It is so easy to burn through the rosary instead of taking the time to actually think about what you are praying. This week, Sarah Reinhard shows us how to pray the Hail Mary Word By Word with the help of over thirty Catholic authors who offer their reflections on every word of the prayer. Who knew how much meaning can be found, not just once, but twice, in the word “the”!

Preorder Sarah's book for 20% off!

I also talk about the September devotions to Our Lady of Sorrows. Did you know that the devotion has its own scapular and chaplet?

And you are going to have to listen to the podcast to find out about the time we left my sister at a gas station and why this video is part of this episode.

 [wpdevart_countdown text_for_day=”Days” text_for_hour=”Hours” text_for_minut=”Minutes” text_for_second=”Seconds” start_time=”1441039708″ end_time=”7,13,11″ action_end_time=”hide” content_position=”center” top_ditance=”10″ bottom_distance=”10″ ][/wpdevart_countdown]

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Show links:

* Subscribe on iTunes

* Word By Word

* Sarah Reinhard's website

* Other books by Sarah Reinhard

* Save 20% all through September on the Seven Sorrows Chaplet

* Aquinas and More Marriage Toolbox

So what can you get that First Communicant when you aren't the parents or godparents and can't take dibs on a Bible or First Communion rosary?

Lisa Hendey to the rescue! Her new Chime Travelers series of books is just the ticket. Follow two children on their adventures through time where they meet saints and learn more about the Faith.

Take a listen!

Do you have suggestions for great Catholic books for grade-schoolers? Please let us know in the comments below.

 

[wpdevart_countdown text_for_day=”Days” text_for_hour=”Hours” text_for_minut=”Minutes” text_for_second=”Seconds” start_time=”1440447457″ end_time=”6,9,43″ action_end_time=”hide” content_position=”center” top_ditance=”10″ bottom_distance=”10″ ][/wpdevart_countdown]

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Show links:

* Subscribe on iTunes

* Chime Traveler books

* CatholicMom.com

* New releases from Ave Maria Press

* The Grace of Yes

* Save 20% on Adoration Books

* Aquinas and More Marriage Toolbox

* Aquinas and More on Facebook and Instagram – see our picture from the Planned Parenthood rally.

Family Feud by Dennis Crowley (2008) via Flickr.

Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) and Holy Cross Family Ministries are gradually releasing a four-part study on young Catholic families. More than 1,000 adults aged 25-45 responded to the survey, providing insights into faith and family that the Family Feud show would never have dreamed of.

Each section of the report is being released monthly:

* June 2015: The Catholic Family: 21st Century Challenges in the United States (available here)

* July 2015: The U.S. Catholic Family: Demographics (available here)

* Aug 2015: Practice of Faith in the Catholic Family

* Sept 2015: Catholic Families and Media Usage

This impressive research coincides with the upcoming World Meeting of Families as well as the Synod of Bishops on the Family in October. Clearly, family is on the brain these days. Specifically, the Church is looking for more effective and loving ways to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to families.

The Apostleship of Prayer follows all of these goings-on closely. We already provide ministry to families through family retreats, parish and school presentations, radio and TV appearances, and prayer materials for all ages. Inspired by St. Ignatius's love for the magis (“more-ness”), we want to go deeper.

We were surprised to read some of CARA's findings on family prayer, but encouraged by the call to redouble our efforts:

* The Holy Cross Family Ministries website cites their CARA survey, saying that, while 71 percent of parents ackowledge that prayer is critical to faith life, “only about 36 percent pray at least once a day.”

* The second special report on Demographics reveals that not many families pray together. Instead, parents who do pray “consider prayer to be their personal conversation with God.”

* In reporting on the surveys, the National Catholic Register commented, “One of the starting places for the evangelization of the family will be family prayer. According to CARA, most parents agreed prayer was essential, but more than three out of four parents preferred to pray alone.” Curiously, families “were not likely to pray together before meals or together as a family.”

We hope one of our newest books (in bookstores September 2015) will help families build confident prayer lives. Pray with Me: Seven Simple Ways to Pray with Your Children is our contribution to the conversation about how to pray together.

When I began working at the Apostleship of Prayer, I heard from parent after parent about their vague desire to pray more,

Planned Parenthood has been in the news for weeks now denying, accusing and finally hiding behind “but it's legal” as video after video has come out showing the organization engaging in the selling of baby parts.

We were fortunate enough to get an interview this week with Ramona Trevino, author of Redeemed By Grace. Ramona is a former manager of a Planned Parenthood center but had a conversion back to her Catholic Faith a couple of years ago.

