This morning's segment with Teresa Tomeo on "Mom's Corner"

Here's the link to this morning's show in case you were unable to listen in at the time. Just
click here to hear my chat this morning with Teresa Tomeo. We talked about Halloween, alternatives to the tradional Jack O'Lanterns, All Saints Day, kids, families, the culture, my week end retreat at the Abbey, our upcoming trip to Rome, my Mother Teresa Book and more!

Saint O'Lanterns and Pro-Life Pumpkins!

How about focusing on the saints and precious life this time of year and stay away from the gory scary images? I am going to have an All Saints party with my CCD class this week rather than a Halloween Party. We may even carve a pumpkin or I may bring it with me for a decoration.

Teresa Tomeo and I chatted about these images earlier this morning on our segment together, "Mom's Corner" on Catholic Connection (Ave Maria Radio) and aired through EWTN.

Here are a few images and directions:


Go on over to Catholic Cuisine for some more great ideas and the directions.



Check out the American Life League website for directions and down loadable template for this unborn baby image.

Have fun with these. I'll be back later to post some additional ideas.

God bless your day!

Donna-Marie

"Mom's Corner" LIVE this morning...

Teresa and I will be at it again LIVE this morning on "Catholic Connection" Ave Maria Radio on our "Mom's Corner" segment which is aired through EWTN. We'll discuss All Saints Day, family spirituality, and our upcoming trip! Where will that be? Well, tune in to find out!

Just tune in at 9:15 AM Eastern Standard Time or before by clicking here at avemariaradio.net and then click "listen live."

I hope you can join us. Feel free to call in.

God bless your day!

Donna-Marie

Mom's Corner Coming up!

I hope you can tune in to my chat with Teresa Tomeo on Monday morning on Ave Maria Radio on "Catholic Connection." Just tune in tomorrow, Tuesday at 9:15 AM Eastern Standard Time by clicking here at avemariaradio.net and then click "listen live."

I'll be back later to post a link as soon as I can in case you can't tune in.

God bless!

Donna-Marie

Special treat at Catholic Mom.com

Lisa Hendey at Catholic Mom.Com says, "We are thrilled to announce that on Monday, October 19, Catholic Mom.com readers will have the first opportunity to read the brand new novel Sweet Dreams, by noted Catholic author and Catholic Mom.com contributor Katherine Valentine."

So go on over to Catholic Mom.com and take a look.

Natural Family Planning and Family Planning

Vatican City, Oct 13, 2009 / 03:58 pm (CNA).- "The expert Italian gynecologist Elena Giachhi said last Friday at the Synod for Africa that natural family planning through the Billings Method “fosters conjugal love, family unity, respect for women and generous openness to welcoming life.”

During her remarks at synod hall in Vatican City, Giachhi said that the simplicity of the Billings Method makes it accessible to all couples, “regardless of their educational level, religion or socioeconomic state,” whether they are Catholic, Muslim, Hindu or profess any other creed.

Giachhi, who belongs to the Center for the Study of Natural Family Planning at the Sacred Heart University of Rome, explained to the assembly that, 'Couples can manage their fertility in a natural way, both for obtaining as well as for avoiding pregnancies in all the situations of fertile life.'

This method, she said, also contributes to “promoting the family and responsible procreation in a way that respects life, love and conjugal fidelity; promoting the dignity of women; preventing abortion, avoiding the use of artificial fertilization and helping couples with fertility issues to obtain pregnancy in a way that respects ethical values; preventing sexually transmitted diseases; teaching young people mature sexuality that encompasses the spiritual, bodily and psychological dimensions.”

The Billings Method, Giachhi said, 'helps to spread human and Christian values, contributing to our pastoral commitment and to evangelization.'"

From The Catholic News Agency

This is why I do not eat red meat.

Have you heard the news about the 22 year old woman who is now paralyzed after eating dinner with her family? She went into a coma after feeling incredibly sick. Her stomach ached and she thought she had a flu. The poor woman is now in a wheelchair because she ate a hamburger. You can read the full news story here. This is the biggest reason why I do not eat red meat. It's not safe. Granted you can also get e-coli from fruits and vegetables that are eaten before they are washed and from other foods. But, e-coli is generally contracted from red meat. The other reasons why I do not eat red meat is because I do not think it's healthy. I've done the research and choose not to eat it. I'm praying for this poor woman who used to be a dance instructor.

Faith & Family Live reporting on my EWTN series

Faith & Family Live reported on my new television series for EWTN. Go on over and take a look!

God bless your day!

Donna-Marie

Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship

Amazon is now taking pre-orders of my Mother Teresa book: Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship. You can go here to order. You can also pre-order through my website (an autographed copy) or by clicking on the book cover image at the top right column of this blog. I am told by the publisher that it should be released soon.

Here's a new book for your kiddies!

Dear God, I Don't Get It!

