Family
Family Happiness
Links
The Unborn: Helping Expectant Mothers, Healing Society
Links
Books
Burke, Kevin. Redeeming a Father’s Heart: Men Share Powerful Stories of Abortion Loss and Recovery. Bloomington: Author House, 2007. Ten men share their post-abortion grief and healing.
Burke, Theresa, and Reardon, David. Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion. Dover, Delaware: Acorn Books, 2007. This book reveals the deep wound of abortion with profound insight and memorable examples of recovery.
Children
Links
Brown, Stuart. "Play, Spirit, and Character." On Being. National Public Radio , 2014.
Catholic Icing. Light hearted yet substantive blog from a Catholic mother and artist containing art, craft, and cooking projects for sharing the Catholic faith. Topics include liturgical seasons, home schooling, Bible study, sacraments, and more. Learn to create your own Bible tabs and journal, puppets, party treats for All Saints' Day, and much more.
"Developmental Stages: The Roller Coaster of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium." The Center for Parenting Information. www.centerforparentingeducation.org. Retrieved April 11, 2017. As children move from one stage of life to the next, progress is not smooth or linear. As one set of inner psychic structures is refashioned for the next stage, inner renovation can be messy, but the cycles of equilibrium and disequilibrium follow a predictable pattern.
Grant, Adam. "Raising a Moral Child." New York Times, April 11, 2014. Research based advice on how to guide children to internalize good moral values.
Lives in the Balance: Changing the Conversation About, and With, Behaviorally Challenging Kids. www.livesinthebalance.org. Child psychiatrist Dr. Ross Greene explains how to act as a "surrogate frontal lobe" for children when they exhibit impulsiveness and a lack of flexibility. Dr. Greene notes that "empathy is the access code to the brain," and if we are to help guide children into problem solving mode, we must first empathize and accept their strong emotions.
"Mr.Rogers' Songs," Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, PBS Kids. www.pbskids.org. Retrieved April 11, 2017. Listen to charming, poetic songs about the unconditional love parents have for children, of what love consists, human dignity, and more, by the unparalleled Fred Rogers, ordained minister and kind "neighbor" to generations of children.
Pope John Paul II. Letter to Families. Vatican City: Vatican Publishing House, 1994.
Smith, Rachael. "Agape." Saint Gabriel Respect Life. www.stabrielcarlisle.org. July 2015. We treasure the sunny times, but how do the challenges posed by family life develop the capacity to love? Third of seven children, Rachael, a high school junior at the time of this writing, explains.
Books
Ames, Louise, and Ilg, Frances. Your One-Year-Old, Your Two-Year-Old, etc., Child Development Series. New York: Dell Publishing, 1989. Research based descriptions of what kind of external behavior to expect at each age, and underlying developmental causes. This series helps parents understand the motivation and internal changes of a child at each age, in order to help the child successfully navigate the developmental stages.
Barron-Tieger, Barbara, and Tieger, Paul. Nurture by Nature: Understand Your Child's Personality Type. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 1997. Aids parents in understanding how children of various temperaments, as classified by the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator, think, and what motivates them. For example, introverted parents gain insight into how their extroverted children view the world, idea oriented parents understand their more concrete sense oriented children, and “thinkers” understand “feelers”.
Elkind, David. The Hurried Child. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2009. Cogent analysis of societal pressures on children to grow up too quickly, clear explanations of how these expectations conflict with the way children naturally develop, and suggestions for parents to adjust their environment to make it conducive to healthy growth, including ample time for free play.
Elkind, David. The Power of Play. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2007. Explains why opportunities for spontaneous, imaginative play are not mere luxuries in a child’s life, but absolutely essential to healthy development.
Faber, Adele, and Mazlish, Elaine. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Listen so Kids Will Talk. New York: Avon Books, 1999. This classic treatise on respectful, effective communication techniques enables parents to exercise necessary authority over children while maintaining a friendly attitude of respect for their dignity.
Faber, Adele, and Mazlish, Elaine. Siblings Without Rivalry. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. Learn to help siblings negotiate conflicts while respecting each other’s dignity, and learn to treat children equally but not identically.
Greene, Ross. The Explosive Child. New York: Harper Collins, 2001. Drawing on extensive clinical experience and research, Dr. Greene explains how to compassionately help easily frustrated, chronically inflexible children to slow down, think logically, and choose healthy and morally good responses to life’s difficulties.
Isaacs, David. Character Building. Portland: Four Courts Press, 2001. Helps parents understand how each developmental stage, from birth to young adulthood, is conducive to training in particular virtues, e.g., generosity, fortitude, loyalty, audacity, prudence, simplicity, perseverance, and discovering noble goals in life.
