I'm over at Amazing Catechists... doing my Pat-in-the-Cat thing, and talking about taking faith on vacation

I've written about this subject before, in which I ask Does the Catechism Have Any Wisdom for My Summer Vacation? Go check out my column at Amazing Catechists.

This makes me think... what the end of the Catechism says

A few short summary lines of catechesis on The Lord's Prayer... 

2857 In the Our Father, the object of the first three petitions is the glory of the Father: the sanctification of his name, the coming of the kingdom, and the fulfillment of his will. The four others present our wants to him: they ask that our lives be nourished, healed of sin, and made victorious in the struggle of good over evil.

2858 By asking "hallowed be thy name" we enter into God's plan, the sanctification of his name - revealed first to Moses and then in Jesus - by us and in us, in every nation and in each man.

2859 By the second petition, the Church looks first to Christ's return and the final coming of the Reign of God. It also prays for the growth of the Kingdom of God in the "today" of our own lives.

2860 In the third petition, we ask our Father to unite our will to that of his Son, so as to fulfill his plan of salvation in the life of the world.

2861 In the fourth petition, by saying "give us," we express in communion with our brethren our filial trust in our heavenly Father. "Our daily bread" refers to the earthly nourishment necessary to everyone for subsistence, and also to the Bread of Life: the Word of God and the Body of Christ. It is received in God's "today," as the indispensable, (super-) essential nourishment of the feast of the coming Kingdom anticipated in the Eucharist.

2862 The fifth petition begs God's mercy for our offences, mercy which can penetrate our hearts only if we have learned to forgive our enemies, with the example and help of Christ.

2863 When we say "lead us not into temptation" we are asking God not to allow us to take the path that leads to sin. This petition implores the Spirit of discernment and strength; it requests the grace of vigilance and final perseverance.

2864 In the last petition, "but deliver us from evil," Christians pray to God with the Church to show forth the victory, already won by Christ, over the "ruler of this world," Satan, the angel personally opposed to God and to his plan of salvation.

2865 By the final "Amen," we express our "fiat" concerning the seven petitions: "So be it."

Among Women ReadHER 7.21.12... CUA & Wheaton's collab on HHS, "dating", Olympics, What Women Want

Among Women ReadHER 7.21.12

Prayers for Aurora with the Office of the Dead
By Elizabeth Scalia at The Anchoress
Let us pray, pray, pray.

Philip Ryken and John Garvey: An Evangelic-Catholic Stand on Liberty
By Philip Ryken and John Garvey at the Wall Street Journal
The fight againt HHS mandate continues. In this article the President of Wheaton College (a major Evangelical institution) and the President of The Catholic University of America team up to file suit against the mandate. Stay tuned, and stay informed on this issue - a must for every Catholic. 


You can track all the lawsuits here (not just the Catholic ones.) 


Women Speak for Themselves is a cool initiative... please check it out.


Finally, if you missed Archbishop Chaput's Homily in DC on July 4th, go here and read it.

Bishops Welcome Inclusion of Conscience Provisions in a House Appropriations Bill
Posted at the USCCB
Read it for some encouragement. There's still a long way to go to make this happen.

In Defense of the 'D' Word
By Michael Hammond at the Catholic Portal at Patheos
I sent this to my sons; it's about dating. 

Abducted by Art
By Simcha Fisher at her blog at National Catholic Register
Some stirring commentary on art and comic strips and the state of weight and women. (On a related note, on AW 139 this week, we're talking to Ellen Austin about her comic strip creation, "Gracieland.") 


Should a Six Year Old Girl Be Trying to Look Sexy?
By Tony Rossi at Christopher Close-up
A good question... especially for the parents reading this.


What Women Want
By Barbara Kay at the National Post, reprinted by CERC
More commentary on the previous Atlantic Monthly article on the work/home balance for women.


The Miracle of the Violet
By Maria Morera Johnson at CatholicMom.com
If you pay attention, the little things in life have much to teach us. Over and over again. (This article is also available in Spanish.)


SQPN Announces an All-New Virtual Ticket to the CNMC
Posted at CatholicNewMediaConference.com
Can't make it the CNMC in Dallas? This might be a great option to get all the talks, plus content from previous conferences delivered to you after the event.


