Is secularism standing in the way of raising our kids Catholic?

By A U.S. Catholic interview| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life
The editors interview theologian and religious education scholar Thomas Groome.

An increasingly secular culture is often blamed for the young generation’s lack of enthusiasm for religion. But is secular society truly a roadblock when it comes to raising our kids in the Catholic faith? Thomas Groome, author of Will There Be Faith? A New Vision for Educating and Growing Disciples (HarperOne, 2011), discusses the role of secularization in passing on the faith in this web-only excerpt from his interview with U.S. Catholic.

See more posts by A U.S. Catholic interview

Show me the way: How can parents pass on the faith?

By A U.S. Catholic interview| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life
Whether you’re a parent or a volunteer catechist, this theologian says the art of persuasion is key to handing on the faith. Want proof? Just watch Jesus in the gospels.

Thomas Groome learned this truth somewhat late in life: Even if you have been a major scholar in the field of religious education for decades, even if you speak internationally on the subject of handing on the faith, and lo, even if you are the primary author of three major catechetical series used by millions of children and young people, your own child will always be your toughest audience.

See more posts by A U.S. Catholic interview

Stand alone moms: Catholic single parents tell their stories

By Heidi Schlumpf| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life Culture

For Rosa Manriquez, it was the Catholic school’s father-daughter dance.

For Wendy Diez, it was the e-mail from the preschool teacher addressed to “Mr. and Mrs. Diez.”

Heidi Schlumpf, a former editor at U.S. Catholic, is an associate professor of communications at Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois and author of While We Wait: Spiritual and Practice Advice for Those Trying to Adopt. See more posts by Heidi Schlumpf

O come let us get ready

By Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life
In the pre-Christmas rush, take time for Advent. 

Jamie and Carol and their four children, ages 9 to 15, try to avoid looking at any Christmas decorations before Advent begins. It’s a playful practice with a deeper meaning.

“We love to shop, and our favorite store hangs up their Christmas decorations in September,” Carol says. “We actually turn our heads, hold up our hands to shield our eyes, and say, ‘Don’t look! It’s not even Advent yet.’ ”

Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck is the author of Discovering Motherhood: An Extraordinary Journey through Everyday Life (Ambassador Books, 2006; discoveringmotherhood.com). She lives in Glendale, Wisconsin.

See more posts by Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck

Dynamic duo: Pat and Patty Crowley

By Paul Leingang| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life

Pat and Patty Crowley will always be Pat-and-Patty to me—individuals but inseparable—even though I only came to know them through Patty alone. Pat died in 1974, shortly after my wife and I joined the Christian Family Movement. We didn’t know then the power of CFM and its straightforward approach.

More than two decades later my wife and I were among the couples who regularly met at Patty’s apartment to prepare for the CFM’s 50th anniversary conference in 1999.

See more posts by Paul Leingang

Crash course: Family "collisions" allow moments of grace

By Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life
Brace yourself: A family, like a universe, needs an occasional collision to keep growing.

Our family went to Chicago’s Adler Planetarium last year and saw the feature Cosmic Collisions. This was not a soothing, gaze-at-the-night-sky experience. Instead, Cosmic Collisions grabs visitors and hurls them through time and space to explore the hypersonic impacts driving the continuing evolution of the universe.

Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck is the author of Discovering Motherhood: An Extraordinary Journey through Everyday Life (Ambassador Books, 2006; discoveringmotherhood.com). She lives in Glendale, Wisconsin.

See more posts by Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck

Let’s talk about what? Telling your kids about "the birds and the bees"

By Catherine O'Connell-Cahill| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life
Don’t swat away the birds and the bees. Start the conversation early with your kids.

The only test I ever flunked was in my freshman year of Catholic high school, when after being out sick a few days, I returned to biology to be handed—to my horror—a test asking us to label the parts of the male reproductive system.

Catherine O’Connell-Cahill is senior editor of U.S. Catholic.

See more posts by Catherine O'Connell-Cahill

Empty nest? Now what? Tips for maintaining a marriage after the kids have gone

By Wendy Donahue| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life

This story accompanies The 25-year-itch: Empty nesters and the second half of marriage.)

David and Claudia Arp, founders of Marriage Alive and authors of The Second Half of Marriage (Zondervan), don’t fault couples for feeling drained when the last child leaves home.

“You’ve just survived the adolescent years,” Claudia says. Plus, says David, “The tendency is to get busy and avoid facing the challenges of this new stage of marriage.”

Wendy Donahue is a lifestyle reporter at the Chicago Tribune.

See more posts by Wendy Donahue

Little women: How consumer culture is forcing girls to grow up too fast

By Meg McSherry Breslin| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Life
Mattel and Abercrombie sell sexiness even to 6-year-olds. Enter those who are fighting back to let girls be girls.

At a recent wedding Becky Groth was amazed to see the revealing dress on the beautiful 17-year-old daughter of a close friend. The dress was so skimpy and inappropriate, Groth says, that the girl drew a lot of unwanted attention from young men. Groth asked the teenager to talk about it privately after the wedding.

Meg McSherry Breslin is a freelance writer based in the Chicago suburbs. She covered children and family issues as a former staff writer for the Chicago Tribune.

See more posts by Meg McSherry Breslin

Pages