Long Skirts starts us off with a lighthearted poem in Termites. God made termites as well, didn't He? But what was His greatest creation? Find out in the poem.

From Army of Martyrs we have Do Catholics also use Private Judgment? This post explores the differences between Catholic "private judgment" and how protestants view "private judgment."

Book Reviews and More offers us Spiritual Biographies - Seminars. A few years back in a course called Shapers of the Roman Catholic Tradition, RS 383 the primary text was John R. Tyson's Invitation to Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Anthology. He reviews his courses and links to each of them.

Catholic New Media Roundup brings us Episode 4. It discusses the sacrament of Confirmation and features congratulatory voice messages for Inge, who received the sacrament of confirmation this Sunday.

And The Catholic Journeyman has A Call to our Catholic Married Women . . . it's football season. The post offers advice to wives who end up in Mass without their significant other. But it also includes links to podcasts that your husband might appreciate!

Homeschool Goodies celebrates 100 Years of Orthodoxy, the book by G.K. Chesterton. It was written 14 years before his conversion and is now 100 years old! More details in the post.

Next, The Apostolate of the Laity explores The Illusion. God is a mystery, a truth one can never fully understand; yet the mysterious can be embraced.

The Political Housewyf goes a different direction with The Beijing Olympics: Why I Worry. Image vs. reality at the Beijing Olympics; should we worry that many people will buy China's presentation of itself at the Games?

A Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars tells the story of A Conversation at Pillars House Yesterday. When your child asks about Planned Parenthood, do you know what to say? This mom did - and explained the truth to her teenage child.

Transitus Tiber knows The Power of the Eucharist. This post recalls and awesome homily by the Parochial Vicar and adds in a Eucharistic miracle to boot.

Not Strictly Spiritual speaks On a More Serious Note. Much More Serious. The post explores the impact on her life of a daughter, Grace's, short life of 11 weeks in the womb.

View from the Choir discusses mortal sin with a priest in Missing Mass, Missing the Point. Is missing Mass a mortal sin? What if your priest says it isn't?

And at Catholic Fire we learn about St. Clare of Assisi - No "Ordinary" Saint: Contemplative, Lover of the Eucharist, Miracle Worker. On her feast day, this post shows that Saint Clare possessed extraordinary gifts, which she used for the love of God. This post contains quotes from the saint, a quote from Pope John Paul II about the saint, and links to other posts.

My Domestic Church celebrates an anniversary with 29 and Counting . . . [Ed. Note: Wow! Congratulations to you and your husband] This post includes pictures, which makes it even better (love the white suit!)

Soul Pockets considers Mulieris Dignitatem in The New Feminism. How does our culture understand women? And how does that coincide with Pope John Paul II's view in MD (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women).

A Catholic View points out that New York City has Extremely High Abortion Rate Despite Free Birth Control. Does free birth control reduce abortions? Look at the evidence and ask yourself why we keep buying these "truths."

Prepare for Mass takes a closer look at Sunday's readings with Gather Us In. It looks at the big picture of what Jesus was trying to do in Matthew 15.

Continuing that line of thought, Ho Kai Paulos is Listening for the Tiny Whispering Voice. This post explores Sunday's reading where Elijah hears God not in the wind or the fire, but in a tiny whispering sound. We need to be attentive - and quiet - at times, to be ready to hear God's voice ourselves.

Quantum Theology stays Old Testament with Street Corner Prophets. The words of the prophet Amos were hard to listen to at daily Mass last month. How would you have responded to encountering Amos in the street? This response ended up as a column in Philadelphia's Catholic paper: The Standard and Times.

From the Field of Blue Children closes us out in style with Summer School. What did this homeschooling family learn during their Summer break? Take a look - you'll enjoy it!

God bless,
Jay

God bless,
Jay

    The truth is that [Maddie's] mind rationalized, her instincts brought her through my office door. She knew her son; she knew that something was wrong - she was simply afraid to face it. Because if she faced it, then she had a decision to make: what to do about it. That was what frightened her even more. If she made [Sam] get rid of his MySpace page, or even his computer, she was terrified that he would rebel - even run away. She was afraid if she handled the problem the wrong way, she would be a miserable mother and turn her son into a rotten kid.
 