Prayer, Faith Guide Maryland Swimmer in Quest for Olympic Gold
By Maureen Boyle in the Catholic Standard
Praying a Hail Mary before each race, and other thoughts.

Get your catechism fix here... with the cutest catechist on the planet to date... son of author and blogger Brandon Vogt.

This makes me think... we've heard a lot about conscience in the media, how about from the CCC?

1795 "Conscience is man's most secret core, and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths" (Gaudium et Spes, par 16).

1796 Conscience is a judgment of reason by which the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act.

1797 For the man who has committed evil, the verdict of his conscience remains a pledge of conversion and of hope.

1798 A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. Everyone must avail himself of the means to form his conscience.

1799 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.

1800 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience.

1801 Conscience can remain in ignorance or make erroneous judgments. Such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt.

1802 The Word of God is a light for our path. We must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. This is how moral conscience is formed.

-- From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Don't be afraid or discouraged by the HHS mandate. Listen and learn from these women speaking out against religious liberty.

"Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God." 

--Pope St. Leo the Great, as cited in the CATECHISM, par. 1691.

Ok, so I thought it was best to start out with the hope we have.

I'll admit that, earlier this week, I was a discouraged by the way the Senate voted on the Blunt amendment with regard to the current assault on the Catholic Church, and others, regarding the HHS Mandate. I think Kathryn Lopez said it rather succinctly: "The majority of the Senate did not want to protect the First Amendement. Thanks, guys." She reminds: "Elections matter."

I'm not a political pundit, and I may not have all the compelling political arguments about this down pat. But I'm someone who takes our moral obligations as Christians seriously.

I know one thing. Silence is great virtue when it comes to prayer. But not so much when it comes to issues of justice. Better stated, perhaps, we must draw strength from the silence of our prayer and move out from there into the world.

We must meet God in the sanctuary of our conscience, and then live in such a way so as to protect the rights of conscience in the individual, and in our country at large, in terms of our First Amendment right to religious liberty in the Constitution. 

The dignity of the human person demands that we protest this affront to conscience and religious freedom. The law of love demands that we act based on our care for our neighbor.

The world needs your credible witness and mine. Sure, it's scary. But it is necessary. 

This is Lent. We've got the spiritual tools to combat sin and injustice.

• Fasting.
• Prayer.
• Alms.

We've got the social and political tools to defeat this mandate and to be a force for good in our world.

• Speaking up and protesting.
• Signing petitions.
• Voting.

The most important tool is our own voice in our spheres of influence.

You may have heard claims that this is a contraception issue and a women's issue. But it is first and foremost an issue of conscience and religious liberty, an issue dear to women and men of many religious traditions. 

Let's not have people wonder, where are the women who care about this?

Let's make sure we can say: Here. We. Are.

While there are many people across the country speaking out about this. We need the passionate voices of women to be seen and heard, and not just Catholic women.

So I'd like to offer the rest of this post as a roundup of women speaking out on this subject.

As reported on NRO, Helen Alvare and Kim Daniels sent this reply to the Obama administration. And they have a petition going that I encourage women to sign over at WomenSpeakforThemselves.com

Here's the Heritage Foundation's Women Speak Out: Obamacare Tramples Religious Liberty panel:



Here's another good panel -- listen to the audio from the Catholic Information Center's event, partnered with AltCatholicah, Women Challenging the HHS Mandate, with a lively panel of very qualified women from the legal and medical professions discussing this subject matter.


I'm adding my voice here...

You may have already heard this, but Kathryn Lopez and Elizabeth Scalia reviewed the basics of this debate a few weeks back on Among Women. 

I love the hope in that opening video that we have as Catholic Christians. I have always loved that quote from Pope St. Leo. Let me encourage you to strongly consider your role in this struggle.

Pray. Hope. Act.

------
Other women speaking out in related articles:

• Professor Janet Smith, also hear her conversation with Drew Mariano on radio.
• Theologian Pia Di Solenni
• Sr. Mary Ann Walsh
• Marybeth Hicks
• Peggy Noonan
• Elizabeth Scalia
• Emily Stimpson
• Hillary Senour
• Alveda King
• Cathy Ruse
• Kat Fernandez
• Carrie Severino

Earlier posts on this blog about with links to this subject:

• 3.3.12
• 2.11.12
• 2.4.12
• 1.28.12
• 11.6.09

The AW podcast on this subject.

