Faith & Family Live!

Faith & Family Live is where everyday moms offer one another inspiration, support, and encouragement in Catholic living. Anyone grappling with the meaning of life or the cleaning of laundry is welcome here. Read the blog, check out our magazine, join our community, learn more about our mission, and come on in! READ MORE

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

Kate Lloyd

Kate Lloyd
Kate Lloyd is a rising senior, and a political science major at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire. While not in school, she lives in Whitehall PA, with her mom, dad, five sisters and little brother. She needs someone to write a piece about how it's possible to …
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Elizabeth Foss

Elizabeth Foss
Elizabeth Foss, an award winning columnist for the Arlington Catholic Herald, published her first book, Real Learning: Education in the Heart of My Home in 2003. The book is now in its third printing. Her popular blog, In the Heart of My Home is a source of inspiration and support for Catholic women …
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Little Girl Love

My daughter welcomes a new cousin!

This week I had an awesome privilege: the chance to be present at the birth of my very first niece.

Only one of my siblings is married, and Bryan’s an only child, so my sister’s kids are (so far) my sole chance at aunt-hood. She has two boys already and I’d have loved another one just as much, but I am thrilled that Branwen had a girl instead.

(I’m already plotting matching Christmas dresses for our... READ MORE 


Sibling Revelry

they never miss a trick, do they?

Friends of ours are expecting their first child next month.

Whose sister do you suppose sent this gift?


The Heart of Their Vocation

Spend a peaceful moment with the Norbertine Sisters

I had the opportunity this week to put together this simple little slideshow for the Norbertine Sisters.  They aptly titled it “Liturgical Prayer: The Heart of our Vocation”.  Since prayer is at the heart of a mom’s vocation too, and since you might need a few moments of peace and quiet in your life today, I thought I’d share it here.

The five marks of Norbertine Spirituality are:

1.    A special... READ MORE 


Precious Treasures

Savoring the sweet...

Last night, I spent a wonderful evening in the company of the moms ministry group at St. Clement Catholic Church here in Chicago.  Twenty moms were able to rouse the energy and enthusiasm and take the evening off for my talk on “Self Care for Moms”.  The parish has many wonderful ministries for young families, this one included.  I was so impressed by the way in which this group of women encourages... READ MORE 


Operator?

Family (Mis)Communication

My sister Maryan called me today to find out what the plan was for Thanksgiving. Being the go-to person at Faith & Family, you’d think I would have the same role in my family, but not so much. This is pretty much how the conversation went:

Maryan: What is the plan for this week?
Me: Thanksgiving at Mom’s.
Maryan: Thanks Mr. Obvious ... Is mom having dinner Wednesday night?
Me: Maybe.
Maryan: Is Marcia... READ MORE 


Single Lady Amidst a Family of Moms

Glad to be part of the conversation

When Danielle Bean first asked me to blog on Faith and Family LIVE, I asked myself:  “What service could a single person offer to a community of moms?”

They couldn’t possibly want to know about my crazy (cousin) roommates, NYC trips with my best friend, or that my living room is decorated with a collection of bobble head characters from the TV show The Office. I might even create reader envy if I... READ MORE 


Foundations of Religious Life

Meet Sr. Prudence Allen on this week's podcast

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On this week’s podcast (click here to listen or click on the player above), I share my conversation with Sr. Mary Prudence Allen, R.S.M. who is one of the co-authors of The Foundations of Religious Life: Revisiting the Vision.  Sr. Prudence shares her conversion story, as well as her answer to God’s call in her life, which came well into her professional career.  We enjoyed a terrific chat about the... READ MORE 


Holy Nuns, Happy in Habits

Nashville Dominican Sisters' joy shines through

I challenge you to watch this video and not wind up with a big goofy grin on your face by the end. This kind of joy is positively infectious.

HT: The Anchoress


Celebrating Sisters

Pausing to reflect upon women who have made an impact upon our families' lives

Earlier today, I ran across this article about a special museum exhibit entitled “Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America”.  The exhibit is opening this weekend in Cincinnati and it’s goal is to share the contributions of Catholic sisters in the history of the United States.  The exhibit’s website features a small flavor of what visitors will see:

Meet women who corresponded with President Thomas Jefferson, talked down bandits and roughnecks, lugged pianos into the wilderness, and provided the nation’s first health insurance to Midwestern loggers. Discover sisters’ courage during the Civil War, the Gold Rush, the San Francisco Earthquake, the Influenza Epidemic, the Civil Rights Movement, and Hurricane Katrina.

The article and the information about the exhibit left me wishing I lived a bit closer to Cincinnati so that I could visit firsthand.  It also left me thinking about the many special sisters who have touched my own life over the years.  Just as we did with the “Thank You, Father” post last month, I thought it might be fun to acknowledge a few of the special nuns who have contributed to our own personal histories.  They come in many shapes and sizes, in and out of habit, but all share the common bond of having dedicated their lives to the service of God and others.

In my own life, I owe a debt of gratitude to Sr. Esther, who prepared me so diligently for my First Communion.  I also have a great fondness for the Franciscan sisters who taught me during my junior high years.  At this stage in life, I feel blessed to count a few sisters as friends, including Sr. Flor and Sr. Rosa Maria who work with me at our parish.  I’d be remiss in discussing sisters if I didn’t mention my good cyber-buddies and nun bloggers Sister Julie of A Nun’s Life and the Daughters of St. Paul in Chicago, especially Sister Anne and Sister Helena.  These women have inspired me in countless ways.

Is there a special Sister in your life?  Why not take a moment today to share her story with us and allow us to pray along with you for her?  Let’s all remember these women in our prayers and hope that many others will be called to a vocation in the religious life.


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