    In my experience, Maddie's feelings typify the majority of parents I encounter around the country. We are afraid to really see what our boys are up to, not because they're bad kids, but because we're afraid of disciplining them. Discipline takes energy and it's unnerving. We want them home, even if they're engaging in unhealthy activities because we're frightened that if we stop activities which are unhealthy for them, we'll lose our sons. Let me assure you of one thing: half-way homes and jails aren't full of boys who have been disciplined, they are full of boys whose parents have left them alone.

    When boys are young, parents can begin developing their kindness by teaching them to speak well of others. Speech and behavior go together. Train a boy to speak well of others and over time he will treat those people better.
 
    Disciplining a boy to talk differently will make him think differently. This technique works beautifully. If a parent insists that a boy stop talking negatively about a friend, for instance, over time he will either forget about the friend's bad habits or actually learn to like him. When boys are prohibited from complaining, they become happier. The way a boy talks about someone cause him to think about that person the same way. Boys think on what they say. If they complain, negative thoughts not only precede the complaint, they follow them. Then, a boy forms a very negative pattern of thinking. When this happens, he not only complains more, but begins to act unhappy. He wants to play less and go fewer places.
 
    Many parents allow complaining because they feel that boys need to express their feelings. Boys do need to be encouraged to verbalize how they feel, but that's not what happens in complaining. More often than not, complaining erupts from a bad mood, malcontent, and boredom. Train verbal complaints out of your son. If you don't, he will mature into a miserable man and fail to see anything good past his own nose. Teach him, on the other hand, to say only positive things about others and he will act more kindly toward them. This can be simple to do.

On a side note, Dr. Meeker doesn't hit you over the head with her Catholicism. So even non-Catholics and non-Christians can enjoy this book. I've given her previous book on daughters to virtually all my friends with daughters and I believe this book is the same: they won't be offended by the content, but it is clearly Christian- (even Catholic-) based. So put away that Dr. Dobson stuff and read something great for your kids.

You can purchased Boys Should be Boys from Amazon.com here.

God bless,
Jay

I actually found a program that is working pretty well: See No Evil Online. So I thought I would share. I did signup to support them:

By the way, one interesting side note to this software (and a testament to where our culture is at the moment) is that you can use it to help if you have personal problems with online pornography. Simply signup a friend who has the password on your computer, and the friend can help you to say "no" when you are most tempted. It's really a great resource for anyone struggling to control their addiction to pornography.

God bless,
Jay

Also, don't miss out on the big Catholic sale at HolyFamilyCatalog.com. Just wanted to mention it!

God bless,
Jay

God bless,
Jay

God bless,
Jay

Also, don't miss this week's Catholic Carnival here. As always, it's a wonderful roundup of Catholic thought from throughout the blogosphere.

Sorry for the infrequent posting lately, Summer's here and we've been busy with the kids. But I do have a couple of posts I'm working on now.

God bless,
Jay

I think movies can have a big impact on the lives of regular folks, whether that be for good or bad. And I think this could be a powerful movie about marriage and the importance of Never leave your partner behind as the movie's tagline proclaims. It's not clear that this is a Catholic movie - I would guess not since Kurt Cameron of Left Behind is involved - but I think it can still be a good lesson on the importance of your marriage. So support Christian movies! Rent the ones you haven't seen and see the new ones that come out. This is how you push Hollywood to offer more and better Christian cinema.

God bless,
Jay

God bless,
Jay

You can see the details at ClapForJesus.org where you can also give a donation of money or time or sign up to participate in a wine auction at St. Andrews in Roswell to raise money. If you can give they would appreciate it, but your prayers are needed as well. Africa is dealing with poverty and AIDS in an unprecedented way. So please pray that this sparks a revival of Catholic culture in the area. Father Simon is committed to raising Catholic children by giving them an education in morals and faith as well as traditional subjects.

In particular, Father Simon asks that you pray to Oscar Romero, a martyr currently in the canonization process.

