The Hunger Games

Have you seen the Hunger Games movie?  It's all the rage right now with tweens, teenagers and young adults.  If you're considering taking your child to the movie, watch this three-minute review by Sister Rose, who reviews movies from a Catholic perspective for the benefit of parents.



And that's not all.  She also provides a few questions to help you think about the movie after the fact.  Click on the purple "Download Study Guide" button on this page to check it out.

Did you see the Hunger Games?  Are your children into the books?  What do you think?

Beauty & the Beast: 2 Teachable Moments

This past weekend I had the opportunity to see the re-release of Beauty & the Beast (in 3D!).  After adjusting to the (somewhat) cheesy-ness of the 3D, I immediately did what any good DRE does, think about how this film applies to our Catholic faith.  As I did with the Lion King re-release in 3D, here are two key faith and moral moments/themes to talk about with your children after the movie.

Belle's Selfless Love
Belle's father, thrown in prison at the hands of an angry beast, is sick with a potentially deadly illness.  Upon seeing her father, Belle feels like she only has one choice: to save his life by offering herself in a prisoner exchange.

Highlights

• Belle's love for her father and her desire to save his life drives her to selflessly give up her future in exchange for her father's life.  Although we're not always faced with such a high stakes choice, we decide daily how to love and interact with our family.  Self-sacrifice in small things goes a long way.
• Even though Belle knew what she did was right, it still hurt and caused her much sadness.  The same is true for us.  Sometimes doing the right thing hurts emotionally, but at the end of the day we need to follow our conscious to love one another.
• Lumiere (the candlestick) stands up to the bully, suggesting that the Beast let Belle stay in better living condition.  We should always be concerned with how others are treated, especially the downtrodden and the poor.  But our concern needs to move us to action, like it does for Lumiere.

Love: the Foundation of Good Relationships

Love, love, love.

A much wider theme throughout Beauty & the Beast is the importance of love in a relationship.  The reason Gaston wants to marry Belle is not because he feels a great love for her, but rather because desire to have "the best" in everything in life, even at the expense of other's freedom -- he's willing to throw Belle's father into the insane asylum if she doesn't marry him!  Furthermore, Gaston has no respect for Belle's desires and interests (throwing her book into the mud).  He doesn't love her, but wants to use her for his own benefit.

Contrast that to the relationship between the the Beast and Belle.  Although it starts a little rocky (the Beast has anger issues), the Beast develops a genuine concern and love for Belle, even allowing Belle to return home at the risk of remaining a Beast forever.  Before that, the Beast risks his life to go after Belle, protecting her from a pack of wolves.  And of course, in the memorable scene, the Beast gives Belle what she most desires (well, after her freedom) -- a room full of books.  The Beast takes the time to get to know Belle so that he gets to know how to best love her.  

Then there's Belle.  Her love is not based on the exterior, but on the interior of the person.  Gaston's physical strength and appearance isn't enough to offset his arrogance and conceited nature.  The Beast's physical appearance is appalling (as is his temper), but she looks past the former and helps him with the latter as she falls in love with who the Beast is on the inside.

Summary

• Don't be like Gaston.  In any circumstance.  Pretty much at any point ever.
• Like the Beast, we need conversion of heart to love well.
• Love like Belle.  Look into the heart and past the exterior and help your friend overcome difficulties.

Which moments in Beauty & the Beast do you find helpful to talk about with your children?

Image credit: epSos.de of flickr

St. Francis de Sales - A Patron Saint for Today

St. Francis de Sales

The Busy Saint

Today, January 24, is the feast day of St. Francis de Sales, one of the patron saints of catechists, teachers and all who provide religious instruction -- including parents.  When you read bits and pieces about his life, you can understand why he is a patron of these causes.  For example, his words to a close friend (St. Jane de Chantal) ring true to parents and all others who have days overflowing with scheduled time: "So many have come to me that I might serve them, leaving me no time to think of myself. However, I assure you that I do feel deep-down- within-me, God be praised. For the truth is that this kind of work is infinitely profitable to me."

St. Francis lived in a much different time, when inboxes were physical and not a folder in your email directory.  He wrote that he once had over 50 letters to respond to by hand.  And it is said that he overworked himself, spreading himself so thin in his duties as a pastor that he was often sick.  In moments when we feel similar, send up a quick prayer, asking St. Francis for perseverance.

