Children are God's greatest gift to us. They are precious treasures and our most valuable resource. They are also under attack. We just finished commemorating the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion without limits. That was only the beginning. Through the last three decades, our children have been exposed to any number of harmful cultural fads, which have brought with it an increase in teen pregnancy, broken families, pornography, violence and promiscuity. Many parents have given up trying to parent their children, and those who do try to parent feel like they are swimming in a tsunami of schoolyard bullies.
What are a mother and a father to do? It really begins in the home with your relationship with your spouse. Your children need to feel secure and safein the arms of two parents who truly love each other and show it as well as show their love for their children. With the five love languages, you have the tools necessary to allow your children to thrive in a society that is trying to corrupt them.
In the upcoming shows, we will be focusing on some of the dangers that your children are confronted with, and how you can help guide them to make healthy choices in their lives.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
To listen to the Five Love Languages Part I (aired 12/27/09) click here : http://www.box.net/shared/e0s6o8mv3a
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Relationships
So, now that the new year has begin, are you considering how to develop, deepen or even repair some of your relationships with friends, family and loved ones? If you are, what are some of the things you are doing? Christians are called to love to offer mercy and forgiveness and to even offer love to those who are enemies, who are trying to take you away from your relationship with Jesus Christ. How sad it is when Christians sit in judgment of other Christians. How sad it is when true reconciliation is not possible because of anger, bitterness and criticism that has infected so many of our relationships. But God has not given up on us. He so loved the world that he sent his son into the world, not to condemn it but that we might have life. Living in the Spirit, living in the abundant life of our Lord Jesus Christ, is possible even in the midst of crises and painful situations. All it takes is one person. When one person stands up and decides to live in the Spirit, then God can and will work in the relationship. There is real healing possible when even one person seeks to live in the freedom of the sons of God.
There is so much hate in the world, even among people who are so-called Christians. There is so much pain the world because of unhealthy relationships or a holding on to anger and bitterness. Jesus will take the pain away, and he will transform the pain into suffering. Suffering is redemptive whereas pain cuts off the healing power of the Holy Spirit. Living the Five Love Languages is only the beginning to a healing of all your relationships. There is more work that needs to be done, but once you begin living the love languages, then the Holy Spirit will become a part of that relationship and he will bless it with his gifts and fruits.
As we begin this new year, let us put aside all our anger and bitterness and offer true forgiveness and reconciliation to those who have hurt us. Be free of the bodily and spiritual chains that keep you away from God and live in the freedom of the children of God.
There is so much hate in the world, even among people who are so-called Christians. There is so much pain the world because of unhealthy relationships or a holding on to anger and bitterness. Jesus will take the pain away, and he will transform the pain into suffering. Suffering is redemptive whereas pain cuts off the healing power of the Holy Spirit. Living the Five Love Languages is only the beginning to a healing of all your relationships. There is more work that needs to be done, but once you begin living the love languages, then the Holy Spirit will become a part of that relationship and he will bless it with his gifts and fruits.
As we begin this new year, let us put aside all our anger and bitterness and offer true forgiveness and reconciliation to those who have hurt us. Be free of the bodily and spiritual chains that keep you away from God and live in the freedom of the children of God.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year
2010!! It is hard to believe that yet another year has passed. And, as this feast day is a holy day of obligation honoring the motherhood of Mary, I have been reflecting on how appropriate it is to have a holy day honoring Mary, the Mother of God to begin a new year. It is Mary who has brought and continues to bring many people to her Son, Jesus Christ, and this year is one that offers many difficulties and surprises and even joys. We turn to our Blessed Mother with the sure and certain hope that you receive blessings upon blessings this new year. Turn to her and lay your burdens at her feet. She will bring them to her Son.
The new year is also a good time to re-evaluate our prayer lives. One way you can experience a deepening prayer life is by praying a daily rosary, if you don't already. The rosary is a powerful weapon in the hands of Catholics in order to combat the evils of our society today. It is also a prayer that can deepen your own relationship with your spouse, especially when you pray the rosary together.
