Discussing women's gifts and dignity on Women of Grace!

Watch Monday through Friday at 11:00AM/11:30PM

Tune in this week to EWTN's Women of Grace!

I am visiting with Johnnette Benkovic all this week on EWTN’s Women of Grace television show. We have a new show for each day!

This is what Johnnette Benkovic has to say: "What is the important role that mother's play in this our day and time? Find out on this week's #WomenofGrace TV series, "Catholic Moms 'For Such a Time as This'" with author and friend Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle. Watch Monday through Friday at 11:00AM/11:30PM on EWTN or via our website:http://www.womenofgrace.com/en-us/media/tv/details.aspx?id=643 "

I hope you can join us! 

God bless!

PS I will try to get links to the archives which will be on YouTube and the EWTN website and I'll share them with you.

Embracing Motherhood review

EMBRACING MOTHERHOOD

Servant Books: St. Anthony Messenger Press, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2012; $13.99.

When I gave birth to my first child I lived more than 200 miles from my mother. Frequent phone calls were neither part of our tradition nor feasible in my new family’s budget, so I didn’t have many opportunities to ask my mother for advice. I read Dr Spock, but his book was not my gospel.
My best resource was a friend with one child a year older than mine and a second child on the way. She and her husband belonged to our parish and our Christian Family Movement group, so we exchanged not only child-rearing wisdom but also faith.

As I opened the pages of “Embracing Motherhood,” by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, I wondered who today’s busy young mothers go to for advice. Few connect via church groups or neighborhood coffees. Do they find wise women via Facebook or search engines? Does anyone use a printed book anymore for parenting advice?

Who is likely to read “Embracing Motherhood”? After finishing the book’s final pages, I concluded that the typical reader of this book is apt to be a faithful Catholic woman seeking support, encouragement and ideas for raising children in a devout household.

Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle liberally cites Pope John Paul II, especially from his writings about the family. In “Familiaris Consortio,” the late Holy Father’s 1981 seminal document on the family, he calls the family a “church in miniature” (“ecclesia domestica”), a domestic church in communion with the diocesan and universal church. John Paul II calls families to “become what you are,” an “intimate community of life and love.”

Throughout his pontificate he exhorted family members to fulfill their fourfold mission, a “specific and original” expression of the church’s mission. Pope John Paul II noted in “Familiaris Consortio” that respect and love for the family includes giving back “its reasons for confidence in itself, in the riches that it possesses by nature and grace.”

While Cooper O’Boyle’s message is predominantly encouraging, and she says her book is not about the perfect family, at times she seems to indicate that being church depends upon parents, especially the mother, carrying out “shoulds,” “oughts” and “musts.”

Given the title, it is obvious that “Embracing Motherhood” has a positive outlook. Its basic concept is excellent, acknowledging that motherhood is not a condition to be endured or perfected but to be embraced, as one embraces a beloved with both arms. Motherhood is a vocation, a sacred calling and a privilege.

Cooper O’Boyle addresses issues important for mothers and explores them from multiple angles. A chapter called “First and Foremost Educator” is a good example. Its 16 pages address parents’ responsibilities to educate their children, contemporary temptations, parental unity, prayerful example, cultural influences and relationships with adult children. As with all the other chapters, this one concludes with a few simple reflection questions and a brief “homespun” prayer.

At times while reading this book I sensed a tone characterized by a comment opening the book’s second chapter. There the author refers to her own domestic church as “an oasis to retreat to from the craziness of the world.” Is not the church “ín” the world rather than apart from it, striving to influence society rather than withdraw from it? So also the domestic church, the family, lives in the world and does not retreat from it.

A sheltering home and caring relationships are essential for family health and children’s well-being, which Cooper O’Boyle emphatically conveys in her book. She also states that she is not advocating a return to “some outdated style of human living” but to “the roots of human development and human happiness.”

Nurturing a family in this world while fostering our children’s ability to deal successfully with the world’s perils is an art, or what Cooper O’Boyle refers to as “power and grace.”
[from: http://foryourmarriage.org/embracing-motherhood/]

available: www.donnacooperoboyle.com

Radio tonight-talking about Embracing Motherhood!

I'll be on“The Busted Halo Show with Father Dave Dwyer” tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern on the Catholic Channel at Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, channel 129.  www.siriusxm/thecatholicchannel.org and www.bustedhalo.com

Happy Valentine's day!

