Of Sound Mind and Spirit

Last year on Good Friday, the kids and I planned to pray at 3 p.m. in honor of the moment Jesus gave in to his suffering and died on the cross.  However, at 2:58 I found myself driving home from our Zoo trip with exhausted kids in the backseat.  After making the decision to pray silently to myself, my then 7-year-old son piped up from the back, “Mom, pull over, it’s almost 3!!!”  Surprised he remembered, I pulled over on the side of the road where we prayed together for several minutes. This year we planned again to pray together at 3 p.m. on Good Friday. That morning the kids and I watched a few Bible stories about Jesus's life, death and resurrection.  In the early afternoon, friends started arriving for a swim date in our yard.  As the day neared 3 p.m., I wondered again if I should just take a moment to myself for prayer or interrupt the kids so we could pray together. It also crossed my mind that some of these kids might think our family a bit unusual. In that

Today we're excited to be part of a blog tour promoting the book Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless written by Sarah Reinhard. You may recognize Sarah's name as the author of two books in last month's Lenten book giveaway. We'll post our review of the book later this month, but first wanted to share some of our questions with Sarah about her writing process. Sarah, I really enjoyed this book, particularly the way you offered suggestions to add an element of faith in so many different ways. I wish I'd had this when my daughters were little. What was the best part of writing this book? -- The subtitle definitely has a soft spot for me, but I also enjoyed tapping into fun family activities to share with others. So which word from the subtitle do you think best describes your family? -- Depends on the day...I usually start adventurous and creative and then dissolve into overwhelmed and clueless. What do you hope

Christ is Present in the Mass Several years ago, I joined a category of Catholics who were lamenting a loss of connection with the beauty of the Mass, saying “I don’t get much out of the Mass”. Those of us in this trap tend to criticize and blame our feelings on the priest, his accent, the homily, the facilities, the music, crying babies, or misbehaving children for feeling unfulfilled during our weekly obligation. I also fell into the trap of wanting to “learn something” each week, closing my eyes to the pure beauty of the scripture and prayers in our celebration. Instead, I went seeking answers in Protestant bible studies and spiritual books. Then I stumbled on a book in my local Christian bookstore that changed my faith and the way I view the Mass forever. Matthew Kelly ’s words in “Rediscovering Catholicism” hit me square in the head like a ton of bricks. “We don’t go to Mass to socialize. We don’t go to be entertained. We go to receive. We go to Mass to be fed

( Chris Kleponis/Bloomberg  /  April  2 , 2012 ) President Obama spoke out Monday regarding the United States Supreme Court’s (USSCT) hearing of oral arguments to review and rule on the constitutionality of Obama’s signature piece of legislation, the Affordable Health Care Act.   In his remarks, he said, "Ultimately, I am confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.  I just remind conservative commentators that for years we have heard the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint. That an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law. Well, this is a good example and I am pretty confident that this Court will recognize that and not take that step,"   This is a confusing and alarming statement made by the President, since his back