Among Women Podcast #104 Little Ones in the Domestic Church

Among Women 104 welcomes Melanie Bettinelli, wife, mother, and blogger at The Wine Dark Sea to discuss the task and privilege of catechizing young children under the age of 5. Join us for Part One of a Two Part discussion of a series of blog posts that Melanie recently wrote on the subject.

This week's episode also profiles the life of St. Nonna, a wife and mother from 4th century Cappadoccia, whose faith led to the conversion of her husband, and whose three children the Church are also counted among the communion of saints.

Also in this episode, your chance to win Lisa Hendey's book, The Handbook for Catholic Moms. 

Polycarp is not a fish....

This week, my column A Word in Season features a look at the life and death of the great saint and martyr, Polycarp.

Here's a tease:

Imagine experiencing the satisfying aroma of bread baking in the oven when you should be observing a hideous death; imagine one man's life being consumed by the Eucharistic majesty even as he prepares to breathe his last.

Everything about Polycarp's life declared: "I am a Christian."

Ok, now go read the rest here.

This makes me think: For All the Saints, Let Your Life Song Sing...

Catholics understand the saints to be full participants in the mediatorship of Jesus. Their participation no more subtracts from his ministry than the glory that shines upon them subtracts from his glory. It is all his, forsooth.  there is one fountainhead from which we all have drunk and from which we bear refreshment to parched souls...

To ask one of the saints for his prayers is of one seamless piece with our asking each other to pray for us.  The precincts of the Divine mercy cannot be parceled out with addition and subtraction, with my siphoning off this bit of Jesus' priesthood when I venture to pray for you, and you pocketing that much of his merit when you lay your life down for me with such generosity day after day (one is thinking of one's spouse here).  There is only gushing superabundance here, immersing us all, filling us all, and sweeping us along in the tide of that amplitude overflowing from the Father himself.

---Thomas Howard, On Being Catholic, (Ignatius Press, 1997).

And then, there are times when we are reminded that there are even saints among us...