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Jesus Asks for Some Small Effort
Persuading Our Families to Love God
Turning Mother's Work into Holy Work
A Dictatorship of Relativism - Affecting Mothers?
Ask Whatever You Will, and It Shall be Done...
Children Belong to Themselves...and to God
Children Are Terribly Intuitive
Trained in the Way They Should Go...
Holiness Thru the Very Performance of Our Tasks......
Suffering and Sanctity
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Copyright ©2004 Sophia Institute
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Welcome to "Thoughts for Moms"
Dear Friends,
"Thoughts for Mom" is a special place to receive spiritual
sustenance related to the vocation of motherhood. Here I will post
various reflections — from popes, saints, and Catholic writers,
to my thoughts and yours — to help us better live our mission
as Moms, and to help us give our vocation the depth of meaning God
intended it to have.
Once
more, you and I both have something to share, so please join me
in adding meditations and personal insights in the comments section
under each post, or contacting me at holly@mothersruleoflife.com
with your own reflection to add.
God Bless,
Holly Pierlot
Catholic Education is "Life"
When we think of the word 'education' or 'curriculum', we automatically think about school and textbooks and tests and grades.
But Catholic education cannot be narrowed to mean these things. Education and curriculum are ALL the experiences our children are living. Everything we do teaches and forms - from whether or not we pray, to making the beds, to painting a room, to how we handle disagreements. The best way to bring about a truly Catholic education for our children is to live a truly Catholic life - to develop sound habits of orderliness in our homes, a prayerful atmosphere, intellectual inquiry into the faith and other pursuits, a culture of loving harmony, the development of skills and talents. Everything I permit or forbid my children to do is their curriculum - each and every event or habit, be it schooling or working or just 'living' is forming them - and preparing them, well or poorly, for their futures.
So it calls for an overall attention to all spheres of our children's life - to remove that which is unhealthy, to provide that which is good, and to live our lives as a living witness of truth and love of God - in every sphere, in every way.
posted by Holly at 10:48 AM
0 comments
Spiritual Suntanning
When I was a teen, I would lay out in the sun, sometimes for hours at a time. Initially, I noticed my tan growing and growing with every tanning session I put in because the contrast was so big! But as my tan darkened, I didn't always see much difference in the color of my skin from when I went out and when I came in. Even though I knew the sun had beat down on my skin for two hours, I didn't feel like I had changed. But then, when I saw my friends that evening, they'd all gasp and say "Holly - You're becoming positively black!"
Prayer is like this. Initially, we notice a difference when we pray and we can see growth in our spiritual lives. But after a little while, as we become more and more steeped in grace, we stop noticing any obvious or drastic change, and think that nothing is happening. Yet others can see.
So when we're tempted to think prayer is doing nothing for us; when we find ourselves in periods of dryness and apparent tepidity, let's keep in mind that prayer is really 'spiritual suntanning'. We can trust that the Son is shining on us, and He is having His effect, and that others will see Christ in us more and more, even if we don't...
posted by Holly at 2:40 PM
2 comments
The Cradle of Civil Society
"Where the right education of youth is concerned, no amount of trouble or labor is too much... Let everyone be firmly convinced, first of all, that the minds of children are best trained above all by the teaching they receive at home. If in their growing years they find in their homes the rule of an upright life and the exercise of Christian virtue, the salvation of society will be in great part assured."
Pope Leo XIII, encycl: Sapientiae christianae, Jan 10, 1890, in "Education: Papal Teachings" St Paul Editions, 1960, p117
posted by Holly at 3:24 PM
3 comments
Jesus Wants Us For Himself
"God doesn't make it impossible for anyone to buy his riches. He is content if each ones gives what he has... But reflect, daughters, that He doesn't want you to hold on to anything, so that you will be able to enjoy the favors we are speaking of [contemplation]. Whether you have little or much, He wants everything for Himself; and in conformity with what you know you have given, you will receive greater or lesser favors..."
St. Teresa of Avila, "The Interior Castle" in "The Collected Works Vol II.." Washington, DC, ICS Publictions, 1980, p 336
posted by Holly at 7:46 AM
1 comments
It's What's Inside that Counts!
" [regarding] ...this precious pearl of contemplation... few of us dispose ourselves that the Lord may communicate it to us. In exterior matters we are proceeding well so that we will reach what is necessary; but in the practice of the virtues that are necessary for arriving at this point [of contemplation] we need very, very much, and cannot be careless in either small or great things..."
