Ideas to Strengthen Catholic Families

June 16th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you need prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com and let me know the best time to contact you.

Congratulations to all the Graduates!

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads!

If you are looking for a great gift for a father, I highly recommend this one: The BeDADitudes 8 Ways to Be an Awesome Dad by Dr. Gregory Popcak – Here is the link to view it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/BeDADitudes-Ways-Be-Awesome-Dad/dp/1594717184

Bible for the Day: Luke 15:20-24 (from the Parable of the Good & Loving Father [commonly called the parable of the prodigal son])

While he [the son] was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’

But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.

Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began.

Tip for the Day: Thank God for fathers! Be an amazing parent today! Find something your children love to do and encourage them!

Whether it be encouraging them to be a fire fighter:

Or an artist:

Or a construction worker:

Or bakers:

I love my family!

I love being a dad.

I am so thankful to God for the gift of my wife and my children.

Fatherhood is a gift, do not take it for granted.

I thank God for the gift to be there for my family and show them that I care about them and who God has created them to be.

I love praying with my children and hearing what they want to ask God for.

I love giving them opportunities to encounter Jesus in the sacraments and God in the Bible.

I love challenging my children to grow out of their comfort zones by riding roller coasters, eating a new food, and meeting new friends.

I love teaching my children and seeing their excitement when they figured out how to do something new.

I love being there for my children when they try something new and fail, failure is important to learn. We can't get it right all the time. Then, I love to show them what to do when we fail: pick ourselves back up and try again (sometimes times we fail many times).

I love being there for them when they need me and are feeling sad, or hurt, or sick.

I love laughing with my children by watching American Funniest Home Videos or some funny YouTube video.

I love experiencing life through their eyes and seeing what they are excited about.

I love dancing and singing along with Frozen 2 or other songs they love.

I struggle with being a father too.

Some days I feel like I fail as a father: because I do not know how to parent in a certain situation, or I yell and overreact at a situation, or I miss what my children are trying to say to me, or I am too focused on my cell phone, or I do not know how to answer their questions.

Our identity is not defined by what we have done wrong or not knowing how to handle a situation.

Our identity is: we are sons and daughters of God, made in the Image and Likeness of God, wonderfully created by God.

As a child of God, we are called to take responsibility for what we have done wrong and work with those we have hurt to heal the wounds.

I love the quote from Dr. Greg Popcak about what a man should do when he makes a mistake:

“I have not shown you how a Godly man should act by what I did. What I did was wrong, and I am sorry.
Now, I will show you how a Godly man takes responsibility for his actions and with God’s grace, I will show you how a Godly man should act.”

Fatherhood is a joy!

All fathers are called to be loving and merciful like God the Father.

Here are a few qualities of a good and loving father:

F – Faithful

Fathers are called to be faithful to God and to their family.
Fathers are men of prayer.
Fathers love God and their family above all else.

A – Athirst

Fathers desire to learn how best to serve the needs of their family.
Fathers desire to learn what is important to their spouse and children.
Fathers see what is good, true, and beautiful in all their family does, even though they may not like doing it themselves.

T – Thankful

Fathers are grateful to God for the gift of their family.
Fathers are thankful for the wisdom and knowledge to know how best to love their family.

H – Humorous

Fathers need to have fun with their family and laugh together, find videos and jokes to laugh about.
Fathers need to laugh at themselves (fathers are not perfect but that is okay).
Tell dad jokes! (bring on the eye rolls from your kids – LOL!)

E – Empathy

Fathers need to empathize with their family.
Empathy means to recognize or identify another’s feelings or pain.
Fathers need to be welcoming when someone needs to talk with them.
Their children need to know that they may come to them about anything.
Then fathers need to help guide their children, with God’s grace, on how to address their children’s concerns.

R – Righteous

Fathers act in accordance with God’s law.
Fathers are good morally in their decisions, not out of obligation, but out of love for God and others.
Fathers are called to be an example of holiness to their children.
Fathers need to teach their children what is right and wrong.

Please pray for anyone whose father has died.

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Songs for the Day:
Good Good Father by Casting Crowns - https://youtu.be/2gSugruC1jQ

Courageous by Casting Crowns - https://youtu.be/pkM-gDcmJeM

Prayer for the Day:

Heavenly Father,
Today we ask You to bless our earthly fathers
for the many times they reflected the love, strength, generosity, wisdom and mercy that You exemplify in Your relationship with us, Your children.