Kurcinka, Mary Sheedy. Raising Your Spirited Child. New York: Harper Collins, 2009. Those whose children are more intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent, and uncomfortable with change than the average child can learn to embrace the positive side of these traits, and guide children to accept themselves and channel these qualities into good outcomes.
Neufeld, Gordon, and Mate, Gabor. Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. New York:Random House, 2006. Children and adolescents need parents as their primary attachment, but how can we retain that closeness when societal pressures nudge them toward excessive peer orientation? A doctor and psychologist offer detailed advice for parents to strengthen and even rebuild this attachment.
Adolescents
Links
Brown, Stuart. "Play, Spirit, and Character." On Being. National Public Radio , 2014.
Spitzer. Fr. Robert J. "Happiness." Magis Center. YouTube. February 10, 2017. How can we find true happiness? What role does the love of friendship play? How can we combat unhappiness? Should we be stoic? What is the most effective response to suffering? Fr. Spitzer addresses dozens of questions about happiness in brief videos of about five minutes each.
Spitzer. Fr. Robert J. "Actively Combating Unhappiness." Magis Center, YouTube, June 8, 2016.
Spitzer, Fr. Robert. Happiness. Magis Center. Video. Retrieved Mar. 9, 2016.
Books
Barron-Tieger, Barbara, and Tieger, Paul. Nurture by Nature: Understand Your Child's Personality Type. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 1997. Aids parents in understanding how children of various temperaments, as classified by the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator, think, and what motivates them. For example, introverted parents gain insight into how their extroverted children view the world, idea oriented parents understand their more concrete sense oriented children, and “thinkers” understand “feelers”.
Faber, Adele, and Mazlish, Elaine. How to Talk So Teens Will Listen, and Listen So Teens Will Talk. New York: Harper Collins, 2005. Compassionate and respectful communication techniques enable parents and to wisely navigate relationships with adolescent children, maintaining affability yet not relinquishing appropriate authority.
Neufeld, Gordon, and Mate, Gabor. Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, New York: Random House, 2006. Children and adolescents need parents as their primary attachment, but how can we retain that closeness when societal pressures nudge them toward excessive peer orientation? A doctor and psychologist offer detailed advice for parents to strengthen and even rebuild this attachment.
Elderly
Links
Anderson, Jeff. "14 Ways to Help Seniors Avoid Social Isolation." Senior Living Blog. 14 Aug 2013.
Brown, Stuart. "Play, Spirit, and Character." On Being. National Public Radio , 2014.
Gormally, Luke. Human Dignity and Respect for the Elderly. Catholic News Agency.
Pope John Paul II. Letter to the Elderly. Vatican City: Vatican Publishing House, 1999.
LGBT
How can Catholics respond with compassion and sensitivity to family and friends identifying as LGBT? Martin, James, “LGBT Catholics: Inclusivity in the Catholic Church,” Religion News Service, June 2, 2019.
Martin, Fr. James: Homily for the LGBT Community, World Pride NYC, 2019.
Martin, Fr. James, “Welcoming Our LGBT Friends,” Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, 2018.
Suffering/Challenges
Links
Grief Resource Page: Books, Articles, and Audio from Dr. Peter Kreeft and More
Lives in the Balance: Changing the Conversation About, and With, Behaviorally Challenging Kids
Books
Kreeft, Peter. Making Sense Out of Suffering. Ann Arbor: Servant Books, 1986. How can we reconcile the good God with the reality of human suffering? Kreeft offers "clues" from the great philosophers, artists, prophets, and Jesus Christ, and explains why suffering is difficult for modern people to understand.
Frankl, Viktor. Man's Search for Meaning. Buccaneer Books: New York, 1993. During internment in four concentration camps, psychiatrist Viktor Frankl pondered what motivated some prisoners to survive, and even exhibit kindness toward their fellow captives. His answer: “Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.”
Luskin, Fred. Forgive for Good. New York: Harper Collins, 2002. Dr. Luskin notes that “forgiveness is a trainable skill, just like learning to throw a baseball." In this book, he provides that training, based on his clinical practice and work with war victims through the Stanford Forgiveness Project, explaining that forgiveness does not mean condoning evil behavior, or necessarily reconciling with the offender, but making healthy internal changes in one’s thought processes.
Spitzer, Robert J. The Light Shines on in the Darkness: Transforming Suffering Through Faith. San Franciso: Ignatius Press, 2017. Why would an all-loving God allow suffering? Aren't suffering and love opposed to one another? Does suffering have any benefit for this life? Does it have any benefit for eternal life? Is there any objective evidence for God – for a soul that will survive bodily death – for the resurrection of Jesus? Fr. Spitzer addresses these questions and more, and shows how the Holy Spirit guides us during times of suffering