Ahhhh, it’s almost December! What a wonderful time of year! We have SO many plans to make it an amazing time for our family! And we have so much to do! We get down décor from the attic. We put together a tree. We start making Christmas lists. The office Christmas party is marked the… [Read More]
How to Create a Family Litany
All Saints Week – here we are! A week of beauty, starting with Halloween full of fun costumes and candy, All Saints Day with our holy heavenly friends, and ending with the ever hopeful and solemn All Soul’s Day, praying for those we love who have died. What a great time for our families to… [Read More]
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES; or. . Happy Halloween; no just. . RUN FOR YOUR LIVES
Welcome class. My name is professor Taran Heindrich. I am founder of the Austin Institute for the study of the dark forces. This semester I will be teaching you my own patented techniques for aggressive spiritual combat. I would like to begin my classes by saying …RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! Evil is coming for you!… [Read More]
Authenticity & the Year of Faith
I have to be honest. When I heard that the Catholic Church had declared this year the “Year of Faith”, I wasn’t quite sure what to think. Maybe it’s my ‘convert’ status rising up again, but while those around me were excited about the upcoming Year of Faith, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed… [Read More]
A Proposal to the Youth (Review: “YOUCAT, the Youth Catechism”)
I’m a little late in the game, but I’m also right on time for the Year of Faith: I finally took a deeper look into the YOUCAT*. Released to coincide with the last World Youth Day (WYD) and distributed to all official pilgrims, the YOUCAT was written to transmit content based from the Catechism of… [Read More]
I’ve got your back: 7 Promises to My Middle School Aged Daughter
7 promises to my middle school aged daughter: I will be your friend I know, I’m your mother. And, you already have friends. But, when I’m not telling you to clean your room or reminding you to practice your french horn, I will try to show you how a real friend acts. I will look… [Read More]
they trusted and you rescued them…
In my complicated life, I find it amusing that God often reminds me of His eternal truths by demonstrating them through my children. As intellectual as I might like to think I am, I have probably learned more about the love of God for his people by watching my children play, learn and live in… [Read More]
The Divine Eccentric: Caryll Houselander
A while back, I changed the name of my personal blog to ‘The Loveliest Hour‘. I wanted the title to be more specific and meaningful. At the time, I think I envisioned myself writing great commentaries on life and politics and religion and wanted the blog title to be about more than my family. Now,… [Read More]
Unsolicited Advice on Kissing
There’s something to be said for a good kiss. That said, what is to be said cannot be said because it loses something in the saying. So say what you will, but to say that you can say all that needs to be said about a good kiss is to say that you can say… [Read More]
I’m not afraid anymore…
I’ve just realized it. Just now. I’ve been sitting here at my computer, attempting to design a stunning website for a client, listening to my two little girls (ages 4 and 6) playing in the living room next to me. They’ve been playing ‘Getting Married’. This entails putting on pretend make-up, going dancing and finding… [Read More]
How to Read the Bible
When I was a kid – probably around sixth grade or so – I decided that I wanted to read the Bible. I’d heard a lot about this Jesus fellow at church and in Sunday school, but I’d never actually just sat down and read the book He wrote. So I did. Or at least… [Read More]
How Far Is Too Far?
There are some questions that never seem to get properly answered when you ask them. “Daddy, why is the sky blue?” “Mommy, where do babies come from?” “Aunt Edna, could you help me reconcile the thermodynamic principle of entropy with the theory of evolution?” But the one that probably most frustrates high school teens, and… [Read More]
No Greater Love: 3 Heroes from Aurora
When I was sixteen, I had a boyfriend. My young heart was madly in love. I had also spent some time reading the Bible, inspired by my Baptist friends. One day, I came across this verse: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 In a… [Read More]
Basic Biology for the Dating Catholic
So you’re Catholic? Good. And so is SHE? Well, well, well. Even better. You know the “she” of whom I speak. Your heart’s beating a little faster just thinking about her. Perhaps your palms are sweating and you need to wipe down your keyboard with a Wet-Nap. But where do you start? How do you… [Read More]
The State of Your Heart
Attention, Catholics! Do you want to grow massively in holiness? Do you long to kindle the great flames of piety and prayerfulness in your heart? Do you want to do this easily, quickly, and effectively, in one simple step? I submit to you an answer that will likely make every young Catholic cringe in despair… [Read More]
Lent is like … a round of Mutton Bustin
I went to the Austin Rodeo this weekend and it was so much fun! As a Texas transplant I get a lot of child-like enjoyment (“Let the children come to me!”) in seeing show animals, pig races, deep-fried-everything-you-can-imagine, unique rhinestone belts, and decorative cowboy boots. This year I even got to see a baby kangaroo,… [Read More]
Confirmation and Chocolate Milk?
Spring is almost here, and for many parishes, that means celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation. I know that here at Holy Family Parish we have already started Confirmation classes even though we won’t celebrate Confirmation until November. Having started working here only two months ago, I have observed only two of the classes which the… [Read More]
“The Perfect Love” just in time for Valentine’s Day
So today is Valentine’s Day. I remember when I was in middle and high school, my group of friends would go bowling and bring fancy decorated bags/boxes for later exchanging those little pre-maid valentines you get at Wal-Mart. Of course, later on, I would sort through them looking for one from whichever guy I was… [Read More]
Social Media and the Full Impact of the Gospel
Technology. The definition from the Dictionary (as cited from http://www.dictionary.com) tech·nol·o·gy [tek-nol-uh-jee] noun: 1. the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science. Everywhere we look at any time throughout the… [Read More]
So we’ve been in Madrid….
Hi Everyone, so it’s been awhile. We’ve been having some late nights and somewhat early mornings so it’s been hard to get online. World Youth Day officially began Tuesday evening with mass celebrated by Archbishop Antonio Rouco Varela of Madrid. Since then, things have been a whirlwind of excitement. We’ve received catechesis from a couple of… [Read More]
Now from Santiago de Compostela
Today we traveled from Leiria to Santiago de Compostela. The bus ride was about 5 hours, but the views made it very enjoyable. I’ve posted some of those pictures, as well as pictures from yesterday, on Picasa here: https://picasaweb.google.com/103777728917566675236/WYD?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCO3k5I7F1YSclwE&feat=directlink This morning I asked for more comments from the pilgrims, here’s what they had to say:… [Read More]
Notes from other Pilgrims
I asked the other pilgrims on our portion of the trip to write some of their thoughts and messages. I’ll post more pictures tomorrow. Here are the notes I’ve received so far: (Note: these were written on the way to Fatima) In addition to seeing the amazing sights of Portugal, I have had profound conversations… [Read More]
Busy days in Lisbon
Sorry about being late on the first real update, it’s been a busy time, and we’ve finally gotten to WiFi. It’s really impossible, for me to tell you exactly what everyone has done, but it does involve at tour of Lisbon and some landmarks. I’ll let others’ remarks expand on that. The city has… [Read More]
Intro
Hi Everyone! World Youth Day is almost here, and the first trips are leaving tomorrow! This site is where we’ll be doing all of our blogging, and everyone on the trip will have an opportunity. All posts will have the first name and parish of the person posting. So check back here starting Wednesday to… [Read More]
