself in front of a bullet to protect the president. The advisor loves the president so much that he has committed his life to being an example of how the president lives his life.

Imagine that advisor is someone you could totally relate and look up to.  He is just an ordinary man like you or I but for some reason has gone beyond the call of duty to make great choices in life.

That is how Catholics look at saints.  They are people, like us, that have lived a life pleasing to God.  They have done amazing and brave things to truly live Catholic lives.  They have exceeded our worldly expectations and serve as an example to us of how to act so that we too can be pleasing to God.  They have kept themselves pure and devoted to the Lord. 

Catholics do not worship saints or hold them higher than God.  Catholics don't worship or pray to the statues.  We do pray that the saint who we know is in Heaven will pray on our behalf.  It's like knowing that God is super happy with that saint and will listen closely when the saint brings our intentions to Him.

Saints are only windows to God.  We look through them to see the beauty of the Father.  We know that by following their example we have seen a way to seek sanctity.  Saints pattern their lives off of Jesus Christ never to exceed the Son of God but ONLY to glorify Him. 

Some of my favorite saints:

St. Terese the Little Flower
St. Gerard
St. Clare
St. Francis
St. Philomena

Evangelization in the home

Sometimes I get this urge to proclaim the love of Christ to the world.  You know what I mean?   I read Scripture and I read how we are called to evangelize and I wonder in what capacity that means?  God has been so faithful with His teachings throughout my life and I am convinced that the knowledge He has shared is meant to be shared. 

So, I was talking to my mom and sharing with her my frustrations of determining to what extent we are supposed to be evangelizing and she said that the most important evangelizing I can do is to my daughter.  She firmly believes that upon entering the gates of Heaven we will be asked what we did to bring Christ to our children.  In one breath this is a simple statement. Of course we need to evangelize to our children.  On the other hand it takes that breath away!  I am responsible for being the first Christ that my daughter encounters.  My actions, my words and my teachings must all consistently reflect the love of Christ.  What  a HUGE endeavor!  What a HUGE gift!  What a HUGE responsibility!

I think it such a testament to the gift of a child.  I am someone who has a very difficult time getting pregnant and then maintaining the pregnancies.  I am beginning to really see the miracle of life in that God is truly in charge of our fertility.  This can be difficult for me because I wanted many children!  And God has blessed me with one on earth and one in Heaven.  How much more am I being called to raise the one I have been given to truly serve the Lord and bring Christ to all she meets. 

I pray that I am always a witness to Christ's love in the world but I pray even more so that my little one knows and loves the Lord so that she may be a witness to all.  Whew!

Jump rope and Mary

This morning as I was opening my eyes I saw my three year old starting at me.  A welcomed sight indeed I asked, 'Liv, what are you doing?'

She very innocently shared, 'Mom, I am crushing the snake like Mary does'.  

And there she was stepping on her jump rope.  Crushing the snake.  Just like our statue.

How cool is that?

Pope to canonize new saints!

American Catholic.com shares here about 8 new saints that will be cannonized later this year. 

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Benedict XVI will create six new saints Oct. 17, including Blessed Mary MacKillop, who will be Australia's first saint, and the Canadian Blessed Andre Bessette, who will be the first saint of the Holy Cross Brothers.

For those in the Columbus, OH area

2010 Diocesan Respect Life Conference will be held at St. Patrick's Church downtown Columbus.  See more details here.

Featured Speaker:


Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D.

Director of Education and Ethicist

National Catholic Bioethics Center
 
 

The Immaculate Conception

Why does the Catholic Church have a devotion to Mary?

After I wrote this one I realized that this is a BIG topic to cover.  So I will do my best to provide concise information that will be helpful to the family or friend who really doesn't understand why we love Mary so much.  It will be broken up into a few different posts.  I decided to start with a few beliefs that a lot of non Catholics struggle with.

Mary is the Immaculate Conception:

Mary was not born with original sin.  Consequently, her Son, who had no human father, could not inherit original sin.

Jesus was also immaculately conceived but his conception is a little easier on most people of other religions.  

Immaculate means: without stain

When discussing the Immaculate Conception, an implicit reference may be found in the angel’s greeting to Mary. The angel Gabriel said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). The phrase "full of grace" is a translation of the Greek word kecharitomene. It therefore expresses a characteristic quality of Mary (taken from www.catholic.com)

CCC 491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God was redeemed from the moment of her conception.   

            
                                
Pope Pius IX Ineffeabilis Deus in 1854 said:  The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

Fundamentalist Objections:

Romans 3:23 "all have sinned"- The author of this article from http://www.catholic.com/ says that this statement obviously excludes Jesus and a later Scripture reference Romans 9:11 stating that when Jacob and Esau were unborn babies they had done neither good nor bad.  So unborn babies are excluding from Romans 3:23 as well. 

This would indicate that the New Adam, Jesus, is excluded from this verse.  And consequently the New Eve, Mary could also be excluded from this verse.

So if Mary is without Sin is she equal to God?

No, and we only have to look at Adam, Eve and all the angels to know that although they were without sin they were not equal to God.  Being sinless does not equate being a human being.  More so it is when we strive to be sinless that we are fulfilling what God desires of us.  www.catholic.com



Two fantastic books to read if you want to learn more about Mary:  Introduction to Mary or Meet Mary: Getting to Know the Mother of God by Dr. Mark Miravelle.  Dr. Miravalle is a Mariologist.

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It is of importance to note that Catholics believe in Scripture and Tradition regarding our faith. This means that we are not 'sola scriptura'. Our belief in the Immaculate Conception has evolved through Scripture references and Sacred Tradition.   Vatican II issued the following statement about the Bible:

The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation:
"Since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching firmly, faithfully, and without error that truth which God wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation".

