Lent

Lent begins this Wednesday. I have found numerous ideas for celebrating Lent, including many for helping children to experience Lent. Before I offer any suggestions, I will start by suggesting that first and foremost, you don't overwhelm yourself with things to do. It is a time for fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. What it is not supposed to be is a burden. It is a time to step back a little bit from the things that normally keep us busy and reflect upon our spiritual condition. This is best done unencumbered. Plan to do less rather than more. Give yourself and your family more quiet time.
Generosity should come from the heart, not out of duty. Think about ways that you would like to share with and care for others outside your everyday sphere. Let your children think of some and plan to follow through with one or two ideas each week.
Morning Prayer in some form is a beautiful way to begin the day. Before everyone is off to work or school, have breakfast together and say grace before the meal. Pray a Morning Offering or give a blessing to each member of the household before they cross the threshold to go to work or school. It only takes a couple of minutes , and the day is started well. As I home school, I like to do the Liturgy of the Hours for the morning before we begin the school day.
Any sacrifices we offer should be truly a sacrifice, something we are willing to follow through with, and not a burden upon others to help us fulfill. For instance, a family member who does not cook should not choose a mode of fasting that requires special food preparation and then expect the person who prepares meals to abide by their decision. If one decides to make a dietary change, it must be one that the entire family has agreed upon or it the person who wishes to do so must see to any special food preparation that goes with it. That includes making a list of things they will need and either doing the shopping or helping with it.
Pray together as a family in the evening. Choose a prayer devotion such as the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Liturgy of the Hours or Daily Scripture readings. Be consistent. Be gentle and patient with your children during prayer time.
I have found that my best Lenten experiences have been when I have simplified my life rather than complicating it. Removing a little clutter from the home each day, and making a donation run once a week can be a wonderful way to get rid of distractions. This simplification also saves us time (because we know where to find everything we need) and allows us that quiet time I spoke of earlier. Set a specific amount of time and plan to declutter a specific area each day. Sing a praise song or hymn you like while you work (as Brother Lawrence said, "I have wonderful fellowship with God amidst the pots and pans"). Remove all forms of media that are not edifying to your spirit during Lent. You can use the extra time to read or play or pray or just talk with your children. I guarantee they will love having your undivided attention, and you will feel better at the end of the day for having done so.
This Lent my byword is going to be "Simplify". I am determined that anything I do for the Lord will be given joyfully from the heart, not a burden. Hopefully, when Easter arrives, I will be lighter and my home brighter! God Bless, have a wonderful Lenten season!

Objective Truth

The question "What is truth?" seems to be falling from the lips of virtually everyone these days. Like Pilate circa 30CE, the philosophical often look at it as a question of personal viewpoint. What is true for me may not be true for you.
There is a problem with this logic, though. There really is objective truth. The sky has a blue appearance even though the colorblind cannot distinguish it. A tennis ball is spherical even though the toddler holding it does not know the name of the shape. Some things are objectively true. Children learn to distinguish fantasy from reality when we teach them to observe with their senses what is concrete and what is mere trickery.
Why is it important for us, as people, to distinguish what is true and what is false? For starters, we need to know our limitations in order to understand our capabilities. A basic understanding of gravity prevents us from stepping off a balcony twelve floors up. The understanding that fire produces much heat prevents us from putting our hand into the flame on the stove.
Likewise, understanding objective truths about who we are helps us to attend to our mental and spiritual needs. If we attempt to live as if the truth doesn't matter, we are bound to be disappointed eventually. No matter how hard we try to make everyone be nice and bear with a person's personal beliefs about themselves, eventually someone will state what is painfully obvious and tear down the mental castle of sand that is self-delusion.
Let us always be truthful when dealing with others, but let us also always deal with the truth in love.

Being Reasonable

Many parents have watched sadly as their children have abandoned their Christian faith. It is often what the children believe to be the voice of reason and of scientific proofs that have led them to do so. But what if there are proofs which are more reasonable, what if there are proofs which are logical and consistent with the historical record?
This is not too good to be true, this is the basis of our continued faith! I recently began rereading "Life of Christ" by Fulton Sheen. In the first chapter of the book he makes an astounding and perfectly true statement which has been staring us in the face our entire lives: Jesus Christ is the only founder of a world religion ever to be preannounced. I would encourage you to read Sheen's book to realize the details of this claim, but it boils down to this: Jesus was expected by not only Jews but also by Gentiles throughout the world!
It is important that we introduce our children to these concepts at the very least. Better yet, we should introduce them to the works of spiritual giants. "Life of Christ" by Fulton Sheen is a great starting point because it is written in terms that are easy to understand. If we then move on to Chesterton, Lewis, Augustine, Ambrose, etc., that is wonderful.
It is also vitally important that our children are intimately familiar with the scriptures. Regular Bible reading is a must. In order for the scriptures to be intelligible, though, we must apply the scholarship of our spiritual fathers, the Church Fathers. We must show our children the reason that informs our faith.
If our children are not shown why our faith is not just spiritual but also reasonable, they will lose faith when their feelings and personal experience do not seem to support it.

Advent Activity Links

We are about a week into Advent, so I wanted to provide a few ideas for parents to share this season with their children. The Advent wreath is a great way for families to celebrate. See this link (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) for prayers, devotions, and blessings for Advent wreaths, Christmas Trees, Nativity Scenes and reading for candle lighting   http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/advent/index.cfm?utm_source=advent&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=advent/
The site titled Peanut Butter and Grace has a plethora of simple to complex ideas for Advent activities, including a Jesse Tree, book recommendations and frequent articles that cover special feast days. You can find it at http://www.pbgrace.com/
http://catholicmom.com/  has printables, crafts, and more.
Your younger kids may enjoy Holy Heroes, a site that includes Advent Adventure with daily activities including things parents can print and online videos and quizzes. Use this link http://www.holyheroes.com/
This is not a full list of everything that is out there, but these are some of my favorite sites. You may even find a new tradition for your family.
Have a great Advent Season, and enter into Christmas with open hearts!

