From a Mother's Heart

My relationship with Christ helped create my “mother heart.” And Jesus did just that. He prepared my heart for something I never thought that I would have to face as a mother. Several years ago, my son shared with my husband and I that he has same-sex attraction, or as our world terms it, homosexual. At first, I thought it was all about me. I cried and thought to myself, “what did I do wrong” ... “What will out family and friends think?” But, it did not take me long to figure out that it definitely WAS NOT about me. My son has the biggest cross to carry.

I Will Allure Her....

“Know that the Lord is God! It is He that made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Ps 100:3). In many ways, this short verse sums up my – and every – vocation story. Whenever I consider how it is that I wound up entering the Franciscan Sisters, T.O.R. of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother, the answer is always the same: God made me for Himself, and has spent my whole life drawing me back to Him.

Faith & Prayer, Young AdultSr. Agnes ThereseJune 2, 2014children, parents, prayer, vocation

A Mother's Prayer for Vocations

O Holy One O Perfect Source and Cause of all life Open me to your will. You are great, and highly to be praised O Most High LORD, Father of all that is. You created my mouth to praise You, my heart to love You, my soul to sing in Your love. Do not look upon my many sins and faults, O LORD, but only see what good I bring today. The Yes and No of my first parents brings me here: Their Yes brought me to existence. Their No brought me to that inherited sinfulness, that also brings me here in supplication and repentance.

Faith & Prayer, Young AdultAnne PerrellaJune 2, 2014children, father, mother, prayer, vocation

A Priest is Who God Made Me to Be

My vocation story is a story of my walk with the Lord. I grew up in a Catholic family, but it wasn’t until high school that I started really taking my faith seriously. In high school, I began to make prayer a regular part of my day, and my relationship with the Lord began to deepen. Prayer is nothing but communication with the Lord. The more I kept in touch with God throughout the day, the better I came to know Him. I also came to know myself more – who I am in God’s eyes.

Faith & Prayer, Young AdultFr. Christopher PerrellaJune 2, 2014catholic, father, prayer, priest, vocation

The Gift of Presence

The gift of presence is not easy to come by, you cannot pay for it, and few people have it naturally. When I say the gift of presence I do not mean personality - many people are 'personalities', rather, the 'gift of presence' is that amazing ability some people have, and foster, to really be present to another. We all know someone I hope who is really aware of others, who listens to others when they talk and remembers what they say, who looks others in the eye, who encourages with words and in their gestures, who wishes the best for them.

A Glorious Job

"It is so important for us to remember our elders – they are the ones who brought us into this world and nurtured us for so many years. They are our parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. They are our teachers, our farmers, our servicemen, and beloved religious. They taught us right from wrong, led us in the right direction when we were lost, they picked us up when we were down. They fed us, clothed us, put a roof over our heads, and kept us in good company when we needed it.

Young AdultMatthew BaileyFebruary 20, 2014elders, forgotten, job, love, meals, nursing home

Finding Peace

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your request known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:6-7.

This Scripture passage became my life source. Plagued by anxiety, worry, or doubt I recited this passage and remembered to pray—lifting my burdens up, I was assured I would be filled with peace transcending human comprehension.

Faith & Prayer, Life Challenges, Marital, Pre-Marital, Young AdultRose MalynowskiNovember 25, 2013catholic, communion, Mass, peace

My Father a True Role Model

When I look at myself, I want to be able to say that I am as great a man as my dad is, and to one day myself be as good a father as he has been to me. I hope to one day be the man he wants me to be, and raised me to be, since I know that he has only ever wanted the best for me, and that eventually I can return to him all the love and generosity that he has shown to me.

Parenting and Family Life, Young AdultShawn ProvostNovember 25, 2013dad, fan, father, hard work, role model, sacrifices

A Remarkable Single Mother

Certain people firmly impress you the moment you meet - a joyful charisma, a sharp intellect, shining eyes, graceful poise - what ever it is, they have something special that they can't hide. Others impress you more and more over time, special qualities reveal themselves as you get to know them - in my experience it is usually then because of a deep humility - a quiet and strong faith.

Life Challenges, Parenting and Family LifeBenjamen HettrickNovember 25, 2013faith, joy, single mother

The Gift of My Wife

his story is also not about me, or about my other five kids (James, Simon, Violet, Eliza, or Cecily), this story is about my amazing wife. When we began having children 10 years ago, we never thought we would be a parent to a Special Needs Child. We soon realized through the tears and laughter, that this was a blessing bestowed upon us by the lord.

Life Challenges, Parenting and Family Life, MaritalShawn RouillardNovember 25, 2013cross, gift, grace, special needs, wife

My Mom

Two of my other brothers have learning disabilities, too. But these challenges have not caused my mother to lose hope or stop living her life; they have developed her into the loving, caring, patient, and selfless person that she is. Her trust in God is her greatest virtue and something that helped me develop my relationship with God.

