Live a Real Life not a Virtual LIfe on the Internet!

All it takes is a click to enter the virtual world of gaming instead of living!

A few weeks ago I posted the Les Femmes lead article from the winter edition about screen addiction. You can check it out here. (Part 1, Part 2)  After the print issue went out (I send it to all the priests in the diocese.), I received a message from a friend, a pastor at a large parish who outlined his own personal experience with a teenager in crisis. 

Keeping My Children Home from Beauty and the Beast Does Not Make Me a Homophobe

My little princess at Disney World's princess tea

I'd like to start this post by saying that neither I nor the Catholic Church is "homophobic." My belief, one held by devout Catholics and explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is that homosexuality in and of itself is not a sin. The attraction to another person of the same sex, while disordered, is no more a sin than a man's attraction to a woman who is not his wife. The sin comes with action. A man being attracted to another man is not in and of itself sinful. Engaging in behaviors that are unnatural and immoral or living in a way that goes against God's law is where the sin comes into play.

I love many people who choose to live in ways that are not in line with my moral beliefs. Likewise, I am not perfect. I make mistakes and commit sins. Don't we all? Some sins are more outwardly visible and that's where we have an obligation to acknowledge the wrongness of the behavior especially where it concerns our children.

Homeschooling: It's No Guarantee Your Kids Won't Make Bad Choices.

There's no magic potion for parenting.

Homeschooling isn't a magic potion!

Actually, this is a no-brainer. Hello! Our kids have free will and we can do everything possible to help them be responsible, holy adults and still watch heartbroken as they make bad, self-destructive decisions. I take comfort in Proverbs 22: "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

Some children accept what parents say and believe, take it to heart, and never rebel. Others learn the hard way. They have to stick their fingers in the fire to see if it's really hot.

Feminism: the Selfish Choice

How my mother's fanatical views tore us apart


By Rebecca Walker

She's revered as a trail-blazing feminist and author Alice Walker touched the lives of a generation of women. A champion of women's rights, she has always argued that motherhood is a form of servitude. But one woman didn't buy in to Alice's beliefs - her daughter, Rebecca, 38.


Here the writer describes what it was like to grow up as the daughter of a cultural icon, and why she feels so blessed to be the sort of woman 64-year-old Alice despises - a mother.

The other day I was vacuuming when my son came bounding into the room. 'Mummy, Mummy, let me help,' he cried. His little hands were grabbing me around the knees and his huge brown eyes were looking up at me. I was overwhelmed by a huge surge of happiness.

I love the way his head nestles in the crook of my neck. I love the way his face falls into a mask of eager concentration when I help him learn the alphabet. But most of all, I simply love hearing his little voice calling: 'Mummy, Mummy.'

You see, my mum taught me that children enslave women. I grew up believing that children are millstones around your neck, and the idea that motherhood can make you blissfully happy is a complete fairytale Read more here...

Be countercultural, raise your own kids

My grandson did a project at school where each child made a paper doll and sent it in the mail on a trip. "Flat Alex" went to visit cousins halfway across the country. Just think how easy outsourcing day care would be if you could just fax Flat Alex or Flat Sally to the day care provider in India. On the other hand, you could join the counterculture and raise your own children. Wouldn't that be different?