Three-years, No Results
Being with God, even in the midst of an incredible amount of tasks, provided St. Francis with the solid foundation for when he faced one of his life's many trials.  Around the time of the Protestant Reformation, he set out on a three-year door-to-door attempt at converting the Swiss to Catholicism (from a profile on St. Francis de Sales):

Then Francis had a bad idea -- at least that's what everyone else thought. This was during the time of the Protestant reformation and just over the mountains from where Francis lived was Switzerland -- Calvinist territory. Francis decided that he should lead an expedition to convert the 60,000 Calvinists back to Catholicism. But by the time he left his expedition consisted of himself and his cousin. His father refused to give him any aid for this crazy plan and the diocese was too poor to support him. 

For three years, he trudged through the countryside, had doors slammed in his face and rocks thrown at him. In the bitter winters, his feet froze so badly they bled as he tramped through the snow. He slept in haylofts if he could, but once he slept in a tree to avoid wolves. He tied himself to a branch to keep from falling out and was so frozen the next morning he had to be cut down. And after three years, his cousin had left him alone and he had not made one convert.

St. Francis later changed up his approach and found more success in his conversion attempts -- he won people's hearts ahead of their minds.  He reminds us that it's never too late to try something new and outside our comfort zone.

Everyone Can Be Holy
Finally, St. Francis was a spirituality trailblazer, insisting that everyone, regardless of vocation, can grow in holiness, that is, in the likeness of God: "All of us can attain to Christian virtue and holiness, no matter in what condition of life we live and no matter what our life work may be."  He set about helping lay people explore this idea by offering spiritual direction via letter to many, many individuals.  Among the direction, he would recommend individuals offer their days to God through this prayer:

My God, I give you this day. I offer you, now, all of the good that I shall do and I promise to accept, for love of you, all of the difficulty that I shall meet. Help me to conduct myself during this day in a manner pleasing to you. Amen.

May St. Francis de Sales be a patron and a guide for all those who provide religious instruction -- parents, pastors, catechists, teachers, and family members.

Image Credit: Lawrence OP on flickr

Website Wednesday: CatholicMom.com

This is how it looks using Google Chrome

Reviving a Wednesday theme, let's take a look at a great Catholic website for all parents that will help you include faith in your life.  CatholicMom.com is for more than just moms.  Click around the menu long enough and you'll soon realize there's something for everyone: Mom, Dad, teachers, catechists, Catholic and non-Catholic alike.

One of the strengths of the website is that it's updated with regularity.  If there's something going on in the Catholic Church, odds are there's an article, activity, or idea to incorporate it into your family.  You can see from the screen shot that there's a section on Advent.  And for the Immaculate Conception, they have a short article explaining history and some of our beliefs about the day.

Digging a little deeper, here are a few of the sections I'd like to highlight that are useful.

Sunday Gospel Activities
Encourage your children to learn about the Good News at home by utilizing one of the activities present in CatholicMom's incredible collection.  Organized by month and then by Sunday, the Sunday Gospel Activities provide something for many ages.  Your child is in the coloring phase?  There's a weekly coloring page (PDF). Kids love word searches?  They've got the word search (PDF) market covered.  Simple crossword?  You bet (PDF).  There are even what they call "mass worksheets" for children ages 7-10 (PDF) and 11-14 (PDF) to help them get more from that weekend's liturgy.  I wouldn't recommend coming to mass to fill these out, but still these can be great for getting ready for mass or processing afterward.

Movie Reviews
Multimedia play a big role in the life of children in the 21st century.  But as with anything we're exposed to, we need to be aware of what that media does to us and to our children.  CatholicMom's provides a tiny section on movie reviews that will review newly released DVDs as well as films still in the theaters.  Past reviews include the re-release of Dumbo, Super 8, and The Help.  While not updated with every movie that comes out, movie reviews do come in from time to time and appear on the front page of the main website.

(If you're very interested in other good film review sites, Catholic News Services reviews films as does a Christian website called Decent Films.)

Blog
Probably the greatest strong of the website is the blog that's updated every day.  It also happens to be the front page of the website.  A variety of articles will educate and entertain you, providing you helpful articles for parents and some opportunities to grow in your own faith.  Since that's along the same lines with what I hope to provide here on the blog, you should definitely check them out!

A hub for all things Catholic, CatholicMom is a solid resource for you and your family.

If you have a website you recommend, leave a comment or send Isaac an email:

Five Family Advent Ideas

Yesterday we learned about Advent in two minutes.  So how do we practice preparation in our family?  Here are five ways your family can prepare for Christmas this Advent.