We acknowledge that the apostles were directed to preach the Gospel and to communicate the gifts of God to all men (CCC 75).

The apostolic preaching was handed down:

- orally:  by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves have received- whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

-writing:  by those apostles and other men who associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation in writing.  (CCC 76)

Of course this subject is a huge post in itself but I thought I would provide some background.

Great Catholic Answer Books

Here is a list of some of the fantastic books I have used to get my Catholic answers!

Catholic Questions Catholic Answers- by Fr. Kenneth Ryan (my fave)

What Catholics Really Believe- 52 Answers to common misconceptions about the Catholic faith- by Karl Keating

Why Do Catholics Do That?- A Guide to the Teachings and Practices of the Catholic Church- by Kevin Orlin Johnson, Ph.D

The Catholic Church and the Bible- by Peter M.J. Stravinskas

Are Catholics really Christians?

Are Catholics really Christians?

I had no idea that some Christians are unsure if Catholics are even Christians! I found out recently when I had a conversation with a non denominational friend.  She shared with me that as far as she had known Catholics were not considered Christians.  So from this comes the answers as to why Catholics are not only Christians but truly the first Christians! :)

1.     The word 'Catholic' first appears in a letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch (110 AD) to distinguish Christ's Church from heretical groups.  The word 'Christian' also originated in Antioch (Acts 11:26).  St. Ignatius' letter indicated that by 110 AD the original Christian Church was already well known as the 'Catholic Church'.   Taken directly from 'Beginning Apologetics- How to Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith' by Father Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham.

 2.    Early Church Fathers and their writings tell us what the first Christians believed.  Their practices are all specific to Catholic doctrine. Taken directly from 'Beginning Apologetics- How to Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith' by Father Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham.

3.   Catechism 73:  God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his covenant for ever.  The Son is his Father's definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after Him.

Catechism 259 (last sentence of 259):  Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him.

4.  Scriptural references:

Mark 1:11-  And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.

John 14:1- Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, believe also in me.

John 1:18- No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

John 6:46- Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God.  Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father come to me.

Matthew 11:27-  All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

It is imperative that the world knows that Catholics are Christ based!  It seems almost comical to me that someone would not know that Christ is our savior and redeemer.  But truly it falls back on Catholics to remain consistent and alive in our faith.  Catholics can proclaim to the world that Jesus is King! 

Why can't priests get married?

So, why can't priests get married? Does the Catholic Church really expect these men to be celibate their entire lives? Is that even natural?

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1: Jesus and Paul both practiced celibacy during their lives.  Although some of the apostles were married, including Peter, we know that Jesus and Paul were celibate as well as Mary and Joseph. 


2. All priests take the vow of celibacy voluntarily. If you have received a call to be a priest then celibacy is a portion of that decision that must be taken into consideration before a 'yes'.


3. Clerical celibacy is not church doctrine. It is a discipline instituted since the Middle Ages. I didn't realize this until I read it. This means that it could be changed if Church leaders decided it was a beneficial decision.


4. A priest is the head of his parish. He is there to minister to the sick, the old, the yong, administer the Sacraments and so much more. Being married to the church is a 24 hour a day job (if anyone has a priest friend they can attest to this). If priests were allowed to marry there would be a divide between his devotion to the church and his devotion to his family (and if anyone knows the level of devotion it takes to be a dad they could attest to this!). Could it be done? Sure. Would it be difficult to manage the day to day needs of an entire parish and the day to day needs of a spouse and children? Definitely. This is something the early Church leaders took into consideration as they made this discipline.


5. Matthew West writes that their (the priests) celibacy, in effect, brings about “the most fruitful union in the cosmos—the union of the human and divine natures in the person of Christ. All those who live an authentic celibate vocation participate in some way in this new super-abounding spiritual fruitfulness.”


6. 1 Corinthians 7: 32-34


"An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided."


7.  In our 'sex' saturated society some would believe that it would be impossible for a man or woman to remain celibate.  This is a sad and closed view of what celibacy can be.  Anything we do can be used to glorify God.  Is it possible to remain celibate?  Yes!  Can that celibacy be used to glorify the kingdom of God? Of course.  This is actually a beautiful sacrifice that speaks volumes of the devotion and commitment that priests have to the Catholic faith.


Lord, we thank you for the faithfulness of your priests.  We pray for their intentions and their continued commitment to Your Church.  Please help us to support our priests through prayer.  Amen.




For more information about this please visit the following websites:


http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/guests/georgesimjohnston/marriedpriests.asp

http://www.catholic.com/library/Celibacy_and_the_Priesthood.asp

Why do Catholics do that?

There are so many components to Catholicism that are misinterpreted due to lack of information. I thought I would take a few posts to break down some of the most common misconceptions and the Scriptural and Theological basis that will explain them. If you have any that you are wondering about please feel free to post your questions and I will do my best to answer them according to the Catholic faith.

Some of the most common questions:

1. Why can't priests get married?

2. Are Catholics really Christians?

3. Why does the Catholic Church have a devotion to Mary?

4. Why does the Catholic Church have a devotion to the saints?

5. Why can't women be priests?

6. Why not contraception?

7. Why not IVF?

8.  I'm not Catholic but why can't I receive during Communion?

It has been my experience that the more knowledgeable we are about our faith, the easier it is to evangelize when we get in those conversations that can sometimes stump us. As we prepare for Lent let us prepare our hearts for the call to conversion in our own lives and to be a catalyst for conversion in others.

Feast Day Coloring Pages

I just love this blog.  Waltzing Matilda provides beautifully drawn coloring pages for your child.  Today being the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, I printed out a coloring sheet found here.  Check out Waltzing Matilda and have a blessed Feast day!