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Bloggers

Meet the Faith & Family bloggers. We invite you to join us in encouraging and helping the Faith & Family community grow in faith!

Danielle Bean

Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is Editorial Director of Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea, Mom to Mom, Day to Day, and most recently Small Steps for Catholic Moms. Though she once struggled to separate her life and her work, the two …
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Rachel Balducci

Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and they are the parents of five lively boys and one precious baby girl. She is the author of How Do You Tuck In A Superhero?, and is a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has …
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Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com, a Catholic web site focusing on the Catholic faith, Catholic parenting and family life, and Catholic cultural topics. Most recently she has authored The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also employed as webmaster for her parish web sites. …
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Arwen Mosher

Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their young children Camilla and Blaise. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site is ABC Family. …
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Rebecca Teti

Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
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Robyn Lee

Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is the managing editor of Faith & Family magazine. She is (yikes!) an almost 30 year-old, single lady, living in Connecticut with her two cousins in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law …
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Hallie Lord

Hallie Lord
Hallie Lord married her dashing husband, Dan, in the fall of 2001 (the same year, coincidentally, that she joyfully converted to the Catholic faith). They now happily reside in the deep South with their two energetic boys and two very sassy girls. In her *ample* spare time, Hallie enjoys cheap wine, …
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Fr. John Bartunek, LC

Fr. John Bartunek, LC

Fr John Bartunek, LC, STL, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and …
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Guest Bloggers

Jeff Young

Jeff Young
Everyone is entitled to at least one good idea, right? Well, Jeff Young had his in October 2008 when he was struck dumb by the Catholic Foodie concept. It was a Reese's moment for him. Two great "tastes" that "taste" great together. Food and faith! Jeff produces the Catholic Foodie internet …
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Lynn Wehner

Lynn Wehner
As a wife and mother, writer and speaker, Lynn Wehner challenges others to see the blessings that flow when we struggle to say "Yes" to God’s call. Control freak extraordinaire, she is adept at informing God of her brilliant plans and then wondering why the heck they never turn out that …
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Speaking Christ's Language

...literally

When The Passion of the Christ was being made, I recall reading that the purest, closest-to-Christ’s Aramaic is spoken by a few tribes in Iraq.

Unfortunately violence in Iraq is endangering the language—but it’s being taught again at Oxford.

...a course in the ancient language drawing people from as far afield as Liverpool and London. There are now 56 people learning Aramaic at the university, including... READ MORE 


Beyond the Jesse Tree

10 Ways to Keep Christ in Advent

I am re-running this post from last year. I need the reminder these busy days!

With just under two weeks left before Advent begins, I thought I’d offer a list of some easy ways to keep your focus on Christ during this typically frenzied season.

Plan a gift for Jesus. Think of something special you can give Christ this Advent. Will you cut back on sweets, add a daily Rosary, or ... make room in your... READ MORE 


Salvation Is Not a Math Problem

Further Clarifications on Indulgences

Ask a Priest vol.19

I was somewhat surprised at the conversation sparked by the Q&A regarding indulgences.

At the risk of aggravating current misunderstandings, I thought I should share a couple more thoughts.

The Days of Our Indulgences

I want to start with two clarifications. First of all, one reader referred to the older practice of linking indulgences with particular numbers of “days” in purgatory.... READ MORE 


Off To Turin

The Holy Father will travel to Turin this weekend to visit the Shroud while it is on display.

Skillfully weaving two themes together, the Holy Father highlighted the coming close of the Year of the Priest by focusing his catechesis on the lives and teaching of two holy priests from Turin.

Here is the transcript of the audience.

Speaking of the Shroud, did you know this? Last year a scholar discovered words in it which appear to be Christ’s death certificate?


Good Friday Meditation

We Adore You O Christ and We Praise You

Diego Velázquez’s crucifixion accompanied by Allegri’s setting of Psalm 50, Miserere Mei:

..

The Only Story

is His

There is only one story.

My dad, who is a storyteller himself, has been saying that for as long as I can remember. I don’t think he came up with the idea, but he loves it and repeats it often. There’s one story. Only one.

He means the story we remember this week: the Savior of the world, God’s own Son sent to earth out of His love. Betrayed, beaten, and hung on a tree, soul violently ripped from body... READ MORE 


Contemplation and Meditation? What's the Difference?

Ask a Priest vol. 11

Q. Father John, how is contemplation different from meditation?

A. Contemplative prayer consists of a more passive (and more sublime) experience of God. If Christian meditation is the soul’s inspired quest to discover God (our work of seeking God), contemplation is God’s lifting of the soul into himself (God’s work of embrace), so that it effortlessly basks in the divine light.

The key distinction... READ MORE 


How to Stay Strong Spiritually During Lent

Ask a Priest vol. 8

Q:  Every year I start out Lent with great ambition and hope for spiritual growth, but somewhere along the way I lose interest and let myself slide. I really want to avoid the slide this year ... any suggestions to help me stay strong?

A: Sure! The key thing to think about is why you tend to slide. If you can identify the cause, then you can easily find the solution. In general, three things tend... READ MORE 


Rejoice Always

My resolution for 2010

I was a little stunned when I hopped over here a few days ago and caught Rachel’s post about one-word resolutions for the new year, because before I’d already independently decided on one word that is my resolution for 2010.

Joy.

Our pastor once mentioned in a homily that the shortest verse in the original Greek New Testament is not John 10:35’s “Jesus wept” but 1 Thessalonians 5:16: “Rejoice always.”... READ MORE 


A Thankful Heart

getting the right mindset

Yesterday, as part of a writing project, I was looking at the Mass readings for Thanksgiving Day. One of the readings is so perfect, even for these weeks approaching Thanksgiving, I wanted to share it. May it spark in us a spirit of peace and gratitude as we enter the upcoming season.

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
—Colossians 3:12-17


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