Happiness Isn't a Warm Puppy: Five Ways to Lead Your Children to Heaven

When teaching baptism classes to parents, I would begin the first class with the question: “What do you desire most for your child?”

Nine times out of ten the response was, “Happiness.”

Parents want the very best for their children. Parents sacrifice a great deal to give their children everything they believe they need to be happy. Parents--- healthy, sane parents--- want their children to be happy today, as children, and tomorrow, as adults.

"Catholicism is a deep matter--- you cannot take it up in a teacup." Bl. John Henry Newman

Copyright 2013, by R. L. Drake

The Games We Play At

When I was a kid I enjoyed playing at war. No, I don’t mean video games. I grew up in time when kids knew what real play was. Real play was movement, it was outdoors, it was imagination running on overdrive.

We didn’t need much in the way of props for hours of pleasure. Toy guns sufficed, and if they weren’t available, a stick would do. T-shirt and jeans, transformed by our imaginations, became dirtied, bloodied fatigues. We enjoyed playing at war, but as true veterans know, playing at war and really waging it are two very different things.

I wonder how many of us play at Christianity more than we live Christianity for real. I include myself in this in this inquiry, by the way.

The Battle Begins HERE!

As a Catholic husband and father I find our recent losses in the culture wars disturbing, to say the least. I am raising my children in a world that wants to redefine God’s institutions, reform religious thinking, and do violence to the Christian conscience. The popular culture seems intent to undermine, in effect, my efforts to educate my children in the ways of Christ.

The Love That Saves

His name was Ed, and he had been married to Peggy for 57 years.

Ed had come to a presentation of the Catholicism series at the parish and we were visiting over coffee beforehand. Ed was talking about his marriage, and at one point he leaned in and whispered, “I don’t know if this is true to what the Church teaches, but I have come to believe that my salvation is inextricably bound to my fidelity to the vows I made to my wife 57 years ago (verbatim).” His eyes actually teared up when he said it.

I thought of Jesus’ words, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith (Mt 8:10).”

Unholy Fear and the Frustration of Faith, Part Two

There are healthy fears: first and foremost, what the Bible calls “fear of the Lord.” This is more than reverence; it is a deeply experienced, holy awe. It is what moved Moses to cover his face before approaching the burning bush (cf. Exodus 3:6). It is the recognition of God’s glory, and corresponds with an awareness of our smallness, and that of all creation, before such majesty. This fear acknowledges the total dependence of the creature upon the Creator. It leads one to contemplate the divine love that wishes only good for such unworthy creatures, and the astounding beauty and goodness of such a Love.

Unholy Fear and the Frustration of Faith, Part One

I have heard it said that there are two things a person fears most: loss of what one has, and not getting what one wants.

That may be true. One thing I know is that fear prevents me from being available to God, and from walking forth in faith when He calls me.