God bless,
Jay

So I thought a recent Wall Street Journal article on Pro-life Pharmacies was interesting. First because I don't see how the government can step in and force a pharmacy to sell something they don't agree with. Should Chick-fil-a be required to sell hamburgers? According to the crazy argument from R. Alta Charo, if we don't require Chick-fil-a to sell hamburgers we could end up with areas of the country where hamburgers are not sold! Give me a break - pro-life pharmacies will probably struggle without being able to sell condoms and birth control, both of which are probably high margin products. The fear mongering is ridiculous.

So here's where you can step in: find a pro-life pharmacy in your area and support them! They probably would love to hear someone step in and say, "I shop here because you're pro-life." They are much more likely to hear the opposite from our shocked post-Christian culture (just think about the looks you get when you mention you don't use birth control).

To find a pro-life pharmacy in your area, start with Pharmacists for Life International. Right now there are only a few pharmacies listed, but the list should grow over time. If you know of a pro-life pharmacy in your area, be sure to let the guys at PFLI know. Outside of them, you'll have to actually contact pharmacies around you to see if any are pro-life. It's difficult to find them, but if we can make the effort to support these pharmacies, they should continue to increase.

In general, we try to live our lives in a way that respects our Catholic beliefs. And I think this is a great way to do just that!

God bless,
Jay

In practical terms, however, teaching modesty is difficult. I still believe it starts with a modest mother, who acts as a prime example for her young daughters from the very start. But it also takes a father who sets limitations and makes children - even teenagers - live within those expectations. In summer, we have beaches, pools, and hot weather that seems to bring modesty discussions to the forefront. I thought this was a good passage from Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters that shows a practical way of tackling this issue (page 99):

When battles [over modesty] heat up, however, you have to kick it into high gear. Don't be mean, loud, or aggressive. Kindness and strength in your beliefs work better. When your sixteen-year-old bounces into the kitchen with a bikini barely covering her large breasts and pubic area, smile and tell her that it's a gorgeous color, but the suit is too scant for her beautiful body. Tell her she needs to find a more modest suit that won't make the other girls feel jealous. When she is twenty-five, she'll thank you.
 
Standing guard over your daughter's sexuality is tough. It is nothing short of war. But teaching her that modesty is a strength and not a commodity of the prudish will pay off with enormous dividends.

• Certain parts of the body should always be covered by clothing, such as tummys for girls and all of the rear-end for boys.
  
• Underwear shouldn't be seen - on girls or boys.
  
• No two-piece swimsuits for girls and boys shouldn't just walk around shirtless unless on the beach or at the pool (need a legitimate reason).
  
• Shorts should be close to the knees on boys and girls.
  
• Sleeveless shirts for the most part aren't acceptable. We make exceptions for younger children and in certain situations.
  
• Generally clothes with holes in them are a no-no for boys and girls (this is usually jeans in my experience).
  

I think teaching children modesty lays a groundwork for teaching them Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body when they are older. So it provides a practical understanding of the body and sexuality that can be explained in more detail later by theology. And teaching your kids to respect their bodies will help enormously when the time comes that they are being pressured to take part in sexual activity.

Sometimes (lots of times during certain years), you'll be tempted to give up or give in because the battles "just aren't worth it." But this is not true. It is important as a parent to choose your battles, but this in particular is a battle worth fighting every time. It teaches your kids that you respect their bodies, even if they don't seem to at that time. And it underlines the importance of sexuality and the seriousness with which you take it. As Dr. Meeker explains (same book, page 98):

The good news is that when you teach your daughter that sex is intricately connected to every aspect of her being, she will believe you, because it intuitively makes sense to her. When you teach her that modesty is an important way to protect and honor her integrity, she'll understand that too, because kids have an innate sense of modesty. You have to be your daughter's protector and fight a culture that lies to her about sex and denies her right to modesty.

On a side note, Dr. Meeker has just released Boys Should Be Boys. As soon as I finish reading it, I'll post a review. But I can tell you that based on Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, it's probably worth reading!

God bless,

Jay