Life Challenges, Parenting and Family Life, Young AdultMichael VigneauNovember 25, 2013faith, family, Mass, mother, rosary, siblings, special needs

Developing Servant Hearts in Our Families

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song. Psalm 100:1-2

Pray about where and how your family is called to serve. How can we best use the gifts and talents God has given us at this time in our life? We are not called to do everything – especially all at once. Look for opportunities that fit your family’s ages and talents.
Adopt the attitude a pastor has with his brother priests . . . “Outdo one another in generosity.”
Modeling service toward spouse and children is how we best teach. Our children will learn to serve by our witness of selfless service to our spouse, children and community and providing them with opportunities to do the same.

Parenting and Family Life, Marital, Life Challenges, Pre-MaritalKaren HettrickNovember 25, 2013adopt, elderly, family, love, pray, servant, serve, talents, volunteer

A Faith Journey to the Emerald Isle: How Volunteering Changed My Life

After graduating from college in 2010, I still didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was that God put this strong desire in my heart to help people and I began searching for job and volunteer opportunities to do this. After lots of prayer and trusting in God, I decided to volunteer in Ireland.

Parenting and Family Life, Young AdultKate StoneNovember 25, 2013challenges, disabilities, Ireland, L'Arche, love, volunteer

The Catholic Family on Mission

While my daughter Elisabeth was still with us – before the Lord called her home – we had a health visitor come to the house once a week, on account of my daughter’s health. After some weeks, the health visitor announced that if we still wanted her to come then we would have to pay for it directly, since the national insurance only covered the first few weeks of the visits. Seeing as we had all the help we needed, we said that we would not continue.

Carolyn - A Birth Mother’s Story and Adoptive Mom’s Story

A true story told from the perspective of a birth Mother and adoptive Mother in the State of NH with appreciation from their daughter.

From the Birth Mom Putting my baby up for adoption was the most difficult decision of my life. I was young and irresponsible. I deeply regretted getting pregnant. Deep down I knew how important it was for a child to have good parents and a good upbringing. I knew I was not that person and my baby deserved better.

When the time came to give birth, I regret deeply that I chose to not see or hold my baby.

Open Hearts – Stories of Adoption

Adoption was simply a miracle of life for us. It allowed us to overcome infertility!

After realizing our family would not grow biologically, we investigated our options and chose to adopt. We had a negative image of adoption - bad press, a lengthy and bureaucratic time-line, the unforeseeable surprises and disappointments along the way. However, once we accepted these challenges and decided to jump in anyway, we began the count down to growing our family, God willing.

Nurturing the Theological Gift of Faith in Your Family

Our first goal in nurturing the theological gift of faith in our family is to teach our children the two greatest commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. Lessons in this school of love take place in every act of love we ourselves give to our God which our children witness. Likewise, they learn to love their neighbor by seeing how we love each other.

Faith & Prayer, Parenting and Family LifeVincent & Evi DemeoNovember 25, 2013faith, family, Mass, obedience, prayer, rosary, scripture, virtue

Virtue - Don't Leave Home Without It.

We have been given the tools we need to build virtuous families!

Norm and Cindy Coutu, parents of five children, share why they believe building virtue is important in arming our children to face the challenges of the world.

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Living Public School Life

Our family's dinner table discussion often has a consistent theme. Given that both Bill (Elementary Principal) and Marie (Paraprofessional) work in public schools and their daughter Abby just completed student teaching at Keene State, teaching and learning is the topic of the day for the Carozzas.

The advantage of working in schools is that we see family life being played out daily in the lives of children. This year, a mother and father of a newly diagnosed autistic child longed for a ray of hope as they worked with Bill to provide support for their son. Marie forged a close relationship with a fourth grade boy with a newly incarcerated Dad and provided critical guidance for the little guy.

Parenting and Family LifeBill & Marie CarozzaNovember 25, 2013academic, autistic, children, school, teaching

Living Parochial School Life

t’s common to talk about “return on investment” when contemplating decisions which have a significant financial impact. Like many families, though God has graciously blessed us with employment that has provided our needs, we still struggle with a fixed income and dealing with what seems like ever increasing expenses. We know that the Lord is looking for a “return” on his investment in us (Mt. 25: 14-30) – especially in His most precious gifts to us, our children. We decided this critical time in their spiritual formation was the right time to “invest”.

Parenting and Family LifeTom & Sylvie TetreaultNovember 25, 2013catholic, education, faith, parochial, school, values

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song. Psalm 100:1-2

We have been given the tools we need to build virtuous families!

Watch Here!

St. Joseph Catholic Family Center @ Ste. Marie Parish, Manchester, NH