What you will find here

Within this blog you will find daily devotionals, along with devotionals for Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation.  These devotionals contain the readings of the day based on the liturgical calendar of the Church, along with a big picture take away for that day, and questions to ignite fruitful conversations within your family.  In addition to this we have provided families with a fun fact of the day to learn more about the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.  Finally, each day will conclude with a Saint of the day.  As we deepen our understanding of the Saints who have traveled this journey before us, we will be better equipped and prepared to make this journey ourselves.  We encourage you to take notes on the conversations you and your family have each day.  Looking back at these notes will allow you to see how far your family has traveled on this journey and to see the Holy Spirit working through your family in every conversation you have.

You will quickly notice that the readings provided in this blog follow the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church.  In an attempt to more fully prepare for Sunday Mass, and to allow our families to take more from the content of Sunday Mass, we will walk along with the Church throughout the year.  Over a three year span we will walk our way through the entire bible.  Through a deeper understanding of the messages behind scripture we will gain a deeper understanding of the teachings of the Catholic Church and how they tie into sacred scripture. 

We are all called to evangelize and reach out to educate our fellow man in an attempt to bring more souls to heaven. In an effort to more fully equip you to share your faith and to stand up for your faith, we have highlighted the importance of committing pertinent scriptural verses to memory. This is a wonderful practice to help your entire family grow in their ability to share the Catholic faith with others. Each Sunday devotional is accompanied by a “scriptural verse for the week.” We suggest you designate a white board in your house for recording the scriptural verse for the week and the spiritual or corporal work of mercy for the week. Place this white board in a central location so all family members are reminded daily as to what they should be working toward this week. Discuss your plans to accomplish this charitable act during daily prayer time. In addition, quiz each other on the scriptural verse for the week and how you could use that in sharing your Catholic faith with others.
It is not enough simply to know and understand the faith of the Catholic Church. We must also actively live out the faith in our everyday life. It is through our example of faithfulness that others will see Christ in us. To this end we have issued calls to live out actions which are examples of spiritual works of mercy as well as corporal works of mercy. Each Sunday devotion is accompanied by a goal for the week which works toward this end. 

Finally, we will sporadically publish pages along the sidebar that focus on issues pertinent to Catholic families today.  These will touch on "hot topics" related to the faith and to society.  Examples of such topics we have in the works are:  Natural Family Planning, Purgatory, why priests don't get married, the beauty of the Eucharist, a review of the sacraments, and many more.  These pages will first be published within the blog so you can take not of new additions.  They will then find their resting place along the sidebar.  Please let us know if there are any topics you are interested in and we will research and prepare something!