Come Back to Me with All Your Heart
"The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole life and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger,
Read More“ where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” Romans 5:20
God’s love and mercy knows no bounds. He invites us to come frequently to the Sacrament of Confession to be healed and strengthened. Check out these resources for making a good confession.
Read MoreIf we strive to set one standard, old fashioned as it may sound, “The Golden Rule” will build a culture of respect within our family. Treat others as you want to be treated in speech, in action and in attitude. Often we model this outside the home, but the ones we love and live with deserve our respect as well. From young children to teens to parents, we can all practice this.
Read MoreReprinted with Permission, Catholic Education Resource Center
And when we stop praying, that's when things begin to go wrong.
You and I were created for prayer. Life is about learning how to pray. If the very purpose of human life is to know God and love God in eternity, then the purpose of life is prayer.
And the more we pray, the happier we become. The more we pray, the less anxious we become, and we are filled with a greater peace of mind and heart. The more we pray, the more we understand ourselves, for we come to know God more intimately, by experience and we really only know ourselves to the degree that we know God personally. The more we pray, we begin to see the hand of God in our day to day life, that is, we see Him acting in our life. We begin to see that He loves us, personally. That makes life so much more meaningful.
Read MoreSo much to teach our children, and so quickly the years go by. As a parent, the responsibility can at times feel overwhelming. The math, the reading, the sports and activities all contribute to the development of our children and have value and importance. But there is that One thing or more precisely the One Person that supersedes all other lessons in value.
Read MoreNo one else can do your part in God’s Divine plan. You were born for this day. You were born for this time.
Read MoreHelpful and timely advice for you and your loved ones.
Allison Ricciardi is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in New York, in practice since 1990. In 2001 Allison founded CatholicTherapists.com, the web’s #1 resource connecting Catholics with faithful Catholic therapists. She is also the director of The Raphael Remedy which offers counseling, coaching and wellness support from an authentically Catholic perspective.
Read MoreThese are unprecedented times. We are praying for all families. We trust that the Lord will sustain us and draw our families closer to him and one another. The Lord reminds us . . .
“A three-ply cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12
We trust that the Lord will sustain our families and draw us closer to him and to one another.
Read MoreNever before have we experienced a Lent or Holy Week like this. We may be separated as a community but spiritually we can be very powerfully connected through prayer and observance of Holy Week in our homes. The Lord knows our sacrifices, our sorrows and our fears. He knows our hopes and our joys. Let us gather as a community and offer our prayers and sacrifices from wherever we are at. We are united in the Lord.
Read MoreAre you ready for Lent? Check out our Lenten resources!
"The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole life and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger,
Read MoreOur culture has lost sight of the beauty and profundity of marriage as God intended. As Catholics we have the opportunity to witness and protect this sacrament instituted by Christ.
We invite you to celebrate and strengthen your bond of marriage as we observe National Marriage Week in the USA.
Read MoreAs a Church family, we’re witnesses to the beauty of life, even in the midst of life’s messiness: caring for sick family members, puzzling over our family budget, rushing to get to hockey practice, shushing our toddlers at Mass. (Go on, admit it - I’ve done my share of shushing.) God calls us to affirm life’s goodness in the midst of a skeptical culture. That sounds tough to do, when the skepticism takes the form of seeing abortion as a “right.”
We can do it.
Read MoreGod is here. Now. In this moment. He is closer to us than we are to ourselves. Indeed, if he ceased to be present, we would cease to exist. How rarely we feel or experience this truth! Yet, holy men like Jean-Pierre de Caussade or Brother Lawrence, who both wrote wonderful books about finding God in the present moment, tell us with full conviction that we can learn to do so. How? We must train ourselves to see and perceive God’s presence.
Read More“If He asks much of you, it is because He knows you can give much.” St. John Paul II
How appropriate this proclamation by St. John Paul II for Sunday, May 12, 2019 as we commemorate mothers and also observe World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Vocation, be it marriage and family or religious life, while calling us to heroic sacrifice also brings the great privilege of participating in the work of Christ.
Read MoreWe need all the help we can get in parenting in this digital culture. Please check out the many resources we have for educating, safeguarding and healing for families in this age of social media and internet accessibility.
Read MoreFor the past six months I have spoken with many parents, young people, and couples about the dangers of the internet and technology. More directly, I have been speaking to them about the danger of internet pornography. Pornography poses a grave threat to individuals, couples and families, and society.
Read MoreAre you ready for Lent? Check out our Lenten resources!
"The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole life and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger,
Read MoreSpend a little dedicated time in prayer and reflection by participating in our seven-day virtual retreat (also available in PDF) focused on marriage. This year the retreat theme is “Marriage: Made for a Reason.”
Read MoreSex is good. It isn’t dirty or naughty or some kind of half-hearted concession to our fallen animalistic nature…it is good, just as it was good in the beginning. Be fruitful and multiply, He said. And so we are, and we do.
Read More“Maternity is a natural eucharist...The mother says to her child: “As I live because of Christ, so you will live because of me.”
Motherhood, a natural eucharist. This, the reality of pregnancy, the reality of motherhood, the reality of bringing a baby into the world...a woman says to the life that comes from within her, “This is my body, given up for you.”
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