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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Catholic Faith | Lent activities | Spiritual Life
What are the things that hold you back from having a fruitful Lent? Catholic Mom contributor Andrea Bear provides practical tips for finishing the season strong. We are well into Lent, and the chocolate bar looks tempting; you just gulped down a roast beef sandwich, then noticed the calendar says Friday. Or on the opposite end, you’re still trying to determine what to give up — and there’s only a couple of weeks left. Does this sound familiar? What happens when we can’t commit to our Lenten promises, or we just feel unenthusiastic about Lent? Unlike the Christmas and Easter seasons of celebration, Lent often has the stigma of being a gloomy period in our Church calendar. If we don’t prepare for Lent, it can seem like a depressing time, rather than a time of renewal.
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Catholic Faith | pray the rosary | prayer life
Building habits to support steady spiritual growth became easier for Kathie Scott-Avery when she began using these four strategies. Although rooted in good intentions, we can overwhelm ourselves when deciding to revamp our spiritual life. Major resolutions, no matter how enthusiastically embraced at the outset, frequently wane or backfire, often leading us to conclude that we lack ability, conviction, willpower, good timing, or even faith. Thinking small can help, particularly when we are fashioning a path to a new spiritual habit or trying to improve upon one already established. Of course, the process still requires a commitment to specific and concrete actions related to what we want to accomplish. Is it just for ourselves, or for the whole family? Are we trying to fill a spiritual gap in knowledge? Refresh a practice that’s gone a little stale? Combat a particular sin? Improve on a virtue?
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Brief and contemporary inspiration focused on hope and family prayer will be delivered to your inbox! Articles include live video, written word, and links to resources that will lead you and your family deeper into faith.
Catholic Faith | Learn more about our faith
Pope Francis during his general audience on 25th January 2023, said, “if anyone asks me the best way to meet Jesus, I would say be needy. Be needy for grace, needy for forgiveness, needy for joy, needy for whatever you need...you can fill that with what you are needy for. This is the only way Jeus will draw near to us.”
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Catholic | Catholic Central | Catholic Church | Catholic Faith
Pope Francis had a huge impact on the world during his papacy, but the effect continues after his death. One result may be swelling the ranks of the Church he led. On April 21, 2025, one day after Easter Sunday, Pope Francis passed away, ending an era of Catholic history that began on March 13, 2013. The papacy of Argentinean-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio was perhaps one of the most (if not the most) Googled pontificates ever. So, it's fitting that, in the wake of the pope's passing, many people turned to the Internet with one burning question. So, What Did People Search the Internet for When Pope Francis Died?
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Blessed Virgin Mary | Catholic Faith | pray the rosary
Meg Herriot looks back on how she has grown in praying the Rosary and the ways she and her husband have made the Rosary the center of family prayer.
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Catholic Faith | family prayer | parish culture
When Patrick Peyton first arrived in Scranton, Pennsylvania, from Ireland, he searched for work for weeks without success. Monsignor Kelly tracked him down and offered him a job as a sexton (janitor) in the cathedral—he accepted. Finally, while working in the cathedral, with the silence, peace, and joy of talking to Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother, Patrick experiences a sense of being at home and a place of happiness. Patrick’s dream of becoming a missionary priest is awakened in a new land. ~FatherPeyton.org Today, guest contributor, Mary Kreger, shares her moving experience as a church custodian. Help Wanted In the spring of 2022, our pastor announced after Sunday Mass that the church sacristan and groundskeeper would be leaving the parish for a new job. “On behalf of our church, I want to thank Chuck for his 27 years of faithful service,” our pastor said, adding, “Chuck’s full-time position will now be divided into three part-time jobs, including a church custodian role.” My ears perked up at this last announcement. They needed someone to clean the church? I could do that. “Unless we find someone willing to do these part-time jobs, the parish can’t go on,” the pastor continued. “Please consider applying.”
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