May 2010 bring you joy and peace, and may our Blessed Mother, Mary, continue to bring you and your relationships the peace and joy of true intimacy.
The new year is also a good time to re-evaluate our prayer lives. One way you can experience a deepening prayer life is by praying a daily rosary, if you don't already. The rosary is a powerful weapon in the hands of Catholics in order to combat the evils of our society today. It is also a prayer that can deepen your own relationship with your spouse, especially when you pray the rosary together.
May 2010 bring you joy and peace, and may our Blessed Mother, Mary, continue to bring you and your relationships the peace and joy of true intimacy.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas
Merry Christmas!! As we celebrate the coming of God as man, it is a good time for us to re-evaluate our own relationships with family and friends. We have been discussing intimacy, and at Christmas time, we have many opportunities to share intimate moments with those we love, especially our children. Christmas is a time when you are called to explain the true meaning of Christmas to your children. Being with family brings with it a special kind of joy and peace, but it really shines through when the mother and father have really shared with each other a depth of true intimacy as well, which will carry over to your family.
But at Christmas, with a society that has been decimated with the breakdown of the traditional family, you may find it difficult to really share that peace of Christ. St Joseph also found it difficult on the first Christmas two thousand years ago. He traveled with his wife over some rough terrain to bring her to Bethlehem for a census, and yet when he arrived at his home town, his own family and friends turned him away, which led him to find shelter in a cave, where his wife, having given birth to the Savior, laid him in a manger. The Blessed Mother, who always brings us to her Son, Jesus Christ, presented her Son to the waiting world by placing him in the very place that animals feed. Our Blessed Mother still points the way to the Eucharist as she places her Son in our midst at every celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
May you have a Blessed and Joyous Christmas, and may the peace of Christ be with you and your family.
But at Christmas, with a society that has been decimated with the breakdown of the traditional family, you may find it difficult to really share that peace of Christ. St Joseph also found it difficult on the first Christmas two thousand years ago. He traveled with his wife over some rough terrain to bring her to Bethlehem for a census, and yet when he arrived at his home town, his own family and friends turned him away, which led him to find shelter in a cave, where his wife, having given birth to the Savior, laid him in a manger. The Blessed Mother, who always brings us to her Son, Jesus Christ, presented her Son to the waiting world by placing him in the very place that animals feed. Our Blessed Mother still points the way to the Eucharist as she places her Son in our midst at every celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
May you have a Blessed and Joyous Christmas, and may the peace of Christ be with you and your family.
Monday, December 7, 2009
It's a Wonderful Life
It's that time of year. The classic Christmas movie, Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, has so much to offer the whole family. Interestingly, the movie did not do well when it first premiered in 1946, but over the years it has endured and endeared many to the timelessness of the themes of family and sacrifice. To watch George Bailey sacrifice his dreams and remain in Bedford Falls, raising a family will bring tears to your eyes. Frank Capra brilliantly portrays small town life and the scraping by of an existence, but the true nature of what transpires overcomes the dull, dreary small town life.
For it is the belief, the very Catholic belief, that each and every life has meaning and that you are created for a purpose. It took George Bailey a financial crisis in his Savings and Loan to find that the answer to all his dreams was not building skyscrapers and bridges, living in the fancy cities. No, the answer to his dreams was always right beside him, Mary Hatch Bailey, and their four adorable children.
Imagine if you had never been born. You may not even be aware of all the good you have done just by your existence, and what you may think are inconsequential actions. Now think how different this world would be if fifty million babies since 1973 were born. It boggles the mind, doesn't it?
For it is the belief, the very Catholic belief, that each and every life has meaning and that you are created for a purpose. It took George Bailey a financial crisis in his Savings and Loan to find that the answer to all his dreams was not building skyscrapers and bridges, living in the fancy cities. No, the answer to his dreams was always right beside him, Mary Hatch Bailey, and their four adorable children.
Imagine if you had never been born. You may not even be aware of all the good you have done just by your existence, and what you may think are inconsequential actions. Now think how different this world would be if fifty million babies since 1973 were born. It boggles the mind, doesn't it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