Giving Thanks

My children really like Thanksgiving. I think they most like the feast. I can't blame them for that. The feast is a treat and taking the day off to spend together with family is a blessing.
Thanksgiving is also a great opportunity to consider our attitude in life. We often take for granted the myriad blessings we have. We have a warm home to shelter us from the elements, enough food to eat, clothes that are appropriate for the weather, and beyond that many things which are simply fun.
I was looking at the azure sky, the blue reflecting on the river, the trees in their Autumn foliage, etc. a couple of days ago. I realized how the food we eat and the materials needed to provide us shelter, transportation, and much more are all there for us in nature. I think one of the most perfect things that exists is the apple. They grow in abundance on trees, and are ready to eat the moment we pluck them from the branch. The experience of picking apples touches all of our senses; the feel of the firm fruit, the fragrance of the tree and the ripe apples, the color of the leaves and fruit, the flavor of the apple and snap of the skin as we bite into it. There are so many wondrous and beautiful things we take for granted.
As we think about the abundance of nature and the enjoyment we receive from it, we can have grateful hearts. As we serve our family with the chores we do, we can be thankful that we have family to serve. As we bear with that difficult person in our life, we can be glad that we probably aren't dealing with the difficulties that have made them that way.
I plan to take a few moments with my children to remind them of this. I hope that the lesson of how gratitude can make life happier will spill over into the rest of the year.

Perspective

A young friend of mine is very into the whole vegan/save the animals thing. I don't mind that people are into that. I do mind being insulted because my choices are different than theirs. I do mind being constantly inundated with social media messages that suggest I am a murderer because I use milk, butter, cheese, eggs, fish, poultry and meat. I do mind the suggestion that only vegans are intelligent enough to figure out how a human should eat. I mind that they go even further to suggest that our government aught to legislate in such a way as to make the above mentioned foods unavailable. It is hubris to think that everyone else should change to agree with you.
The arguments made by the people this young person idolizes range from containing some truth to being completely ridiculous. So, I just want to follow the idea that no one should use animal products of any kind to its logical conclusion. First, I could not use any form of petroleum distillate because that is made from fossilized animals. Lets eliminate all plastics, gas, oil, coal, asphalt and tar from use to support our cause. That means no plastic bottles, or containers, or furniture with plastic parts, or synthetic fabrics or fibers, no paint on the walls, no driving cars or using asphalt roads, and a gas, oil, or coal furnace is out of the question; we would would have to purchase only wind, solar, or hydroelectric power; but wait, we can't use plastics so insulated wiring is out, too. We need to eliminate glass because it is made of the melted remains of tiny sea creatures. Since we wouldn't be able to buy anything with plastic or glass packaging or use those asphalt roads, that means we had better hope we can barter for or grow everything we need where we live. We can't leave the block and it would be unethical to ask anyone to use those roads for us. Maybe, though, the whole argument is moot, because we couldn't use social media; we couldn't use computers or phones because they are made with plastic and are powered by charging them with insulated wires.
It is a wonderful thing to be young and passionate, but it is not wonderful for young people to be disrespectful and rude to anyone who has a different way of seeing things. It is not wonderful to try to force your opinion upon everyone else. Young people often lack perspective, but they also lack the self-discipline to behave courteously to those with different opinions. You don't win people over by insulting them. You show respect, and act respectably to earn the right to discuss your views politely.

Why Teaching Our Children Faith Is Important

The world we live in is full of problems. Most of them are things we have little power to change. There is one particular area where the things we do as parents today can make a huge difference in the future. The Church is not immune to the attitudes and values of our society. In fact, I would not be entirely wrong if I said that a breakdown in values within the Church has led to the state our society is in today. When social justice took a front stage in the Church, many people felt that things were headed in the right direction as Christians worked towards fairness and accountability in society. I am not saying that we do not have a responsibility in that area, but something very important was lost in the process. What was lost was an emphasis on Jesus, on a relationship with Him as the foundation on which we can build a better society. Teaching became more focused on social responsibility than relationship with the Lord Jesus. Two generations have grown up not learning the most important tenets of the faith. We cannot allow another generation to pass before we change what we do. The current generation can be the one who swings the pendulum back. They will not be that generation unless we, their parents, teach them faithfully. They need us to pray with them and for them. They need us to learn and teach them the scriptures. They need us to instruct them on why we do the things we do. Social responsibility needs to be anchored in a vibrant faith which has Jesus Christ at its center. The current generation of young people want badly to do something significant. We have to show them their value; we have to show them the power of a life lived by faith, the power of grace to transform people. The only way this is going to happen is for parents to take the lead. We must learn what we missed learning and share it with our children. We cannot depend upon catechism classes or weekly mass to teach them. We have to do that within our homes, the domestic church. While many parishes are beginning to offer adult catechism and Bible Study classes to cradle Catholics, there remains a burden on us to complete our knowledge of the faith. We cannot afford to leave education in our faith to others. The time has come for us to live as responsible Christians, faithful Christians. Prayer needs to be an unmistakable part of our family lives. We need to tell our children the stories of the Bible and the stories of the saints. Most of all, we must set an example by the way in which we live and the priorities we set. The generation we are raising can change things, but they won't unless we show them how.