Speaking of love...here's an article of mine...

The Mother is the HEART of the Domestic Church

“The family should be your place of encounter with God.” Pope John Paul II has told us. As mothers, we need to realize that this is indeed true. We may tend to think that we exclusively encounter God at Mass or during our prayers. Yet, we meet God each day in the smiles and in the tears of our children. He is in our laundry rooms and truly present with us during our intimate dinner conversations, during our disagreements and also in the quiet of the home. We can consider ourselves very blessed to live in a family where we can indeed encounter Our Lord on a daily basis. We need to train ourselves to become more attentive to His presence.


Our homes are our “domestic Churches.” As Catholic and Christian mothers, we must strive to find God at home with us and set a prayerful tone for the family. Our work in the home—raising little saints to Heaven, is certainly far more important than what we can achieve outside its doors. If we pause to consider that we actually assist our Lord in creating human life, we can become more cognizant of our magnificent role as a mother. Our children should be able to count on our presence to them, as well as our dedication and unconditional love for them.

Our Lord is very pleased with our selfless acts of loving service to our family within our households. We need not stress over a feeling of lack of accomplishments. Sure, it’s tough, since our culture dictates so many mixed messages to women and it can be confusing at times to figure out our place in this great big world. But, we must disregard the crazy expectations from a culture that is in contradiction with our faith and we must follow our Lord’s will for us. By God’s grace we are accomplishing far more than we can even imagine in our role of faithful Christian motherhood.

Mothers Have the Power!

Mothers have the power to either create a happy, loving home where our family can retreat from the darkness of the world or one filled with discord and unhappiness. It is so true that we are the heart of the home. When we are not fully present to our families, there is usually chaos in one form or another. Our children can feel lost, lonely, confused, or misdirected and may even feel unloved. It is essential to be present to our children—something that requires serious pondering before going out to work or volunteering on too many committees. Mother Teresa was famous for saying “Love begins at home.” If we’re not there at home caring for our brood, how will our children receive all that they require to grow into stable, confident, loving, and faithful adults?

We should avoid, whenever possible, having our children be without our presence for long or come home to an empty house without us home to welcome them. Yes, the bills pile up mercilessly as we sometimes struggle to meet our financial obligations. However, we should not feel compelled to keep up with the pace of today’s culture in the material sense. Perhaps we can live with a bit less material stuff so we can be together in our families, raising our children with our values, not someone else’s. Designer clothes, huge houses, and fancy cars are not necessary for survival and will be left at our graves. College educations and new cars for each child may not always be possible. Let’s focus on the big picture.

Our Lord is surely pleased that we have allowed each of our precious, individual souls to come into being by our “yes” to new life, even during difficult circumstances. With our love, help, and guidance, our children will work out their salvation and by God’s grace, their eternity with Him. Our Lord does not look at labels and of course, is not concerned about whether children will be clad in Gap and J.Crew, or burlap and bare feet. He wants each one to come to Him and loves every one. He says, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs.”

Peace, Love, and Prayer to Fuel us!

Saint Elizabeth Seton who was a mother said, “Without prayer, I shall be of little service.” As faithful mothers, we must recognize that we should develop a prayer life for the survival of a healthy and happy family. I hear from so many mothers who confess that there are times when they feel burned out, overworked, or even ready for a “breakdown.” You know, sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. Let’s be sure to fuel ourselves with essential daily prayer for strength and light. Let’s focus on what’s important and slow down the pace a bit, if possible, so we don’t drive ourselves crazy.

I don’t think we need reminding that our work in the home does not typically receive recognition or compliments, so without a prayer life, we might actually forget what we are truly all about—what our real purpose is within our families. Housework can be difficult and monotonous too. It’s never really complete and child rearing as we can all attest can be more than a bit challenging, at times. But, when we look into the sweet eyes of our precious children, we will be continually reminded of our sublime purpose.

Our prayer life provides the strength and grace that is so necessary for the survival for a healthy and happy family. A Christian mother finds that it is essential to transform her life into a prayer. Yet, she knows that she can’t spend her day on her knees in prayer. She’s not living in a convent, after all. But, she can lift up her mind and heart to God often, asking, pleading, thanking, and praising Him. She teaches her babies from a young age how necessary prayer is, to pray often—never forcing them, but lovingly setting an example. It then, becomes as natural to them as breathing.

