How can we understand God, His motives and will, when He is apparently unresponsive to our prayers? What are we to do when after years of seeking Jesus, begging on behalf of our children, and persevering in our intercession for them, their situation worsens? There is an account of a man whose child suffered permanent brain injury and nearly died. …
It may sound odd or melodramatic to say that your child has enemies. Yes, even the youngest of children have enemies. Do you know your child’s enemies? Can you identify the major evils that threaten your child’s salvation? Recently, an ever-growing army of radical, hostile terrorists enlisted children as young as nine years of age into their militia, arming …
Have you ever heard someone say in response to the idea that the evils our children encounter daily—peer pressure, the perversion of sexuality, pervasive media, and the like—“Well, we survived, didn’t we?” The appropriate response to such a comment is, “I don’t want my children merely to survive; I want my children to thrive. I don’t want my children to …
Have you ever seen someone, perhaps a child, attempt to open a flower before it blooms? When someone attempts to pull back the petals on a rose for the purpose of peering inside, they destroy the flower. Flowers are analogous to women. A flower’s petals open and spread when it receives the warmth of the gentle sunlight, without which it …
What is the primal desire of every woman? For what, fundamentally, does she want to be cherished? There exist two places where we can discover the answer to this question: Sacred Scripture and the store. Scripture tells us: “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loves the Church, and delivered himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, …
Have you ever wondered, “What can I do to be a better man? How can I become a father who leaves a legacy? What is the secret to becoming the man that God has created me to be?” Often men who have been doing the “Church thing” for years become discouraged because they see little spiritual growth or positive character progress …
There is a way to transform our prayer from a monologue to a dialogue; from a relationship to a “real-ationship;” from being filled with words to making us capable of discerning and receiving the true Word. This way is the seven Rs of prayer. The seven Rs is an outline for prayer that if used daily will open you to …
During the Middle Ages, cities were often surrounded and protected by thick, towering stone walls of defense. The wall that surrounded the city had gates that allowed pilgrims and inhabitants to enter. In times of war the enemy battered against these gates, intent on weakening and breaking the bars that braced them. If those bars broke or collapsed under the …
The evil one, if he cannot lure and entice you to surrender to deliberate sin, will often tempt you to choose something good over that which is great: to receive honor and glory from men rather than honoring and glorifying the God of men; to perform the works of God to be noticed, rather than to be known by the …
Sister Lucia, who witnessed the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, said, “The final confrontation between our Lord and Satan will be over family and marriage.” It was Lucia, who on May 13, 1917, at age ten, saw a vision of a great Lady who pointed to the sky saying, “I have come from Heaven. I have come to ask you …
