Catholic Mom

St. Paul Miki and Companions

CatholicMom — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:52:28 +0000

Today is the feast day of St. Paul Miki and Companions. He and 25 others were crucified on February 5, 1597 at Nagasaki, Japan for preaching Christianity. They are known as the Martyrs of Nagasaki.

Before his death, St. Paul Miki spoke these words:

The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ’s example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.

Younger children might celebrate his feast day by making an “origami cross” from a strip of paper as shown on the Origami Fun website. For older children this might be a good opportunity to speak about things like freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and even the death penalty, depending on their age and maturity.

Scout Sunday and Pius XII Awards

CatholicMom — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:44:46 +0000

We’re getting ready to head down to the cathedral. J and D, my two oldest sons, will be receiving their Pius XII emblems as part of the Scout Sunday service this afternoon. And our Venturing Crew (which is our parish youth group) will be receiving an Archbishops award.

Pius XII is the religious emblem offered by the National Catholic Committee on Scouting for high school aged Boy Scouts and Venturers. D is still a Boy Scout, but J aged out last year. He is still a Venturer though.

If you are not familiar with Venturing, it is a coed program for youth aged 14 to 20 offered by the Boy Scouts of America. (Yes, girls can be members of the Boy Scouts as Venturers!)

Intertwining Scouting and a parish youth group might seem unusual, but you have to remember that Venturing is not a traditional Scouting program. It is very freeform and the shape of the program is largely determined by the Crew. Even uniforms are optional. The BSA insignia guide states:

However, the uniform, if any, is the choice of the crew.

I’ll write more about Venturing later. But for now, suffice to say that this program fits in well with the values we are trying to instill in our sons and daughters.

Building Tomorrow’s Church One Child at a Time

CatholicMom — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:50:38 +0000

When I look at our youth, I see our future. But raising up young Catholics in today’s world isn’t always easy. So let’s get together and share our ideas about raising Catholic kids and building tomorrow’s church, one child at a time.

My plan for this blog is to share what I am doing in my personal life as a Catholic parent, plus sharing some ideas I have tried over the years. I welcome your ideas also. So feel free to comment on my posts.

I’ll start by introducing my family. My husband and I have been married for 20 years. We have four sons, ages 18, 16, 13, and 11. My husband and I are both “cradle Catholics” and are very involved in our parish. We are also Scouters, so I will be writing about Scouting as youth ministry also. That’s enough for now. You’ll get to know us better as time goes by.

(To respect my family’s privacy, I won’t be using their real names or photos of them. I’m sure you’ll understand that teenage boys aren’t interested in having their friends look up what their mother is writing about them on the web. )