At the end of a long and tiring day, we may be on very weary knees, thanking the Lord for His grace, asking for forgiveness for our shortcomings, and promising to try harder tomorrow, but we’ll have peace in our hearts knowing that we have tried our very best.

Mothers edify others in doing for their children what they do for them each day, very naturally. A precious and essential example is set, sometimes without our ever knowing it. Hopefully, by God’s grace, our example will help to make an impact on our society that will set things into their proper order and bring back the dignity and high esteem that the vocation of motherhood truly deserves.

Being at peace with our vocation of motherhood shows on our faces and throughout our actions, in the form of joy, and joy is contagious and makes for a happy family and even a happy society. So, as we mother our families, let our hearts sing out for joy! We are blessed indeed, weary knees and all!

My review of Lisa Hendey's book in the National Catholic Register

by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, Register correspondent Monday, May 03, 2010 8:00 AM

THE HANDBOOK FOR CATHOLIC MOMS

By Lisa M. Hendey

Ave Maria Press, 2010

256 pages, $15.95

To order: avemariapress.com

(800) 282-1865, ext. 1

"It almost sounds too good to be true. What Catholic mother wouldn’t want to get her hands on a comprehensive guide that will nurture her heart, mind, body and soul? Is there such a book?

The Handbook for Catholic Moms promises to be just that.

The author, Lisa M. Hendey, admits that most of her training was “on the job.” But, isn’t that where most mothers are qualified, right there in the trenches? She also explains that she may have felt a bit inadequate to write a book designed to give advice on motherhood. Yet, Hendey, who many of us know as the founder of CatholicMom.com and the podcaster of “Catholic Moments,” has come through with an all-embracing look at motherhood and everything it entails — as well as all she feels a mother’s life should entail.

Brimming with practical and friendly advice, Hendey paints each facet of a mother’s life with vibrant brushstrokes over a very visible backdrop of faith.

This mother’s “instruction” manual consists of four parts: heart, mind, body and soul. Hendey covers such topics as family dynamics, faith, prioritizing prayer, cultivating creativity for your mind, fitness, good health, personal productivity, time management, finances, single parenting, lifetime learning and saintly inspiration.

We learn about Hendey herself in “My Story,” which begins each chapter and draws the reader into a relaxed “conversation.” Sidebars by noted authors and experts enhance the motivating chapters, and insight from other mothers, quotes from Church documents, the Catechism, the saints and Web resources are sprinkled throughout.

The overarching theme: how to weave faith through every aspect of mothering and of being a woman. In Chapter Twelve, “Cultivating Creativity,” Hendey tells us that moms may be focusing exclusively on the talents that enable them to serve their families and forget about their other talents. She encourages mothers to get creative and perhaps discover a new talent. She offers practical ways to squeeze some wholesome fundamentals into our jam-packed lives.

'These days, as full as my life is, I block off time every Wednesday morning for one of my favorite hobbies, knitting. The truth is, I’m not a great knitter and I’m very slow. As I write this, I have been working for the past 14 months on one pair of socks. My fellow knitters bear with me patiently as I join them weekly for friendship and bonding around a common love of yarn.

I rarely knit outside of that particular Wednesday morning time period, but look forward each week to the challenge of completing a project on my own and spending time in fellowship with wonderful friends.

When my friend and knitting teacher Cindy taught me to love her favorite hobby, she gifted me not only with a skill, but more importantly with another facet of myself I had never known before.'

This book has something valuable to offer every Catholic mother.

Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle is the author of The Catholic Prayer Book for Mothers."

Upholding the Dignity in a Mother's Vocation

Go on over to Catholic Mom.Com to read an article I wrote on motherhood.

Tune in to "Mom's Corner" with Teresa Tomeo and Me

I hope you can tune in to my chat with Teresa Tomeo this morning on Ave Maria Radio on "Catholic Connection." Just tune in at 9:15 AM Eastern Standard Time by clicking here at avemariaradio.net and then click "listen live."

It's the first day of Autumn! AND, St. Padre Pio's feast day coming up tomorrow! We'll be chatting about my new EWTN television series coming up! I'll be back to post a link a little later on in case you can't tune in.

God bless!

Donna-Marie