Catholic Mother's Network

I was asked by Kathy Judson, Catholic Mother’s Network Organizer, to come and speak to the mom’s group about how to raise well-rounded, God-loving, Catholic children. She specifically wanted concrete examples of simple things mom’s could do to uphold a Catholic lifestyle without making themselves crazy trying to live up to an unrealistic ideal.

It is a great topic and one I’m very interested in, but practically speaking, I haven’t RAISED Catholic children yet. I’m still very much a “work in progress” like many of you, and realize there are NO guarantees once the kids move into adulthood, but was glad to share any ideas that work for my family. (I LOVE to talk about this stuff.) Similarly, I take the raising of my children in the Catholic faith very seriously. If there is one thing I am sure of it’s that raising Catholic children today is not for the faint-hearted. It’s downright COUNTER-CULTURAL baby! It requires prayer, hard work, discipline, prayer, knowledge of the faith, prayer, endurance, honestly, prayer, faith, and at times…alcohol.


So, I will share with you some of the ideas that I presented last night for the “girls” at STM. I don’t plan to give you the whole talk “kit and kabootle” in one posting, but through a series of postings that are easy to read, short and simple to incorporate into your homes.

Here are the topics: How to Raise Catholic Children

1. Creating a Catholic Home Environment
2. Child Friendly Religious Items
3. What messages are you communicating?
4. Be the example; words are cheap
5. Don’t go overboard
6. Favorite Resouces


Keep in mind that God does not require perfection, only faithfulness in following Him, so don't knock yourselves out trying to be the "perfect" mom to your kids. Just be faithful to his teachings and thankful for all He gives us...He takes care of the rest.