Catholic Thought discussion

Yesterday was the solar eclipse across the United States. I was able to take a few pictures. I do not live in the max obscuration path but we (New York City area) did get around a 70% obscuration. Only about two pictures really came out well. If you want to see them I posted them on my blog, here:
https://ashesfromburntroses.blogspot....

Those are nice pictures, Manny. We had so much cloud cover in central Indiana on Monday that it was difficult to get good shots. I did get to see a nice view of a tiny sliver of thee sun while borrowing a pair of glasses.

Here's a question for more experienced parents. For those that may not know, I have one child, and he just turned eight years old and started third grade. I am definitely not an experienced parent.

Yesterday's second reading at Mass had the word "adultery" in it and while it was read my son tugged on my shirt and in a whisper asked what did it mean. He couldn't even pronounce the word, but he pointed to it in the book, and I have to say a shudder went down my spine. I have not had "that" talk with him yet, and to be frank I'm looking for any reason to postpone it as long as possible. At Mass I told him I would explain it afterward, but since he forgot to bring it up after Mass I didn't and let it go.

First, I'm proud of him that for an eight year old he pays such attention at Mass. My goodness, I certainly didn't at that age, or even much older.

Second, is it time I had that talk with him? Is eight years old too young?

That was what I was thinking too Loretta. In fact I was trying to formulate your suggestion in my head while at Mass but because of the pressure of the moment those words were not coming to me.

I'm hoping other parents provide their thoughts as well.

By the way, my son is adopted, and my wife and I first became parents at the grand old age of 48! I think of us as one of those old couples in the Bible (Abraham and Sarah/Zachariah and Elizabeth) who had children at advanced years. ;) He officially became ours at one years of age.

We are the ones who attach the full meaning to words. The child more likely than not comes from a perspective of innocence.
In these situations I would be true to the word or expression and pear it down for the child's understanding. In this case something along the lines of, 'when married people don't think their marriage vows (promise) are important.' And I would often simply say that there is more to it, but he will be able to better understand it when he is older. Most of the time this will suffice. If needed, you can follow with an example, such as something he understands now but wouldn't have when he was five.

Yes, that's a good approach Kerstin. It occurs to me he went over the Ten Commandments at school last year, and that's why he focused on the word. It may have been confusing to him last year as well. I'm just remembering now, but it was in his second grade religion book, and it did not capture the sexual understanding of the word. If I can find the book I'll have to see how they worded it.

Manny, as a parent, you will know when the time comes for "that talk". At this point, just answer his questions at his level. I really like Kerstin's answer of when married people don't think their vows are important.

Chiming in from a catechist perspective....
We need to teach the 6th commandment in 4th grade. Many kids already know the basics of sex by that point, but not all do. So, we approach it much like Loretta suggested. We don't use the term vow because most would not be familiar with that word. Rather, we talk to them about a married woman taking a boyfriend that was not her husband, a man taking a girlfriend that was not his wife. We talk about how it would make their mommy or daddy sad if the other partner had a new girlfriend or boyfriend. They readily admit that it would not only make mommy or daddy sad, it would make them angry. We talk about why that would be. We talk about being loyal to each other and what loyalty means, why God wants us to be loyal. We do talk about how a man and a woman promises (we use promise rather than vow at this level) to love each other forever when they get married. When we love another person, we have to be loyal; we don't give up on them even if something happens that makes us upset with them.

As for when to teach sex, that depends very much on what other information they have access to. Some children don't need to know until puberty arrives, which is coming at an earlier and earlier age. Others may need information a bit younger if their peers in school have access to the information. You don't want them learning it incorrectly from lunch room talk before you can present it to them in the context you want to set it in.

That's a good word to use Irene, "loyal." Thanks.

From what I've learned about my son's school, which is a local Catholic school at our parish, sex ed comes in seventh grade, which would make the kids around twelve. That does strike me as late, though i didn't get sex ed when i was a kid until Junior year (I think it was) in high school, which is sixteen years old! Boy times have changed.

Yes, times have changed. We got the biological lesson in 5th grade which was supposed to prompt parents to do the sex talk. But my mother only gave us the "your body is changing" talk. Unfortunately, I got all my sex ed from friends and pop culture. And, kids today have more sex references in pop culture than in our day. Plus puberty is hitting earlier and earlier.

Loretta wrote: "Times have changed and in my opinion, not for the better."

I agree with you Loretta totally.

My son has wanted to be in the choir almost from when he started attending Mass. Finally now in third grade he was old enough and yesterday was his first singing. Music director had him lead the Alleluia. I got a few video clips up at my blog, if people want to see. It's really cute. He's eight years old, by the way. Here:
https://ashesfromburntroses.blogspot....