Need Joy? Sunday is your answer. My latest at Amazing Catechists...

Here's what this article at my column at Amazing Catechists is about:

Sometimes, the joy busters of life get the better of me. But not lately.When I delve into the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I really get a sense of the joie de vivre of Catholic life. Something that has had a real and  practical application for my life is finding the joy of Sundays. After all, Sunday was the day that Jesus was raised from the death… and in so many ways, a thoughtful observance of Sunday can breathe life back into the other days of the week for me. 

Tucked in the middle of a longer summary about Sundays, I came across this tiny, yet powerful phrase: the day of joy. I was immediately struck by how often I have revered Sunday as an obligation and a day of rest, but have not always consciously entered into it as a day of joy, save for major feast days.  As it turns out, that is just one aspect of a bigger idea that describes Christian joy as proper to Sundays.

Read the whole thing.

This makes me think... (Hint: read/buy the Compendium)

I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God

79. What is the Good News for humanity?
422-424
It is the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the “Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), who died and rose from the dead. In the time of King Herod and the Emperor Caesar Augustus, God fulfilled the promises that he made to Abraham and his descendants. He sent “his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).
80. How is the Good News spread?
425-429
From the very beginning the first disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Jesus Christ in order to lead all to faith in him. Even today, from the loving knowledge of Christ there springs up in the believer the desire to evangelize and catechize, that is, to reveal in the Person of Christ the entire design of God and to put humanity in communion with him.

“And in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord”

81. What is the meaning of the name “Jesus”?
430-435
452
Given by the angel at the time of the Annunciation, the name “Jesus” means “God saves”. The name expresses his identity and his mission “because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Peter proclaimed that “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we can be saved” (Acts 4:12).
82. Why is Jesus called “Christ”?
436-440
453
“Christ” in Greek, “Messiah” in Hebrew, means the “anointed one”. Jesus is the Christ because he is consecrated by God and anointed by the Holy Spirit for his redeeming mission. He is the Messiah awaited by Israel, sent into the world by the Father. Jesus accepted the title of Messiah but he made the meaning of the term clear: “come down from heaven” (John 3:13), crucified and then risen , he is the Suffering Servant “who gives his life as a ransom for the many” (Matthew 20:28). From the name Christ comes our name of Christian.
83. In what sense is Jesus the Only Begotten Son of God?
441-445
454
Jesus is the Son of God in a unique and perfect way. At the time of his Baptism and his Transfiguration, the voice of the Father designated Jesus as his “beloved Son”. In presenting himself as the Son who “knows the Father” (Matthew 11:27), Jesus affirmed his singular and eternal relationship with God his Father. He is “the Only Begotten Son of God” (1 John 4:9), the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is the central figure of apostolic preaching. The apostles saw “his glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father” (John 1:14).
84. What is the meaning of the title “Lord”?
446-451
455
In the Bible this title regularly designates God as Sovereign. Jesus ascribed this title to himself and revealed his divine sovereignty by his power over nature, over demons, over sin, and over death, above all by his own Resurrection. The first Christian creeds proclaimed that the power, the honor, and the glory that are due to God the Father also belong to Jesus: God “has given him the name which is above every other name” (Philippians 2:9). He is the Lord of the world and of history, the only One to whom we must completely submit our personal freedom.

--Just a sampling of all the good stuff found in the Q & A format of the Compendium of the Catechism.

Find it online here.

Find a hardcopy here.

Among Women ReadHER 11.19.11

Among Women ReadHer

11.19.11

Lesson One in Prayer
By Dr. Peter Kreeft at The Integrated Life
This is the first installment in a larger series. Definitely worth a read, and there is a recorded talk (podcast) with Kreeft also at this link.

Making Room
By Simcha Fisher at her blog at the National Catholic Register
Writer lesson one: write what you know. This is a home run. For parents, for families, for advent.