 

Enter to win a free copy:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Show links:

Subscribe on iTunes

Redeemed by Grace

Anglican Bishop of Oxford on contraception

Podcast on adoration with Vinny Flynn

Save 20% on Adoration Books

Aquinas and More Marriage Toolbox

Making Gay Okay

Why Humanae Vitae Was Right

Adam and Eve After the Pill

Get more out of adoration this month! Listen to an old episode with Vinny Flynn about his book 21 Ways to Worship.

 

 

Be sure to check out our other Adoration resources as well.

Show notes

* Leave a review on iTunes

* Vinny Flynn's website

The Seven Deadly Sins sound pretty serious. But do you even know what they are? How can you fight against them if you aren't sure what you are fighting against?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let Dr. Vost explain how to easily remember the Seven Deadly Sins and how to use the virtues to combat them!

Learn more about The Seven Deadly Sins directly from Dr. Kevin Vost who was kind enough to provide some more details about the book.

Our giveaway this week features a set: The Seven Deadly Sins AND Memorize the Faith. Enter now!

 

Also, I'm really excited to announce the arrival of Lisa Hendey‘s newest books: The Chime Travelers!

 

Show links

* Leave a review on iTunes

* The Seven Deadly Sins

* Memorize the Faith

* The Chime Travelers

[wpdevart_countdown text_for_day=”Days” text_for_hour=”Hours” text_for_minut=”Minutes” text_for_second=”Seconds” start_time=”1437627224″ end_time=”5,1,7″ action_end_time=”hide” content_position=”center” top_ditance=”10″ bottom_distance=”10″ ][/wpdevart_countdown]

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

So how did the Big Bang create itself? Physics and reason say that it didn't. So what did? This week I spoke with Dr. Michael Augros where he answers the question “Who Designed the Designer?”

 

 

Because of the recent Supreme Court ruling redefining marriage, I also introduced our new Aquinas and More Marriage Toolbox. This collection of books and DVDs is meant to help you not only educate yourself and your family about God's plan for marriage but to help you evangelize our pagan culture.

Have you ever had Irish Bread pudding for dessert? I had some for my birthday this weekend and it was delicious! Check out a picture over at our Instagram page.

Show links:

* Subscribe and rate in iTunes

* Who  Designed the Designer?

* Aquinas and More on Instagram

* The Aquinas and More Marriage Toolbox

* Greg and Jennifer Willits' Marriage and Homosexual unions podcast episode

* Chalice Sale

This week's episode is a full one!

I have an interview with a CatholicMom.com contributor about a new series of Bible fiction by a Catholic author and I also discuss Pope Francis' new encyclical, Laudato Si'.

My main interview this week is with Father Michel Remery, author of Tweeting With #God. We didn't just discuss the book, we also discussed how best to evangelize young people and what they are searching for. You won't want to miss this.

As always, we're giving away a copy of the book from this weeks episode.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Show links:

* Subscribe and rate in iTunes

* Tweeting With God Book

* Tweeting With God Website

* Catholic Bible Fiction Review (Buy the books here: The Well, The Thief, The Tomb)

* WINE

* Laudato Si' Preorder Special

* Laudato Si' with Pope Benedict XVI on the Environment special

* Chalice Sale

In 1968 Father Charles Curran led a revolution of American Catholic theologians in dissent against Humanae Vitae. The results have been devastating to the Church in the United States and Catholic higher education which in the majority of universities has become open hostility to the Faith. But what happened in 1968 had a dress rehearsal the year before. Father Peter Mitchell did extensive research including interviewing participants in the events at Catholic University during those two years and has written the most detailed account of what happened.

The Coup at Catholic University – The 1968 Revolution in American Catholic Education

Catholic Book Blogger review of the Didache Bible

Didache Bible give away

Our podcast on Itunes. Please leave a review!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On this week's show I spoke with a real rocket scientist and inventor about approaching belief in God from a scientific outlook. In his new book, Rocket Ships and God – A Rocket Scientist Puts Faith to the Test,  Dr. Rocco Martino explains how:

* science is based on faith

* religion and science use very similar methods to arrive at conclusions

* you can visually show religious concepts using mathematical formulas

* to distinguish between reality and truth

I also spoke with Barb the Franciscan Mom about her thoughts on The Catholic Drinkie's Guide to Home Brewed Evangelism.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Show Links

* Rocket Ships and God – A Rocket Scientist Puts Faith to the Test

* The Catholic Foodie Radio Show

* Franciscan Mom

* Small Success Thursday at CatholicMom.com

* Interview With Sarah Vabulas, the Catholic Drinkie

* The Catholic Foodie Blog

* Our podcast on Itunes. Please leave a review!