Loretta wrote: "Manny wrote: "My son has wanted to be in the choir almost from when he started attending Mass. Finally now in third grade he was old enough and yesterday was his first singing. Music director had h..."

Thank you Loretta! Unlike his dad - LOL - he can sing!

This is sweet!

Manny wrote: "My son has wanted to be in the choir almost from when he started attending Mass. Finally now in third grade he was old enough and yesterday was his first singing. Music director had him lead the Al..."

That was very cute. God bless him and your family :)

Thank you Kerstin and Susan.

Beautiful, Manny!

We've been having a pretty deep discussion over at the Gospel of Mark thread. I thought I'd lighten up with a little post on my eight year old son's first essay in school. I posted this on my blog, but this is short and sweet:

>Matthew had to write his first essay for school. It was to be on his favorite saint, and he chose his namesake, St. Matthew the Evangelist. It’s only six short sentences so I’m going to reproduce it here.

"My Favorite Saint

St. Matthew started as a tax collector and he was a sinner. Tax collectors took a lot of money from people. Then Jesus talked to him and he became good. He became an apostle and Jesus’ disciple. He wrote one of the Gospels. His feast day is September 21."

Ha, that is so cute. Hand written in a third grader’s handwriting it looks a lot longer. He’s submitting it today. I hope he gets a good grade but I don’t know. It doesn’t look like there’s much there. But I don’t know what they expect in third grade. I’ll pass on how he does.<

Here's a bit of news I came across that might interest our book club. "Beatification process to open for respected theologian Fr. Romano Guardini."
https://aleteia.org/2017/10/26/beatif...

We read one of Guardini's books here on Catholic Thought a little over a year ago. It was Learning the Virtues: That Lead You to God. It was good discussion, though I have to admit I wasn't overwhelmed with this book. You can find that discussion here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

From the article, I didn't know that he had once been Pope Benedict XVI's professor. Interesting. Perhaps we can read another of Guardini's books some day.

Is this the theologian who wrote The Lord?

I saw that!
Romano Guardini was a really interesting person. I do want to read more of his writings. He wrote an excellent book on the rosary, The Rosary of Our Lady. Then he published before Vatican II a devotional book of a scriptural rosary which follows the liturgical year (now out of date). I have no idea if it was ever translated into English, I found a used copy once.

Frances wrote: "Is this the theologian who wrote The Lord?"

Yes!

Hello everyone,
I'm just curious...I know there are many devout Catholics who pray the Rosary daily, but I would love to hear about the frequency for others in the group and also Novenas, favorite Novenas and other prayer practices that our group members favor or find rewarding. I would love to hear any recommendations our members would like to share.

God bless,
Kristen

Kristen wrote: "Hello everyone,
I'm just curious...I know there are many devout Catholics who pray the Rosary daily, but I would love to hear about the frequency for others in the group and also Novenas, favorite..."

Here's what I've been doing. I set aside a holy hour at night when everyone in the house has gone to bed. I make sure everything is quiet. Quiet is important. I pray Compline from the Liturgy of the Hours, a rosary, and some short novenas. I call them novenas, but any prayer you do for nine straight days is I think a novena. There are formal novenas, and I have a little book of them which I got at the Catholic book store, but I don't use it much. What I do is collect a bunch of prayer cards or saint's cards which I get in the mail, and I pick a couple of them and pray them as a novena. You might want to explore the Liturgy of the Hours. I only have time for Compline, which is the late night hour. I think it's the shortest of the hours. Once you get into the rhythm of it, it takes about ten minutes.

You can get the daily Liturgy of the Hours online, but if you sign up for a daily email from The Catholic Company, you will get an email with daily meditations, the daily Mass readings, the saint of the day, and the daily liturgy of the hours. I open the Compline link to pray it.

I hope that helps Kristen.

Manny, that is very helpful. I value your insights; your comments are great motivators.

Kristen wrote: "Manny, that is very helpful. I value your insights; your comments are great motivators."

Thank you so much. It makes my effort worthwhile. :)

I also try to pray the Liturgy of Hours daily, both morning and evening hours.

Irene wrote: "I also try to pray the Liturgy of Hours daily, both morning and evening hours."

Question Irene, do you use the internet for the daily Liturgy of the Hours or do you use that bulky and complicated Christian Prayer book?

I use the prayer book, not the 4 volume set, but one volume edition published for laity. It does not have the Office of Readings.

Irene wrote: "I use the prayer book, not the 4 volume set, but one volume edition published for laity. It does not have the Office of Readings."

I have that too, and we use it when I meet up with the Lay Dominicans, but I can't for the life of me understand how to flip through the various sections. It's just too complicated. I definitely prefer the intenet sites that lay it out in sequence for the day.

