Check out these family faith building activities:

BLESSED FOR KIDS

TEENS AND PARENTS

COUPLES

NEW PARENTS

FAITH AT HOME.  Sign up as a Parishioner of St. Denis in Manasquan or St. catharine in Spring Lake.
Or Try it at home for Free: FORMED 

   “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”- Coach John Wooden
- Achievement may be the goal, but building virtuous character is the process.

"It is not the will to win that matters, it is the will to prepare to win."- Coach Bear Bryant
 - Help children establish goals, and build the process and habits necessary to achieve them. However, once this is established, the process (the journey) becomes the key, and the goal is merely a result.

"The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most, for what they want at the moment."- Napoleon Bonaparte
- Always remember: Your goal is to raise faithful, confident, happy, well-adjusted adults of virtue. Childhood is merely the time you are given to achieve that. Always remeber the big picture.

It is important to use your role as parents and time at home to not only instill the Truth and build people of virtue, but also to understand the lies they are being taught when not on your watch. 
There are so many resources out thee that are interesting and informative. Try some! 
Want to address science and faith? Try the ideas at Evolution News  and Discovery Institute, or bettter, watch these very inforamative short vieoes at Science Uprising.
How about issues concerning culture and history? Prager University has great 5 minute videos on a variety of topics. 
What Would You Say also has short videos that expalin difficult subjects.
Real and True is building a video-based journey through the catechism. 
Wallbuilders has many links and resources, including a Youtube Channel, that present TRUE American History. 

How to Get Kids Excited about the Mass

by Matt Charbonneau

It’s the end of the week and you’ve survived another long and perhaps stressful trek through meetings, errands, activities, and other commitments. All you want to do is sit back, kick your feet up and relax. 

But just as you start getting energized about weekend plans, you remember that commandment about honoring the Sabbath and are reminded of those dear children (or grandchildren) of yours. 

You start feeling anything from curiosity to anxiety, trying to figure out how to excite the kids about going to Mass as you begin wondering, How are we going to pull this off again?

Motivating children to enjoy the Mass experience has served as a challenge for parents and grandparents for generations, it seems. Thankfully, there are effective ways we can help kids today feel a bit more jazzed about heading to church. 

Here are nine easy tips that can give your children or grandchildren a little boost in going to Mass. 

1. Put on your Sunday best: It’s not every day you get to wear fancy clothes, so going to Mass affords the opportunity to wear that special dress or button up your new shirt and sport those cool shoes. It’s been said, “If you look good, you’ll feel good,” so pulling out a nice outfit for Mass just might spark some positive vibes for heading to church. Reminding your young ones just how lucky (and blessed) they are to be valued guests in the Lord’s house could also give them added encouragement. 

2. Time together: With the hustle-and-bustle pace of life these days, it can be rare that families spend quality time all together. Attending Mass as a family can show children the importance of taking a break from busy living, while helping strengthen the family bond. Plus, introducing a tradition like a post-Mass meal at a restaurant can certainly give reason for kids to be excited. 

3. Showing your true colors: Kids who love to get creative and show their artistic talents have many opportunities during a Mass to draw and color, while remaining peacefully quiet so their families and others can enjoy the liturgical celebration. Whether it be a page in the kids’ bulletin or their own coloring books from home, parents and grandparents need only pull out a crayon set to let their young one loose. While they’re diving into their coloring page, you’ll be able to better focus on the Gospel and homily, and possibly get a few extra minutes of quiet prayer after Holy Communion. 

4. Calling all bookworms: As children grow to develop a full grasp of the vocabulary included in the Bible, many love to explore their own age-appropriate Bible version to follow along during the Mass. Such an opportunity for reading allows them to learn about various figures and events, such as Noah and the ark, Moses’ encounter with the burning bush, Joshua and the walls of Jericho, and—of course—Jesus Christ and his many parables and miracles. 

5. Get involved: If you have a child or grandchild who loves volunteer work or craves the stage, helping with part of the celebration could offer a reason to look forward to Mass. Assisting a parent or grandparent in leading Sunday School activities or bringing up offertory gifts, for instance, can provide kids with an added sense of purpose and fulfillment.

6. Snack attack: While bribery may not usually be considered a healthy way to convince children into accepting a decision, offering them tasty treats could certainly help persuade them to attend (and pay attention during) church service. Having that promise of a delicious snack afterwards could serve as incentive for little ones leading up to weekly Mass. 

7. An extra play date: Who better to eat snacks with than a group of friends? Following the celebration, kids of all ages can look forward to getting out of the pews and meeting up with their peers. Reminding youngsters of their friends who will be at Mass can also help parents and grandparents plant a seed of excitement. Whether it’s going outside to chase each other around during a game of tag or heading to the food table for some cookies and juice, children can benefit tremendously from opportunities to grow or create social ties with others. 