Decorate

My wife and I started a tradition last year of decorating our house on the third Sunday of Advent.  Why the third Sunday?  Because it's Gaudete Sunday!  It's a Sunday of Joy and we mark that time as a Church by using rose (pink) colored vestments at mass and light the rose (pink) colored candle.  Decorate with various greens, religious icons or drawings or pictures, lights, a creche (see below) and of course all the usual Christmas decorations.

Use an Advent Calendar

There are many Advent calendars to choose from online.  Here's one for a family (PDF) and one for children (PDF).  For you parents, here's one you can do online, which I do every year.  It includes a short quote or video clip and an action to do each day. On the First Sunday of Advent, it featured an excellent video clip from Lord of the Rings -- so you know it must be good.

Or, make your own calendar.  On the days from today to Christmas, write a different action you or your family can do in preparation for the coming of Christ. For example, write a Christmas card to a relatives, clean the house for guests, or make Christmas presents instead of buying them.

Make a Creche
At the manger scene, you can gather each night for prayer. Tell your kids to place one piece of straw in the cradle for good deeds they or their family did that day. The more good deeds, the softer the cradle becomes for Jesus. My family has a tradition of placing baby Jesus in the cradle when we come back from Christmas Mass on Christmas Eve.  Use that or create your own tradition.

Use an Advent Wreath
Light candles corresponding to the candles lit at Mass on Sundays and pray around the wreath every day.  Need your wreath blessed?  Try this family Advent wreath blessing from Loyola Press or this blessing from our own US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Donate
Gather some clothes, toys, and other items to donate to a local charity. Try donating a favorite toy or favorite article of clothing. It may be difficult, but giving up our favorite items can foster a deeper love for others and remind us that others deserve the best we have to offer.

How does your family prepare for Advent?  What's your favorite family tradition?  What do you hope your children pass on to their children?  Share your ideas, leave a comment.

No Family is Perfect

Halloween is a week away.  In Vienna, the annual Halloween parade is right around the corner.  You may feel lots of pressures to live up to how another family celebrates Halloween.  Keep this in mind.

"A family is holy not because it is perfect, but because God's grace is at work in it, helping it to set out anew everyday in the way of love." -- Follow the way of Love

 Simple words from the Bishop Conference echo those of Jesus: "Love one another."

Car Conversation: Good Post-RE Questions

After RE classes have ended, you have a perfect opportunity to talk to your children about RE.  Following up will reinforce what they learned because it gives them an opportunity to articulate their faith in terms they know and use.  We'll take a look below at how to rephrase two common questions, and give you two more good questions to ask your child.

Rephrase Common Questions

• "How was class today?"  This question has a very limited answer range and doesn't invite children to give a good response.  Instead, try asking for something concrete: "What was your favorite part of class?"  They'll have an opportunity to pause and replay class in their mind before giving you an answer.  Give them time to respond, and make sure to ask all your kids.
• Potential follow up: "Why was it your favorite part?"
• "What did you learn about?"  Many children will answer this question with "God" or "Jesus" or something along those lines.  There answer isn't wrong, but probably isn't want you hoped for.  Try asking: "Tell me about what you learned?"  This question invites a much more thought out response.  Instead of answering a question, they can tell a story.
• Potential follow up: "Tell me more!"

Talking to Children about Death

With the recent passing of our Pastor Emeritus Monsignor Tom Cassidy, I thought it would be appropriate to post about a difficult topic of conversation with your children: death.  But instead of trying to write an article, I thought it more fitting to link to a few articles written by people who have talked to children about death, and pull out some common themes (found at the very bottom of the article).

Below are articles from several perspectives, one from a Catholic, one from a hospice care website, and one from more of a psychological background.  Included is information on pamphlets we have at St. Mark meant to help grieving children.  If you have any suggestions about how you have talked to your children about death, leave a comment or send me an email.

Technology & the Family

Impossible to escape

Technology is ever present and ever changing.  You're experiencing that right now as you read this blog!

But how often do we pause and think about how we're experiencing technology and the effects that it has on ourselves?  How can we learn to embrace the positives of technological innovation while pushing back against the negatives?

Leading the charge to answer this question in the secular world is MIT professor Sherry Turkle, author of the book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other.  She gave an interview on the book and this topic with a couple insightful takeaways on parenting in the age of the Internet.  [transcript of interview available here]