I guess I have been praying it for so long that it does not feel cumbersome or confusing. I have heard that there was an ap that had the Office, but I can't find it.

The app that I use occasionally is called iBreviary. It's quite user friendly.

I've been meaning to sign up for that app, but as I told Kristen above I get daily emails with links to all the daily readings (Mass and L of the H) and more from The Catholic Company. The L of the H link takes you to a site called Universallis which has a lot of Catholic stuff. It has its own app. The daily email makes it easy for me.

I will have to search for iBreviary. Is it a free app?

yes, I got the iBreviary app the other day but I haven't really gone through it yet. I also have the complicated single volume book; I too simply can't seem to figure it out. I'm going to have to physically have someone show me how to use it!

And, yes, the app is free ~

Kristen wrote: "yes, I got the iBreviary app the other day but I haven't really gone through it yet. I also have the complicated single volume book; I too simply can't seem to figure it out. I'm going to have to p..."

Sigh, I've been shown a few times and don't get it on my own. Here's an article with helpful guide:
https://aleteia.org/2017/06/08/a-begi...

I downloaded the app last night, but I think I will probably continue to use the book, just too familiar. I have been using it for about 30 years now, the spine is held together with duct tape and the ribbons have all become so frayed that they have each broke to nubs.

I know what you mean, Irene. I've only been praying the Liturgy of the Hours for a little over three years, but there's something about having a book in your hand. I basically use the app when I'm traveling or something.

I've used the Magnificat for a long time - even before I became Catholic. My time for prayers is usually in the mornings after my husband leaves for work. If I don't do it then, I get caught up with the day's work and usually don't catch up.

Kerstin wrote: "I've used the Magnificat for a long time - even before I became Catholic. My time for prayers is usually in the mornings after my husband leaves for work. If I don't do it then, I get caught up wit..."

Oh I use the Magnificat too. It's the best of its kind. It keeps me up to date on the daily Mass readings and they usually have an excellent reflection on the Gospel readings. Plus something on the saints and other reflections.

I try to do the Magnificat reading in the morning. But let me make it clear that I'm usually behind in the reading and inconsistent in my nightly prayer time. I don't want to leave people with the impression that I'm either super saintly or extremely disciplined. If I get four or five nights to do all that I said above, I think that's a good week. Plus, half the time I fall asleep in the middle of the rosary! lol.

Hi everyone...I'm really looking forward to two upcoming events. I'm attending a Catholic Lenten retreat next weekend here near the Seattle area. It's a women's silent retreat called "Living the Devout Life with the Help of St. Francis de Sales." I'm so looking forward to a blissful weekend of quiet time with Christ.

Then, next month my husband and I will be in New York for a week and will be attending a talk by Scott Hahn at The King’s College: “The Paschal Mystery: How did a Roman Execution Become THE Sacrifice?” The lecture is free. Anyone in the NY area (Manny?), DM me and I'll send you the details.

Those sound like wonderful opportunities, Kristen!

I would love to listen to a Scott Hahn talk, Kristen. And yes I live in the NYC area. Could you send me the information.

Enjoy, Kristen. I am off to celebrate First Penance with the children of the parish.

Manny and all,
Here is the link to the Scott Hahn event in New York in April:
Scott Hahn lecture

Kristen wrote: "Manny and all,
Here is the link to the Scott Hahn event in New York in April:
Scott Hahn lecture"

Oh it's on a work day. I'd have to take off from work, but let me think about it. One doesn't get to listen to Scott Hahn any old day.

By the way, that's a nice time of the year to be in New York. Hopefully you'll have some nice weather.

Each month the devotional Magnificat features a central theme about the saints and what they were known for. For this month the editors chose "Saints Who Showed Hospitality." In the opening short essay they write,

" ..."hospitality" conjures comforting images - fresh-baked bread, cold beer, a warm bed - the word itself shares the same root as "hospice" and "hospital." The guest, hospes in Latin, is the one in need of solace, sympathy, and healing. He could be desperately poor, diseased, or filthy. He may be a thief or a hoodlum - "Christ is distressing disguise," as Saint Teresa of Calcutta was fond of saying."

Hospitality in the Christian understanding is both a virtue and a charism, a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Coincidentally, I saw an article this week on hospitality that I think is very thought provoking. Could it be, I wonder, that much what ails us in today's culture could be healed by becoming more hospitable to our families, friends, and neighbors?
http://www.theimaginativeconservative...

Actually from what I understand Benedictine monks are supposed to have a particular charism for hospitality. I believe that's why there are so many monasteries that have very reasonable, if not free, accommodations for travelers.

I guess you can read about it here:
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi...

Yes, hospitality is a Benedictine charism. The Rule of Benedict instructs the monks to treat the guest as if s/he were Christ.