Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

When families act as they were created to be they can be a powerful force of transformation and renewal in the world because the Catholic family has what the world is looking for. Every person has a deep need for belonging and relationship, which is naturally found within family and ultimately satisfied by God the Father. In this presentation, we will discuss how to cultivate these relationships and give an uplifting vision for how the family can be fully alive and change the world.

We all realize there is a war on the family, right? But do you understand where it is coming from? And what the goal is? You can't fight a war when you don't know who the enemy is and what they want. In this podcast we identify the enemies of the family as socialism, feminism, and sexual radicalism. The ultimate goal of these "-isms" is the separation of children from their parents. Make no mistake, we do not fight against physical kingdoms, but against "principalities and powers" as it says in the scriptures. This fight is being waged in the world of philosophy and ideas which have been infiltrating into our society, our politics, and now even our education system. These roots are deep and have been growing for years, but we are just now seeing their ugly fruit. We would like you to take some time to understand how your understanding of the roles of mothers, fathers, children, and the family as a social unit has been effected by these philosophies. It goes deeper than you think! This podcast was inspired by and draws from The Invincible Family by Kimberly Ells. Listen in and join the conversation.

Forgiveness is becoming a lost practice in our increasingly secular world which we believe is one reason for the fracturing of our society. We are always going to offend each other. People are always going to sin against their fellow man. Those offenses and sins cause distance between us. How can they be repaired? Forgiveness. In this podcast, we define what it means to forgive someone and the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. We also discuss having good boundaries when you forgive and how to make sure those boundaries don't become a wall between you and those in your community. And last we give you all a challenge, a forgiveness challenge, set out by one of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, which promises to set you free and draw you closer to Christ and others.

Join us for a special date night with Jeff and Emily Cavins: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/date-night-with-the-cavins/

Events calendar: https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/speaking/events/

We talk a lot on our program about the "messy-ness" of life, but we thought it would be good to take some time to unpack why exactly we use this term and why it's so important to every family. Every family is a messy family because we live in a broken, fallen world and we constantly are trying to repair relationships and situations that have ruptured. Why is it so important to recognize this? Because if we deny or ignore this reality, or try to control our situation and make it neat and perfect, we will only end up frustrating ourselves and making the situation worse. Families need to embrace the mess knowing that they are exactly where God wants them to be.

All of us deal with fears in life and overcoming them is the key to living in freedom in your relationships. People have anxieties about all sorts of things, but within your spouse you should be able to find a safe place. Within marriage is where you should be able to admit your fears, have them be seen in the light of truth, and then overcome them through action. Listen in while we discuss how you can recognize ways in which fear is holding you back from true connection with your spouse and ways to conquer that fear.

For more on this and other topics related to marriage, parenting and family life at https://www.messyfamilyproject.org/

Divorce is so common in our culture today that the effects of it on children can easily be dismissed. Almost every couple who gets married has a family member whose life was affected by divorce, so we can think it must not be a big deal. But those people who are adult children of divorce will tell you that it is. It is a wound they carry their whole lives, but because of Jesus and His power over sin and death that wound can actually be transformed and become a life-giving wound. Dan and Beth Meola are the founders of the ministry "Life Giving Wounds" which serves those adults whose parents have divorced. Their compassion, wisdom, and vulnerability in sharing their own stories is inspiring and encouraging. Listen in to this conversation even if you are not an adult child of divorce. It will give you insights that you have not considered before regarding this pervasive issue in our society.

Links: https://www.lifegivingwounds.org/