The Calm Before The Storm

By William O'Leary of Catechists in the Third Millennium

The calm before the Christmas "storm" that is... three ways to make your Advent more meaningful... and consider clicking through to the article mentioned at the end of #3. (It is an archived piece by Mary Beth Bonacci and well worth the trouble.) Need more Advent prep help?  Check out this week's AW 116 with Sarah Reinhard with ideas for lowering the stress levels.

Teen Girls Twice as Likely as Boys to Tweet
By eMarketer
Not surprised. Other stats listed too. (One of my son's once complained about a former girlfriend who chronically texted him with suffocating frequency.) 


The Catechism Demystified
By Julie Davis at Happy Catholic
Simple, direct, with illustrations. Go see. Julie is a wise and wonderful Catholic blogger and podcaster; hear a delight and fun conversation about her Happy Catholic book on AW 99, or find her conversion story and blog story on AW 49.

The King's Speech
Posted by Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia
A transcription of Archbishop Timothy Dolan's opening speech at the Plenary meeting of the US Catholic Conference of Bishops. (+Dolan is the president.) For me the speech captures the heart and mission of the new evangelization.


Mississippi Didn't Need Personhood Amendment to Ban Abortion
By Steven Ertelt on LifeSite News
I still think we need discussions about personhood as part of the overall discussion regarding the dignity of the human person. However, having personal discussions about this issue, and the necessity for specificity of language regarding the law are two different things. I think the legal counsel on this --from a Catholic standpoint -- was that this was not the legal battle that would help end abortion in Mississippi, and therefore it did not garner the support from the major Catholic voices in the public square, most specifically the US Catholic Bishops, among others. Honestly, I should have done my homework better on that score; I think I was a bit too quick in my own support of it, as I saw supporting it as a way of standing with other Christians (non-Catholics that I know) in trying to promote a culture of life. In retrospect, I need to take the wider long term view. 


Christ the King and the 'Net Positive
By Elizabeth Scalia at her Tuesday column on First Things
You never know who is listening, watching or reading.


How to Restore a Culture in One Easy Step
By Joe Carter at First Things
Yes, another selection from First Things, but worth it! You know I always try to promote bible reading and bible study... Carter makes a case for it as we've witnessed the shift away from a once-Judeo-Christian ethic that figured prominently in recent centuries and has been abandoned in our secular age.


Buying Locally Catholic
By Sarah Reinhard at SnoringScholar.com
Good advice. Try this as you prepare for the Christmas holidays. And hey -- if you're preparing for Advent, not to be redundant, but take a listen to Sarah Reinhard's appearance on the latest episode of Among Women! 

Wasted for Love
By Sr. Lisa Marie at Virtuous Pla.net
A look at discerning God's will in life and in our vocations.

Bishops Add 2 New Memorials to our Liturgical Calendar
By Deacon Greg Kandra at The Deacon's Bench
And the two are 1) Oct. 22 for Blessed John Paul II and 2) Jan. 23 Blessed Marianne Cope (who we recently profiled on AW 115.)


And again, thanks to The Deacon, who posted this totally amazing TED talk (about 10 minutes) complete with video on new technologies that see inside the body -- a short film from conception to birth -- splendidly done.

And speaking of videos, Matt Warner at National Catholic Register posted 10 short previews of all the films in the landmark Catholicism series produced by Fr. Robert Barron. 

Cheating Death and Growing in Gratitude -- a heck of a thanksgiving post

Grateful that I've been over at Patheos for well over a year now!

Here's the opening to my latest column at A Word in Season:

In a nanosecond I saw my life pass before my eyes as an on-coming out-of-control Camaro crossed into my lane. I did all I could to avoid the impact, while thinking…  

 “Oh, God, this is how I’m gonna die.” 

But then I didn’t. The pulverizing sound of the crash was less frightening that the thought of what we would look like afterward. The little economy car was totaled. Despite a severe whiplash and bruises, I managed to get out from behind the crooked dash, unbuckle the children in the back seat -- crying and shaken but okay -- and walk away.

That day, and for weeks after, I grew in gratitude for the preciousness of life amidst harrowing flashbacks and “what if’s?”

Here's the rest.

Please consider subscribing to my weekly column.

This makes me think... about faith and the exciting intersections of anniversaries in the coming year.