By Patti Maguire Armstrong

"This is the perfect story for 3rd through 6th grade Catholic kids and classrooms with excellent writing, vocabulary and thinking activities incorporated at the end of the book. It combines a great story with age-appropriate apologetics and is endorsed by best-selling authors Emily and Jeff Cavins as well as Bishop Zipfel.

Mary Kochan, Senior Editor of Catholic Exchange and homeschooler, endorses 'Dear God, I don't get it!' and explains, 'Sixth-grader, Aaron Ajax is happily comfortable, with not much more than the annoyances of a little brother to disturb him and he takes his friendship with God for granted. When a sudden change in family circumstances uproots him from the home and friends he has known his whole life, Aaron wonders what has happened to his relationship with God. Through this true-to-life story we follow the journey of a young boy coming to grips with a lesson we all need - that real friendship with God means God is in charge.'"
(From the publisher's website)

My endorsement is here:

"Dear God, I Don't Get It is simply delightful! Intended for a second to fifth grade reader, the story entertains and engages as the main character, fifth-grader Aaron Ajax, grapples with everyday life in a family and his faith in God. The story is very relatable, taking us through Aaron’s upheaval when his family is transferred to another state and his journey to eventual acceptance of God’s will in his life. Throughout it all, you will come to love Aaron and his family. The world needs more books like this one!" ~ Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

I really enjoyed reading this book before endorsing it. You can visit Bezalelbooks.com to order a copy for your children or someone you know. It sells for $12.48.

Happy feast day!

Go on over to my saints' blog to learn about St. Francis of Assisi.

Upholding the Dignity and Blessedness of a Mother's Vocation

Upholding the Dignity and Blessedness of a Mother's Vocation

By Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
How wonderful that holy Mother Church upholds the dignity of women and motherhood. This fact alone should help us feel at peace in our hearts and souls knowing that our womanly gifts are fully recognized and that our loving service to our families is encouraged for its intrinsic beauty -- for all that it entails -- with all its challenges, sacrifices, deep and inexpressible joy, and at times, when hearts are pierced with sorrow when a mother loses a child to miscarriage or at any time after their child’s birth. Every moment of mothering is overflowing with grace and blessings in one form or another. It’s a vocation of unquestionable blessedness to a faithful woman who embraces her vocation.

Our late dear Pope John the Great expressed his deep and brilliant understanding of the human heart quite often in his encyclicals, letters, and to his audiences. In describing the many faceted duties of parenthood, he said in Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women): “The eternal mystery of generation, which is in God himself, the one and Triune God (cf. Eph. 3:14-15), is reflected in the woman’s motherhood and in the man’s fatherhood. Human parenthood is something shared by both the man and the woman. Even if the woman, out of love for her husband, says: ‘I have given you a child,’ her words also mean: ‘This is our child.’ Although both of them together are parents of their child, the woman’s motherhood constitutes a special ‘part’ in this shared parenthood, and the most demanding part. Parenthood – even though it belongs to both – is realized much more fully in the woman, especially in the prenatal period. It is the woman who ‘pays’ directly for this shared generation, which literally absorbs her energies of her body and soul. It is therefore that the man be fully aware that in their shared parenthood he owes a special debt to the woman. No program of ‘equal rights’ between women and men is valid unless it takes this fact fully into account.”

Dear Pope John Paul II was certainly a hero to mothers! Isn’t it so wonderful that he has asked men to consider all of woman’s services to life and take all of it into account? Further, he says that men actually owe a special debt to women! I find those words uplifting and amazing! Pope John Paul II so beautifully recognized and expressed what it means for a woman to give her body to God and to her husband so that it can be used to bring new life into the world. I love that Pope John Paul II was not afraid to acknowledge the fact that it is the woman pays directly with the selfless gift of her life and her own body. She is subject to wear and tear of body and spirit as she gives her “Yes!” to God to new life and the special role of her motherhood.

Gift of Body and Spirit
We can certainly understand the physical wear and tear we mothers experience as we house our unborn infants within our bodies and stretch beyond the point we imagined our bodies could possibly extend, and as we are sometimes subject to morning sickness, as well as the kicking and poking of little feet up under our rib cages keeping us up at night, and even sometimes when facing precarious health issues.

What about the wearing down of our spirits too? Yes, we women “pay” for bringing forth new life and the mother’s role in parenting is realistically the most demanding position in many ways. To add to that, our braising culture batters and bombards women with many misleading and confusing messages causing them at times to doubt their divine purpose in their vocations of motherhood. Even during an economic recession when jobs are difficult to be secured, our society still looks down their noses mockingly at the role of a faithful mother who is dedicated to raising her family within the guidelines of holy Mother Church. Our society and much that comes through the secular media imply that mothers should be searching for something much more satisfying than dishes, demands, and diapers within the confinement of the walls of the home. We do know though know that a mother’s role at the heart of the home is immensely more than merely doing housework and caring for the myriad of demands that come with the territory of raising a family today. It is a mission that is actually responsible for raising little saints to heaven! What can be more important than this?

