Papa Ben & Obama


I’m certain that I wasn’t alone today in prayer for our Holy Father’s meeting with US President Barak Obama. I prayed that the Holy Ghost would guide Papa Ben and that Mr. Obama would open his mind and ears to hear the TRUTH! I know, it’s a stretch but hey, I believe in miracles!

Oh how I would have loved to be a fly on the wall to hear the powerful words of Pope Benedict XVI to Mr. Obama. I’ll just have to be satisfied with the vatican’s statement on the meeting and the BBC’s video above. ;p

This afternoon, Friday 10 July 2009, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI received in Audience the President of the United States of America, His Excellency Mr. Barack H. Obama. Prior to the Audience, the President met His Eminence Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, and also His Excellency Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States.

In the course of their cordial exchanges the conversation turned first of all to questions which are in the interests of all and which constitute a great challenge for the future of every nation and for the true progress of peoples, such as the defence and promotion of life and the right to abide by one’s conscience.

Reference was also made to immigration with particular attention to the matter of reuniting families.

The meeting focused as well upon matters of international politics, especially in light of the outcome of the G8 Summit. The conversation also dealt with the peace process in the Middle East, on which there was general agreement, and with other regional situations. Certain current issues were then considered, such as dialogue between cultures and religions, the global economic crisis and its ethical implications, food security, development aid especially for Africa and Latin America, and the problem of drug trafficking. Finally, the importance of educating young people everywhere in the value of tolerance was highlighted.

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Fishers of Men


Click on the image above to visit the USCCB and see the newly ordained. PLEASE join me in praying for them!

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“I attribute my vocation to the witness of many good priests that I have met and the prayers of dedicated religious sisters. Without the witness of those many good priests in my life and the graces received through the prayers of cloistered Carmelite sisters, I would probably not have considered a vocation to the priesthood.
Father Aaron Ferris
Diocese of Grand Rapids

“People would be surprised to know that I have a regular story. Played high school sports…some baseball in College. Always liked going to Mass. Have a strong love for Mary and do not think I would have entered seminary without her maternal love.”
Father Theodore Lange
Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon

“People would be surprised to know that I was encouraged in my vocation to religious life through my experience of Christian fraternity as an undergraduate at the Franciscan University of Steubenville and confirmed in that vocation through the many graces that accompanied my battle with brain cancer.”
Father Jonah Pollock, O.P.
Order of Preachers, Province of St. Joseph

“Christmas of 1987, as I was preparing to receive my First Communion, I learned about the Catholic faith, Jesus’ ministry, and what a vocation to priesthood meant. I remembered telling my Dad about my interest in becoming a priest. My Dad smiled at me and told me to put it into Gods hands.”
Father Quy Vo
Diocese of Albany


To read more quotes, go here.

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Parents Prayer for Vocations

Gracious and loving God
you have blessed us with the privilege of becoming Parents.
We ask that you provide us with all that we need
in accepting this awesome responsibility.

We pray that we will be open to your spirit
who is our source of strength
as we witness to our children
your love for each of them and your desire for them
to be happy and to live a full life.

We ask your help
so we may guide and encourage our children
to believe that they each have a special calling
and to use their gifts and talents for others.

We pray, Heavenly Father,
that our children will discover
and respond enthusiastically to your desire for them
whether it be to the vocation of single, married,
ordained or consecrated life.

We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus
through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

-Mrs. Dorothy Foss

I found this lovely prayer on USCCB. Join me in praying for our children and their vocation.

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The Mystery of the Rosary and the Real Presence of Christ

I’m a devout follower of Father Corapi. He is such an amazing preacher. I’ve been trying to catch up and view all of the episodes off of EWTN of which I’ve programmed to record on our DVR. I’ve heard him speak on both of the subjects in the title of this post. Such amazing clarity in his words! If you’ve never had a chance to hear him, and your cable provider offers EWTN, you have to watch him at some point! If you know who I’m talking about, you MUST agree that he is amazing! His conversion story is also!!! As I was searching some information on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, I was blessed to have found this video on youtube.

Here we have both the Rosary and the Real Presence of Christ together in the video presented by none other than the amazing and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta! “How can anyone think about the Gospels, and not see Mary is there in the beginning and in the end of the Gospels?” Mother of Mercy, pray for us!

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Debating Life Issues: A Resource for Every Catholic

Cut to the chase and get the facts now! This is a great resource to get up to date facts on the Pro-Life issue which is part of why we call our selves, C-A-T-H-O-L-I-C!!! I haven’t finished reading them all but I wanted to pass them along for everyone to see. Enjoy!