St Teresa of Avila, in "The Interior Castle" frm Vol 2 The Collected Works, Washington DC, ICS Publications, 1980, p 336
posted by Holly at 1:00 PM
1 comments
Lessons From a Child's Catechism
"Now the question arises - what sacrifices can we make during Lent? There are many from which to choose. We may give up something we like - candy, movies, or comic books - and give the money to the missions or Christ's poor. Better, we can give up our own selfish wishes in order to do Christ's Will, making special efforts to be kind and patient with our brothers and sisters, our classmates , and to be obedient to our parents and teachers..."
Gr 4 Catechism, "The Vine and the Branches" , Minnesota, Newmann Press, (1961), p200-201
posted by Holly at 11:45 PM
1 comments
Examining our Attitudes About Lent
"People are discouraged from approaching penance because they see it from the wrong angle. They think at once of what they will have to do in the way of disagreeable hardship. If they thought about it as turning wholly to God, which is to see it from the right angle, they would be more ready to pursue its implications...
The only kind of penitence that is worth anything is conversion. Not only conversion from but conversion to... To turn your back on sin is one thing, and is a good start, but it will not help you for long unless you turn your eyes toward grace..."
Dom Hubert Van Zellar, in "Spirit of Penance: Path to God", New Hampshire, Sophia Institute Press, 1998, p5
posted by Holly at 1:41 PM
1 comments
Which Penance for Lent?
"Most of our mistakes in the matter of penance are caused by a tendency on our part to tell God what sacrifices He would like best. We give Him these things, and then are surprised to find that He has been asking for altogether different sacrifices. We have not been listening to what He has said; we are so sure that we know what He ought to want. Then He comes to us... and we are no longer in the mood to give..."
Dom Hubert Van Zellar, in "Spirit of Penance : Path to God", New Hampshire, Sophia Institute Press, 1998. p10
posted by Holly at 1:30 PM
1 comments
The Importance of Focusing on Our Families
"It is the woman who must mould and nourish the family hearth, and in this, her place can never be taken by her husband. This is the task assigned her for the good of society, by nature and by marriage. Drag her, draw her out of and away from her family, with the attractions of one or another of the too many causes which compete to win and subdue her; and you will find the woman neglecting the hearth. Without this flame, the atmosphere of the home cools, the family circle practically ceases to exist, and becomes an occasional refuge for an odd hour; the center of daily life will be found elsewhere for her husband, for the wife herself, and for the children."
Pope Pius XII, "The Family Hearth", address to newly-weds , 25 February 1942, in "Papal Teachings - The Woman in the Modern World", St Paul Editions, 1959, p80
posted by Holly at 11:08 AM
1 comments
Practicing Humility
"Deep within you, there is a constant drive to make your daily performance a satisfying experience... [but] though you know logically what to do, or how to act, you find yourself, often enough, doing or acting quite the contrary. Consequently, you cannot avoid some feelings of disappointment, discouragement, guilt or anger, as you go about your daily routine...
The basic virtue which you need for a healthy adjustment to life is the virtue of humility. It disposes you to be realistic - to see things as they are and live life as reasonably as you are able in your present circumstances. It is far better to improve a small but real situation, than to perform great deeds in mere wishful imagination."
Fr Anthony J. Paone, in "My Daily Life", NY, Confraternity of the Precious Blood, 1970, p174-175, 182
posted by Holly at 10:36 AM
1 comments
A Mother's Rule: Nothing Good Comes Easy....
"It is after I have made my resolutions that the battle begins. Not only will the devil tempt me more, but I shall also have to take misunderstandings,and even bad will, from neighbors who resent my change for the better. My worst enemy, however, will be my own human nature. It will dislike the harder course of action I am now following. My imagination, my old habits, my likes and dislikes, these will cooperate in order to make me abandon my resolutions. On such occasions, I ought to get busy with some activity which will help me overcome, or at least disregard my lower nature's rebellion. God will send me light and strength in due time if only I will hold on to my resolutions..."
Fr Anthony Paone, "My Daily Bread", Brooklyn, Confraternity of the Precious Blood, 1954, p297-298
posted by Holly at 9:56 AM
1 comments
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