This is what Pope John Paul II was talking about when he said, “It is the woman who ‘pays’ directly for this shared generation, which literally absorbs her energies of her body and soul.” As well, women pay directly and dearly when they are ridiculed for their faithfulness and dedication because they have more children than the standardized one child or two children sized family that our society expects.


Discovering the Holy in the Ordinariness of Life

Yet, today’s Catholic mothers can rise above the onslaught of mixed messages and the downright belittling criticisms aimed at them from an ungodly culture and rally together to encourage one another in their roles as the hearts of their homes – actually on a journey together towards Heaven. Today’s Catholic mothers have many God-given gifts that are meant to be shared. They can come together physically or even through the Internet to compare notes, share ideas, encourage one another, and relish in their Catholic camaraderie. Some ways that this can be accomplished is through everyday encounters within our family and community and also in gathering together to study and share the faith. We can look to our Blessed Mother as a model to follow and the saints to emulate their virtues. A deep prayer life will give us the strength and faith to accomplish all that God wants to do through us. When we open our eyes to a new day each day, we should give our entire day over to the Lord and ask Him to use us for His glory. He will do the work and sometimes will give us the glimpses of amazing transformations occurring.

Pope Benedict XVI recently spoke about looking to the example of the saints to “provide a credible and comprehensive answer to the human and spiritual questions which give rise to the deep crisis of the contemporary world: charity and truth.” He also mentioned that to follow the saints’ example is not necessarily an easy task, but indeed a necessary one for authentic Christian life.

Especially during this month of September, when we celebrate Blessed Teresa’s feast day on the 5th and “inspiration day” on the 10th when she received her “call within a call” from our Lord to serve the poorest of the poor, I can’t help but be reminded of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta’s teachings about our own individual call to holiness. She told us again and again that “Holiness is not a luxury of a few, but a duty for us all.” How do we become holy? One certain way is by being faithful to the nitty-gritty details of our lives with prayerful and loving hearts. Blessed Teresa reminded us that small things done with great love are works of peace. As mothers, we know that our days are chock full of small loving acts, many times unnoticed by others around us. But we must be convinced in our hearts that these seemingly tiny acts of love are actually huge in God’s eyes. He is the one who placed us in the hearts of our homes. Every little act of love can be redemptive and holy.

Let us go forward, then, each day – confident in our vocations of motherhood, striving to satiate the thirst of Jesus in all whom God has put in our midst, starting first within our own families and when all are satisfied, reaching out into our communities. By doing so, we will be helping to sanctify our families and others by our examples of love.

Oh dear Lord, allow us to be YOUR love to our families and others and help to bring countless souls to You! Amen.

(This article first appeared in the TORCH website for homeschooling families and is used by permission.)

_________________________________
Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle is a Catholic wife, mother of five, catechist, award-winning journalist, best-selling author, and Lay Missionary of Charity. She is the author of "Catholic Prayer Book for Mothers", "The Heart of Motherhood: Finding Holiness in the Catholic Home", and "Prayerfully Expecting: A Nine-Month Novena for Mothers To Be" (with a foreword by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta). All were endorsed by Blessed Teresa and blessed by Pope John Paul II. Her latest books are "Catholic Saints Prayer Book", "The Domestic Church: Room By Room: A Mother's Study Guide", and "Grace Café: Serving Up Recipes for Faithful Mothering". They are available through her website: www.donnacooperoboyle.com and she offers daily inspiration at her blogs: "Daily Donna-Marie: A Dose of Inspiration", "Embracing Motherhood," "Moments of Inspiration with Your Favorite Saints" and "View from the Domestic Church." Her work can be seen in several magazines, newspapers, and Catholic websites. Her forthcoming books are: "Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship" (September 09) and "The Heart of Catholicism" (July 2010).

Happy feast of the Guardian Angels!

Happy feast of the Guardian Angels to you" Don't forget to thank your Angel and your family's Angels for all of their good work in helping our families and leading us down the right road. Let's call upon them many times in the course of our day...

"Perhaps no aspect of Catholic piety is as comforting to parents as the belief that an angel protects their little ones from dangers real and imagined. Yet guardian angels are not just for children. Their role is to represent individuals before God, to watch over them always, to aid their prayer and to present their souls to God at death.
The concept of an angel assigned to guide and nurture each human being is a development of Catholic doctrine and piety based on Scripture but not directly drawn from it. Jesus' words in Matthew 18:10 best support the belief: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father."

Devotion to the angels began to develop with the birth of the monastic tradition. St. Benedict gave it impetus and Bernard of Clairvaux, the great 12th-century reformer, was such an eloquent spokesman for the guardian angels that angelic devotion assumed its current form in his day.

A feast in honor of the guardian angels was first observed in the 16th century. In 1615, Pope Paul V added it to the Roman calendar."

From American Catholic.org - A Saint a Day

You can read a post I wrote about the Angels last year here.

I'd like to take this opportunity to mention again a great book I read and endorsed recently by Mike Aquilina - Angels of God. It's a wonderful book and will teach you even more about than Angels, our devoted friends. You can see my review here and here.