This Moment: Waiting for Lunch

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Visit www.soulemama.com to leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

On Mother's Day and Doubting Children: What Would You Do?

This morning, Mother's Day, I received a tearful phone call from a friend of mine who lives in another part of the country. I will keep the details vague so as not to identify or embarrass her. But really, her struggle is one most mothers of faith face: what to do when our children begin to question the truths with which we have raised them?

My girlfriend's son is 14 and he isn't "scheduled" for Confirmation for another two years. The age of confirmation, I have learned, varies diocese by diocese. Our eighth grader, still 13, will be confirmed next Sunday for example. My girlfriend is distraught. Her son told her he isn't an atheist, but is wondering whether the truth of the faith is really the truth. He told her he's agnostic. What's a mother to do?

Why Our Son Chose Antoine Daniel as His Patron Saint

Here is our 13-year-old son's report on Saint Antoine Daniel, S.J. Thank you, John Janaro, for recommending the wonderful book from which we both studied the Jesuit Martyrs of North America.  Pentecost is right around the corner and that is when Lucas will be confirmed.
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Name Chosen: Antoine Daniel

Brief Biography of the saint: Born in France in 1601, Antoine Daniel was a Jesuit missionary among the Hurons in Canada and one of eight Jesuit martyrs. He studied the Huron language before becoming a missionary.

Today's Two-Fer: Baptism of the Lord and a Confirmation Commitment

"The Lord was baptized, not to be cleansed himself but to cleanse the waters, so that those waters, cleansed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin, might have the power of baptism. Whoever comes, therefore, to the washing of Christ lays aside his sins" St. Ambrose of Milan

This morning we all went to the 9 a.m. Mass, an early one for us. Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the day in which the Church commemorates the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Today was also the day where several eighth graders in our parish, including our son, participated in a Confirmation Commitment ceremony during Mass. Since Confirmation seals the sacrament of Baptism, the timing could not have been better.

While our son's Confirmation sponsor, my older brother, was unable to attend the ceremony, we were delighted that his Godfather, a busy father of four who lives an hour away, attended Mass with us.