8. Building community: As all churches strive to do, fostering a sense of belonging and support can be so nourishing for families. Children can profit greatly from the strong model of wholesome values shown by adults, while parish initiatives like post-Mass picnics or carnivals can pique kids’ interest and desire to attend celebrations, as well. 

9. Walking the walk: Children can easily get excited for Mass if their parents and grandparents show the same excitement. While it’s fine to say celebrating faith is important, parents and grandparents must show this by their actions and demeanor. Singing hymns, joining in prayers aloud and having a smile are all easy ways to convey excitement and investment that your children and grandchildren will want to emulate at church. Additionally, saying grace at mealtime, reading Bible stories, watching kid-friendly programs about saints and having bedtime prayers together are also perfect activities that can encourage young ones in their appreciation for God and our faith.

Jesus welcomes children into his loving arms and secures a place for them in heaven (Matthew 19:14). With such a special invitation and promise from the Lord, there is great reason for kids to be excited about celebrating Mass. 

With this in mind, however, the challenge to engage our children and grandchildren may seem daunting sometimes. 

But through our own modelling and enthusiasm and by presenting our youth with positive opportunities and ideas, they are sure to feel more inclined to seek relationship with God by celebrating with Him at church. 

1. Children survive despite their parents, not because of them- (Optimism: Be not afraid)
2. Keep checking the boxes. Build the skills and virtues they will need later, while you still can.(Perseverance)
3. You are not raising independent children, you are raising future independent adults. (Patience)
4. Your contract does not require that they like you. Your job is to raise them well. (Humility, Fortitude)
5. Parents are the team that gives the kids roots and wings. Both are vital. (Prudence)
6. Parents: Your marriage has primacy. Kids are the fruit. Cultivate the tree. ('Til death do you part.)
7. Be grateful and forgiving and one will always be happy. (Life 101: Gratitude and forgiveness)
8. Say no when it easy to say yes, and say yes when it easy to say no. (Temperance/ Self-Control)
9. You do not control the outcomes (God does), you only control the inputs. (Humility)
10. Teach principles, not values. Values can change, principles do not. (Objective truth)
11. Fairness is in the eye of the beholder. Justice is doing what is right at all times. (Justice)

 

Archbishop Chaput shares a beautiful refelection on family and society. 
"“The family” John Paul II wrote nearly 30 years ago, “has always been considered as the first and basic expression of man’s social nature . . . A truly sovereign and spiritually vigorous nation is always made up of strong families who are aware of their vocation and mission in history.” It’s precisely because the ties of blood, and kinship, and family bind so tightly that humans will live, and work, and when needed die, to have their families flourish. This explains why “the history of mankind, the history of salvation, passes by way of the family.”"
 

For full text: https://catholicparents.org/guidelines-living-fulfilling-life/

Guideline 1: Be a person who knows how to say thank you, who knows how to be grateful.

The great Catholic apologist G.K. Chesterton said of gratitude: “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

Guideline 2: Always realize that education is primarily and above all else a search for truth.

Indeed, study has been called a prayer to truth. In his classic work “The Intellectual Life,” the great Thomist A.D. Sertillanges writes: “Intelligence only plays its part fully when it fulfills a religious function, that is, when it worships the supreme Truth, in its minor and scattered appearances. Each truth is a fragment which does not stand alone but reveals connections on every side. Truth in itself is one and the truth is God.”

Guideline 3: Never lose your sense of wonder, for a childlike wonder and astonishment should be the normal human response to the world that surrounds us.

Be alive to the splendor and beauty of reality. In the words of noted theologian Fr.Thomas Dubay: “God loves to astound us, for every single thing he has made is amazing, all the way from . . . the incredible technologies within any living cell . . . to the mind-boggling enormities and power in a single one of the 50 million galaxies in our cosmos” (“The Evidential Power of Beauty”).
 

Guideline 4: Recognize the great importance of silence and take time each day to be enriched by the world of silence.

We live in a terribly noisy world. From every direction we are bombarded by endless talk, chatter and just plain noise.  With all of this endless noise, is it any wonder why so many people are restless, distracted and anxious? They need — we all need — the healing balm of silence.
 

Guideline 5: Cherish the great gift of freedom, but understand what true freedom is.

Freedom is not doing anything you want, anything you please. That is license, not freedom. Authentic freedom is choosing the good; it is doing what one ought to do.

True freedom isn’t something we win for ourselves. It is a free gift from God, a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We receive this gift in the measure with which we surrender our will to the will of our Heavenly Father. This is exactly what Christ meant when he said, “Whoever would save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
 

Guideline 6: My last guideline is the most important: Do not be afraid to be religious. Do not be afraid to bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in your daily lives.

It is not news to any of you that we are living in a society that is becoming increasingly more secular, a society hostile to Christianity and especially to Catholicism. Our task as disciples of Christ is to do what his faithful followers have always done: live the faith we profess, be true to our baptismal promises, imitate Jesus. As Christians, we know we are in a spiritual battle, and if we are going to fight and win this battle, we had better be well armed.