(click on the box below)

What you will find in this link of Pro-Life Talking Points:

  • Pro-Life Violence: Setting the Record Straight
  • Why Women Abort
  • The Abuse of Population Control
  • Negative Effects of the Pill
  • Does Welfare Reduce Abortion?
  • Condoms
  • Fetal Development
  • Men & Abortions
  • Maternal Deaths
  • Obama vs. Life I: Before the Elections

“The Pro-Life Talking Points series is meant to provide pro-life activists with clear and concise information with which to argue against common misinformation they will encounter while debating life issues. ” – Human Life International website

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Why Homeschool Preschool? Part 2

The Best Classroom Has No Walls
By Contributing Mama Writer: Barbara Curtis
Barbara is a seasoned homeschooling mommy of 12 (yes, twelve blessings), now a grandmother of ten, and a happily married wife. Barbara is a “revert”, she was baptized Catholic then Evangelical for many years and has come back to our beautiful Faith! Barbara and her family are a ” Family-First kind of family.”

[This is the second in a four-part series: Why Your Preschooler Can Thrive at Home taken from a chapter from my book, Mommy, Teach Me! The first part is The Best Teacher is Forever.]

I mentioned how the modern approach to education – compartmentalization – has produced the idea that only professionals are qualified to teach.
A second mistaken notion is that education is something that happens in a building designated for that purpose.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. From the get go, a baby is learning from everything around him. From the time he first grips a rattle and brings it to his mouth to explore with all his senses the size and shape and sound and texture – to his first steps, first torn picture book, first scribble on the wall – your child is expressing his potential for learning in everything he does. The first torn picture book and scribbles on the walls are like beginning science experiments: What are the properties of paper? What is cause and effect? Which is why, though we train children not to repeat destructive behavior, the first time it happens there is no basis for punishment. Until the child knows what is right and wrong, he is conducting research like any good scientist.
So God has given us this setup: A child who loves to learn and a mother who has the potential to be the best teacher her particular child will ever know – two perfect partners in a world perhaps best described by Robert Louis Stevenson:
“The world is so full of a number of things,
I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings”
And what is their classroom?
Quite simply, The World: Whirligig seeds fluttering down from maple branches. Bees buzzing in a thicket of lavender. A salamander slithering from under a rock. A bobwhite’s nest built in the middle of the action. A mother kitten and her babies. Lightning and thunder and sunshine and snow. So many different clouds. Produce aisles. The sights and sounds and smells and textures in the kitchen. The order of a place setting at the table. The mail box and the person who comes each day to fill it. The plumbing problem and the person who visits occasionally to fix it. The grief-stricken family for whom you made dinner.
t seems ridiculous to think we have relegated education to a big building with a bunch of rooms – each room filled with same-age children and one grown-up whose specialty is teaching one grade. And even more absurd that we allow the distraction of TV and video games to undermine the child’s natural sense of wonder at all that reality has to offer.
Do I know that kids gravitate toward the distractions? Well, since I have kids, I certainly do. And something inside us allows it because we ourselves are jaded. How else to explain parents allowing kids to watch a DVD in the backseat rather than looking out the window at the world around them? We’ve forgotten our own innocent delight at the world around us.
If you have young children, now is the time not only to keep pointing your child toward the wonder of the world around him, but to rekindle your own sense of awe.
Later we will discuss how to prepare your home environment to better teach your child. But don’t get stuck in the idea that any particular place you set aside is your child’s classroom.

With you as teacher, the whole world will be his to learn from.
For more information, see my website Mommy, Teach Me! or click on Categories, then Montessori, Preschoolers or Homeschool above. Come back tomorrow for Part Three.
Love,

Photo credit: Lisa (Stretch Mark Mama)’s son decorating the table with nature’s beauty. And below, Lisa’s sons cleaning up a public park.

Once again, Barbara has helped me focus on what is important for my own four children. I’ve been a little stressed thinking that my kids NEED a specific room for homeschooling and after reading this article I realize how wrong I am. With all the rooms in my home and the most important location is our back and side yards! AKA, our newly favorite classroom without walls. This brings back joyous memories of Literature at a Catholic school in Florida. My favorite days (and that of my almost 35 sixth graders) were when we would move our lesson outdoors under the canopy of this wonderful tree. We would “jump-in-read” the next chapter of our favorite book and enjoy the outdoors. What a concept! It was the times when my students paid the most attention, can you believe it?

Although Barbara is referring to preschoolers in this article, I learned through experience in teaching middle schoolers for seven years that they too enjoy the things we normally label as “for smaller children”. One prime example, they love to be read to. Reading under the natural shelter provided by that wonderful tree God created were the happiest and most delightful of my teaching days. I’ve always said that middle schoolers are just little kids in big kids’ bodies. For more neat ideas by this Blogging Mama, please visit her Homeschooling journey: Mommy Life.

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Catholic Homeschooling Resources & Blog