Search Results for: holy leisure

Finding Holy Leisure in Flowering Crabapples

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Pope Emeritus Benedict once said, “We live in a society in which it seems that every space, every moment must be ‘filled’ with initiatives, activity, sound; often there is not even time to listen and dialogue … Let us not be afraid to be silent outside and inside ourselves, so that we are able not … [Read more…]

Thirsting for Holy Leisure: Our Decision to Homeschool

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When we started this journey, I’m not sure that Joel or I would have been able to even defend our choice to homeschool. So WHY, indeed are we even doing this? When the going gets crazy, and it did and does, what’s the overarching goal that we can come back to, to help us reset and regroup rather than prematurely throw in the towel? Well here’s a little behind our WHY, and it’s what I come back to when the going gets tough.

Wasting Time and Holy Leisure

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The Church fathers, St. Benedict in particular, wrote about the need for Otium Sanctum or Holy Leisure. It refers to an ability to rest and take time to enjoy beauty, to be at peace through the activities of the day, to pace ourselves. Or, as Pope Francis might say, simply wasting time with one another. Do you waste time with your children? What does that look like in your home? Do we, collectively, even know how to waste time with one another?

In Search of Holy Leisure

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In between bouts of folding laundry, cleaning house, and preparing lunch one recent day, I spotted a family sitting on my next-door neighbor’s front lawn. After a second look, I realized the man was the construction worker who had been pouring concrete in the neighborhood all morning. He was taking a lunch break and his … [Read more…]

So How is Catholic School Treating Your Family?

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So how is Catholic school treating your family? That’s the question Joel and I have received a lot since enrolling our oldest child in Catholic school and not homeschooling this year. Given it’s National Catholic Schools Week, the time seemed right to offer a response to that FAQ.

The Kiss of Jesus

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I’ve scaled back on participating in book reviews and blog tours, primarily because I want to safeguard my holy leisure reading time for whatever the current book is for Well-Read Mom. But when I received the request to participate in the blog tour for The Kiss of Jesus by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, my intuition told … [Read more…]

Our Advent & Christmas Book List

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A few truths about me: I love reading aloud to my kids. It’s my favorite way to “waste time” with them. I could spend all day in a library reading children’s books. Advent is my favorite liturgical season. Put all these together and what do you have? Our 2014 Advent & Christmas Read-Aloud Book List! … [Read more…]