 The “door of faith” (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church. It is possible to cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime. It begins with baptism (cf. Rom 6:4), through which we can address God as Father, and it ends with the passage through death to eternal life, fruit of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, whose will it was, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, to draw those who believe in him into his own glory (cf. Jn17:22). To profess faith in the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is to believe in one God who is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8): the Father, who in the fullness of time sent his Son for our salvation; Jesus Christ, who in the mystery of his death and resurrection redeemed the world; the Holy Spirit, who leads the Church across the centuries as we await the Lord’s glorious return. 
(from par. 1)

...

I have decided to announce a Year of Faith. It will begin on 11 October 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and it will end on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King, on 24 November 2013. The starting date of 11 October 2012 also marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a text promulgated by my Predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, with a view to illustrating for all the faithful the power and beauty of the faith. This document, an authentic fruit of the Second Vatican Council, was requested by the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in 1985 as an instrument at the service of catechesis and it was produced in collaboration with all the bishops of the Catholic Church. Moreover, the theme of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops that I have convoked for October 2012 is “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith”. This will be a good opportunity to usher the whole Church into a time of particular reflection and rediscovery of the faith. 
(from par. 4)

...

I would like to sketch a path intended to help us understand more profoundly not only the content of the faith, but also the act by which we choose to entrust ourselves fully to God, in complete freedom. In fact, there exists a profound unity between the act by which we believe and the content to which we give our assent. Saint Paul helps us to enter into this reality when he writes: “Man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved” (Rom 10:10). The heart indicates that the first act by which one comes to faith is God’s gift and the action of grace which acts and transforms the person deep within.

The example of Lydia is particularly eloquent in this regard. Saint Luke recounts that, while he was at Philippi, Paul went on the Sabbath to proclaim the Gospel to some women; among them was Lydia and “the Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul” (Acts16:14). There is an important meaning contained within this expression. Saint Luke teaches that knowing the content to be believed is not sufficient unless the heart, the authentic sacred space within the person, is opened by grace that allows the eyes to see below the surface and to understand that what has been proclaimed is the word of God.

Confessing with the lips indicates in turn that faith implies public testimony and commitment. A Christian may never think of belief as a private act. Faith is choosing to stand with the Lord so as to live with him. This “standing with him” points towards an understanding of the reasons for believing. Faith, precisely because it is a free act, also demands social responsibility for what one believes. The Church on the day of Pentecost demonstrates with utter clarity this public dimension of believing and proclaiming one’s faith fearlessly to every person. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes us fit for mission and strengthens our witness, making it frank and courageous. 

(from par. 10)

---Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter, Moto Proprio Data, Porta Fidei. (For the Indiction of the Year of Faith.)

Parents: Here's Help in Preparing Your Child to Receive the Sacraments. (You can DO this!)

I love Lisa Mladinich's energy and verve when it comes to sharing the faith with children. I've endorsed her work here and elsewhere. Today, I'm asking her to share, in her own words, her latest booklet, and how it can help us prepare children for their sacraments. --Pat

Sacraments: Bridging the Gap between Heaven and Earth

“The Sacraments of Christian Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist – lay the foundation of every Christian life.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 1212)

It is very humbling to be in this particular space. I’d like to profusely thank Pat Gohn, catechist par excellence (for whom my admiration is just huge), for inviting me to offer a guest blog in celebration of my new booklet, “Be an Amazing Catechist: Sacramental Preparation” (Our Sunday Visitor, 30 pgs). Written with both parents and catechists in mind, it is a guide for teaching the sacraments of Penance, Holy Eucharist, and Confirmation accurately and vibrantly, so that both you and the children will come to a more complete appreciation for their purpose, beauty and power to transform lives.

“Sacraments are ‘powers that come forth’ from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are ‘the masterworks of God’ in the new and everlasting covenant.” (Luke 5:17, 6:19, 8:46)(CCC 1116)

Teaching the sacraments can be unbelievably exciting. Consider this: The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that everything Jesus did during His public ministry announced and prepared the way for everything He would accomplish in us afterwards (CCC 1115). By coming to earth in all His divinity and taking on human form, He bridged the gap between heaven and earth. Before He ascended to heaven, He created a spiritual bridge for us by establishing the sacraments, each a vehicle for its own unique grace, to be administered by the Church.

