Religion

Cultivating a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament through Eucharistic Adoration is an excellent way to keep children Catholic. Those who love Jesus in the Sacrament are less likely to leave Him and will have a lifelong joy in His presence. But, from my own experience taking my children to Adoration, it does take planning and preparation. What is a young child to think, say, and do while sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament for a whole hour? This book gives some practical suggestions in the form of planned outlines for three different Adoration hours.

Each of the 3 outlines has a theme for meditation: We Adore Jesus Who Promises Living Water; We Adore Jesus with His First Followers; We Adore Jesus Who Give Us What is Good. Each outline is divided into 3 parts: Jesus the Way, Jesus the Truth, and Jesus the Life. The hour begins with an opening prayer. In the section “Jesus the Way” there is a scripture reading followed by a quiet time. In “Jesus the Truth,” there is a prayer of repentance and another quiet time. In “Jesus the Life,” there is a litany of praise and prayers of intercession followed by quiet time. Near the end the children are instructed to pray a prayer of spiritual communion.

Intended for groups, this could be adapted for use by a family. The instructions to speak out loud while the children are in quiet time could be modified so as not to be so intrusive. Also, in the “Practical Recommendations for Using this Book with Groups” section at the back of the book, there are explanations of some gestures that the children could use that may not be those in accepted use by individual families, for example, raising hands during intercessory prayer. But the suggestions for a method to move through a holy hour could help a family who wants to start this devotion, but doesn’t know where to begin. It also might be useful for homeschool cooperative groups who want to make a holy hour. For some families, there may not be enough for a whole hour with each outline. We like to add praying the Rosary to our Adoration time. And each child brings his own devotional reading material.

Other resources for encouraging Eucharistic devotion in children include the following:

the website of Father Antoine and his book Praying in the Presence of the Lord for Children;

Eucharistic Texts and Prayers throughout Church History by Daniel Guernsey;

Eucharistic Adoration Coloring Book by Katherine Sotnik;

I THE LORD AM WITH YOU ALWAYS: Prayers and Meditations for Eucharistic Adoration compiled by Christine McCarthy

the Real Presence website.

This is by far the most useful (and easy to understand) resource on clearing up the confusion, myths and down-right lies associated with Galileo and the Catholic Church. Mrs. Meyerhofer sorts through the myths. She is fair to the Catholic Church, but also willing to put blame where blame is due. Her treatment of Galileo himself and Science in general displays a sense of fairness so often lacking in controversial issues and the correct Catholic attitude toward the unity of truth (faith and reason) and the very important fact that true faith and true science will not contradict each other; that they in fact work hand-in-hand.

The Galileo controversy is a big issue for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Any number of resources commonly used by Catholic homeschoolers (such as Protestant high school science texts, certain biographies, novels, and many more) will portray this issue incorrectly. Homeschool parents teaching their children about faith and reason and homeschool students preparing to go out into the "real world" cannot afford to be clueless about this issue. I highly recommend this resource.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories about famous (and at times infamous) people who converted to Catholicism after many years of wrestling with God. The author handles their often tough life stories with gentleness and understanding, and with special attention to God's grace working through friends and family members who stuck with these individuals in good times and in bad.

Many of the stories include very messy life situations - including extra-marital affairs and abortions - but, of course have a good ending. For that reason, (besides recommending that you preview it for your children!) I think it's best suited for older teens, and would make a great jumping off point for discussions about how to be "salt of the earth".

The list of converts include a king, a gangster, a Nobel Prize winning biologist, a famous mathematician and a number of notable entertainers, actors and writers.

Not just a catchy title, "Did Adam & Eve have Belly Buttons?" is an actual question posed by an eighteen-year-old boy. In fact, the whole book is organized around questions from teenagers about the faith. To make it easier to follow, the author has grouped them into twelve categories: God, Creation and Man, Religion and the Bible, Jesus Christ, Catholic Morality, etc.

Because of the layout of the book, the reader can either work his or her way through the book from front to back, or pick and choose topics of interest to him or her. For quick reference to find a particular question, there is also a topic/question index at the back of the book. With a total of 200 hundred questions, there are plenty to choose from! The revised edition includes over 800 Catechism and 500 Bible references to the same questions as in the original edition. At the end of the book, in addition to the index of questions, there is also a guide to confession, an examination of conscience, a list of resources, and a bibliography.

Some questions might be found in a Catechism, such as "What is hell?" Many, however, because they are posed by modern teenagers, are anything-but-typical... such as "Is it okay for Catholics to listen to non-Christian music?" In a way, the book is written by teenagers, and therefore should appeal to them. Although the answers are written in an easy to understand language, they are not watered down or silly, but serious, solid, and thought provoking.

Because of the nature of some of the questions concerning sex (there are just a small handful) I would not hand this book over to just any teen (remembering that these can range from 13 to 19 year olds). Since circumstances vary from family to family, the parents should take into account the maturity of the child, how they spend their time, and what kind of school or work they attend. Straightforward, honest and Catholic, the answers do not in any way arouse sexual curiosity. For example, in answer to a question about premarital sex, the author lists seventeen reasons to save sex for marriage.

Most of the questions in the book even a pre-teen could benefit from, such as "What is the difference between Catholic and Christian?"

While a young person may not pick up the Catechism of the Catholic Church voluntarily, he or she might be intrigued by the catchy title and want to read more and in the process enrich their faith.