If you are a counter-cultural parent, next week’s period of Easter Triduum can be challenging. You need to put in a lot of effort if you hope to raise your children in a society where more people are involved in secularism and commercialism than in spirituality and religiousness.  Most of the culture won’t be focused on the... Continue Reading →

Nothing else is as important in a parent's job description as helping his or her children get to Heaven. It is not too lofty a goal for parents to raise saints, as evidenced by Carlo Acutis.   Later this month the Catholic Church will canonize Carlo.  For those not familiar with Carlo, he was an Italian teenager who died... Continue Reading →

Five years ago this month my trials, adversities, and humiliations began.  And I thank God for everything that happened to me. I was fired after a 40-year career as a Catholic school educator.  The following Bible passage regarding trusting in God and accepting adversity succinctly summarizes the entirety of my ordeal.   “My child, when you come to... Continue Reading →

What is a Catholic to do about the poorly performing or outright disastrous clergy who have shown themselves to be cowards by their silence and passivity, or even worse, revealed themselves as wolves in shepherd’s clothing through their vigorous deception of their flocks, leading them on the wrong path and putting their souls in danger?... Continue Reading →

In Part 1 of “What Are Catholics to Do When Our Clergy Let Us Down?,” we discussed how our cardinals, bishops, and priests are the shepherds of Christ, endowed with power from our Lord to teach and lead those in their care. Whereas most of these pastors throughout history are brave, honorable, and faithful, regrettably... Continue Reading →

The shepherds of the Church were given to us by Christ so, when He left His human time on Earth, the people would have leaders who would point us to truth and encourage us to “be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.” Distressingly, it seems that for every “A+” cleric we recognize who understands... Continue Reading →

Most Catholic parents do a great job of teaching their kids about Holy Week and Easter, such as by focusing on Christ’s Passion and Resurrection and making sure the family attends Holy Week services and Easter Sunday Mass. It is also important that children understand what the Lenten period prior to Holy Week is all... Continue Reading →

Recent generations has seen a dramatic shift in how kids play sports. Decades ago, what children would do is gather up neighborhood friends and start a pick-up basketball game at the school playground or play touch football at the park, with no adults in sight. If kids in the past did end up joining a... Continue Reading →

Parents need to be wary of their kids getting advice and being influenced from the world – aka the culture/society. Social media, the news media, government-run school systems, the entertainment industry, and immoral or ill-informed celebrities and athletes are society’s dominant sources of influence, especially for children, teens, and young adults. They all to one... Continue Reading →