It is well worth the effort to prepare ourselves to teach these thrilling truths to our children with sensitivity, enthusiasm and wisdom. As we pray, study, and cling to the sacraments, our lives become flooded with God’s grace.

Culled from my own experiences, research, and interviews with dedicated parents and catechists, this little guide on sacramental preparation is packed with practical, creative, and inspirational help on topics such as:

• The call to teach the Faith, and the call to conversion
• Submission to the Church’s authority and the graces that follow
• Heroes of the Faith
• Teaching reverence to children
• Lesson planning basics
• The purpose of confession
• Helping kids overcome their fear of the confessional
• Explaining the Eucharist
• Options for receiving Communion
• Confirmation preparation
• Breaking through to teens
• Nine things that confirmands should memorize
• Helping teens develop a Catholic identity
• Assessments
• The importance of reaching out to other parents 

All my booklets run $2.95 for a single copy and $17.90 for bundles of ten.

The original booklet, “Be an Amazing Catechist: Inspire the Faith of Children,” a guide to creative teaching methodologies that can be used with any religious ed curriculum, is also available in Spanish!

--Lisa Mladinich

Lisa is also the founder of Amazing Catechists. Read Lisa's weekly column at Patheos. 

Getting Ready for this Sunday's Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: "The Sublime Logic of the Trinity" -- my column this week at Patheos

There's no end to plumbing the depths of the mystery of the Holy Trinity... but for us mere mortals, the Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us beautiful insights to this, the most foundational of Christian beliefs. A Word in Season, my column at Patheos, highlights some of the basics truths that might assist our desire to grow in the knowledge of God, and accept his amazing love for us.

Here's an excerpt....

Christians have faith in this Three-in-one God because of God’s own revelation to us. God not only created time but entered into time and spoke to us. The primary reason for this divine intervention is that God longed to reveal Himself to us, and did so in ever increasing degrees over the course of human history. 

Think about it: This is a God that wants to be known.  By us! And loved by us. The most amazing thing about the glory of God is that it is something that God wishes to share with us.

 God is not afraid to seek us out and invite us to be joined to him in everlasting glory. God is our origin and our end.

Read the whole thing.

Please subscribe to my weekly column, if you enjoy it. It can be delivered right to your email inbox, or a reader via an RSS feed.

Among Women ReadHer...5.28.11

Among Women ReadHer

5.28.11

Desparately Seeking Pregnancy - Ellen Gable Hrkach at CatholicMom.com
Support for infertility sufferers. 
Related: Among Women Podcast 89 features a talk about miscarriage and family life with Ellen Gable Hrkach.

Video: The second episode for "The Catholic View for Women" is posted at EWTN.
This time the panel talks about Catholic identity. Episode 3 recently aired, but is not on-demand yet.

News from the Vatican for a meeting for Families in 2012

The Church's Divorce Dilemma - Emily Stimpson at OSV
Related: Among Women Podcast 98 features a talk with Lisa Duffy of DivorcedCatholic.org.

Clothing for Girls Sends Wrong Message - Mary Beth Hicks at Family Events
Much needed commentary, plus interesting supplemental articles at the bottom of the page, especially the Sexualization of Girls report by the APA.


New Catechism for Youth:

If you can remember "Where is Thumbkin?", you can learn to summarize the content of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Really.

Amazing Catechists has my column, "You & Me & the CCC." This time around, I'm sharing one of my favorite ways to summarize the content of the Catechism of the Catholic Church... to the tune of the familiar nursery rhyme, "Where is Thumbkin?"  Don't ask me to explain it here. Go there and check it out! (There's other good stuff from a host of catechists writing on various subjects.)

A Word in Season: "AS" We Forgive Those...

My weekly column, A Word in Season, tackles dealing with resentment and working on forgiveness. Ah yes, so much comes clear in the season Lent... or am I the only one who gets tripped up with these things? Anyway, here's some of what you'll find there...

Observe the little word in the line of the Lord’s Prayer that gets to the heart of it all…

 “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

This petition is astonishing…. according to the second phrase, our petition will not be heard unless we have first met a strict requirement. Our petition looks to the future, but our response must come first, for the two parts are joined by the single word "as." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 2838.)

That little word “as” … is AS-tonishing! No getting around it. It’s the stickler, the caveat, the tipping point, for the truth of this teaching. 

How many times have I asked God’s forgiveness for something, when I really had no clue that I was to extend it to others first? Often, I just rattled off the words of prayer, not paying attention to what they meant.

The Lord desires my true conversion, so I had to get it straight: “Our response must come first.” Then the Lord “hears” my prayer. 

Ok, it's not an easy teaching, but you'll find the rest here.

The Church as My Mother & Teacher

Like most of my better lessons in life, taking the Church as my Mother and Teacher was something that grew over time...

My best memories of my mother and my favorite teachers are what shaped my understanding of the Catholic Church as my Mother and Teacher. Sure, in my younger years, I lacked a real appreciation for the richness and wisdom that She was trying to impart to me.  But once I got a taste of real forgiveness and grace – the home cooking of what every soul is hungry for – I never wanted another Mother or Teacher again. Over the course of my young adult years, there were moments of on- going conversion. And since that time, I’ve found a sense of fulfillment within the Church like no place on earth because Jesus was there. 

Read the rest over at my column today at Catholic Exchange.

25 Phrases from the CCC Worth Memorizing -- Can you learn 3?

To start the New Year right, why not make a small resolution to memorize just 3 lines of the Catechism of the Catholic Church?  Surely everyone can memorize three lines or phrases right?

Here's a few suggestions from my latest on Catholic Exchange:

CCC 27 The desire for God is written in the human heart.

CCC 68  By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of his life.

CCC 70 The Son is his Father's definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after him. 

CCC 435 The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. 

CCC 658 Christ, "the first-born from the dead" (Col 1:18), is the principle of our own resurrection, even now by the justification of our souls (cf. Rom 6:4), and one day by the new life he will impart to our bodies (cf.: Rom 8:11). 

CCC 682 When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man according to his works, and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace. 

CCC 780 The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men. 

CCC 826 Charity is the soul of the holiness to which all are called: it "governs, shapes, and perfects all the means of sanctification [Lumen Gentium, 42].” 

CCC 982 There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive.

Go read the rest!

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Catechism Trivia & History

Do you know the history of how the Catechism of the Catholic Church came to us?  Do you know who was the mastermind behind its text and organization?  Find out here in this post over at Amazing Catechists in my column on some of the trivia about the CCC that most folks have never known.

Here's a tease:

Just for a moment, consider that this global task began in the late 80s before widespread use of email and electronic reference texts and tools existed.  Not only that, you pretty much would want to hire a spiritual Superman for the job, given the impact this work is going to have. 

Imagine the job description:  

Wanted: Excellent communicator with a genius level understanding of Catholic doctrine and theology, coupled with a passionate fidelity to orthodoxy. Candidate should possess a pastor’s heart and concern for those who teach and learn the faith. Success as a published author a must!

There is more here.

In Each of Us, Christ: "Christ in you, the hope of glory"

Over at Amazing Catechists, an amazing line up of catechists are writing on this same topic this month: "In Each of Us, Christ."  Lisa Mladinich, the founder of AC, tells the story of how we came to be writing on that subject here.

Anyway, each catechist is writing about that subject according to their column's specialty -- mine being "You and Me and the CCC", (the Catechism), I tackle the subject using the CCC's text and scripture.

Here's a sample:

Baptism is both your identity and your destiny.  It tells you who you are, where you came from, and where you are going.  It defines where “home” is and where you belong.  It sets the course for the rest of your life – and eternity – if you embrace it.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. 

Oh, there's so much more, here. 

Among Women Podcast #77: A Special Edition on Prayer featuring AW listeners!

Among Women 77 is a "Special Edition" on the subject of Prayer.  A departure from our usual format, Pat spends time unpacking introductory material on prayer from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, with a teaching on prayer as "gift", "covenant" and "communion".

Then AW listeners share their thoughts on the role of prayer in their lives.

With music from the Daughters of St. Paul Choir, classical guitarist David Estrem and harpist Cheryl Ann Fulton.