We honor our fathers for putting our needs above their own convenience and comfort;
for teaching us to show courage and determination in the face of adversity;
for challenging us to move beyond self-limiting boundaries;
for modeling the qualities that would turn us into responsible, principled, caring adults.

Not all our fathers lived up to these ideals.
Give them the grace to acknowledge and learn from their mistakes.
Give us the grace to extend to them the same forgiveness that you offer us all.
Help us to resist the urge to stay stuck in past bitterness,
instead, moving forward with humility and peace of heart.

We ask your blessing on those men who served
as father figures in our lives
when our biological fathers weren't able to do so.
May the love and selflessness they showed us
be returned to them in all their relationships,
and help them to know that their influence
has changed us for the better.

Give new and future fathers the guidance they need
to raise happy and holy children,
grounded in a love for God and other people -
and remind these fathers that treating their wives
with dignity, compassion and respect is
one of the greatest gifts they can give their children.

We pray that our fathers who have passed into the next life
have been welcomed into Your loving embrace,
and that our family will one be day be reunited in your heavenly kingdom.

In union with St. Joseph,
whom you entrusted with Your Son,
we ask Your generous blessings today and every day.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

“Take time to play, pray, talk, and work with them every day.” – Dr. Gregory Popcak

June 9th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Our family wanted to share this funny video of our family prayer time.

Here is the video:

Get your bunny slippers and popcorn ready. LOL!

Family prayer does not have to be perfect.

Be yourself.

God loves you.

You are wonderfully made in the image and likeness of God.

Each family is unique and unrepeatable.

Bible for the Day: Joshua 24:15

As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Tip for the Day: Help Your Children Climb to God.

My children took it a little too literally.

LOL!

As parents, we are blessed with the responsibility to help our children to know, love, and serve the Lord in this life and remain with Him always in heaven.

Prayer is essential!

How can we know someone unless we talk to them?

I want to encourage you today to take time to pray as a family.

Here are a few questions to help plan family prayer time:

What are realistic expectations for your children by the age that they are at?
My 4-year-old is all over the place and does not want to sit for long periods of time. Making him sit and be quiet is an unrealistic expectation, I found that out the hard way (toy cars hurt). LOL!
It is helpful for our family prayer if we give him something to focus on like eating food, playing with sand, or building a puzzle while we are praying.
We also keep our family prayer sessions short. Over time he has been more receptive to sitting and praying.
Is family prayer on your daily schedule? Does everyone know when you will be praying together as family?
How does your family incorporate the Bible into your family prayer time?
What and whom does your family want to pray for?
God wants us to bring everything to Him.
Be specific when you ask God, especially when you are praying for people.
Use the person’s name and what you are asking for.
If your children are going to play video games, ask God to help them play the game well.
“God, please help my son to get through the lava in Roblox. Amen.”
What does your family enjoy doing together? How can you incorporate that into your family prayer time?
What and whom are you thankful for?
What keeps us from praying together as a family? What can we do together as a family to overcome that?

Song for the Day: Lead Me by Sanctus Real - https://youtu.be/r3Hf1kkI1Dw

Prayer for the Day:

Lord, help us to pray together as a family.

Thank you for the gift of our family.

Lord, we are thankful for…

Lord, we want to pray for…

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

“Take time to play, pray, talk, and work with them every day.” – Dr. Gregory Popcak

June 3rd

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Bible for the Day: 1 Samuel 17: 41-51 – David Defeats the Giant Goliath (which feels like a level from a video game)

David’s Victory.

With his shield-bearer marching before him, the Philistine advanced closer and closer to David. When he sized David up and saw that he was youthful, ruddy, and handsome in appearance, he began to deride him. He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods and said to him, “Come here to me, and I will feed your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.” David answered him: “You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have insulted. Today the Lord shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God. All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle belongs to the Lord, who shall deliver you into our hands.”

The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters, while David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone, hurled it with the sling, and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone embedded itself in his brow, and he fell on his face to the ground. Thus David triumphed over the Philistine with sling and stone; he struck the Philistine dead, and did it without a sword in his hand. Then David ran and stood over him; with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath he killed him, and cut off his head.

Tip for the Day: Ready, Set, PLAY!

It is important to take time each day to play together.

Today my kids decided to have a magic show in the living room.

It included sawing someone in half (it was pretend sawing), disappearing children (it’s okay we found them all – LOL), and laughing and silliness.

The magic show idea came about because the children came up with it.

It is important to let everyone share their ideas of what they want to do to play together.

The more we allowed our children to plan out the games, the more we learned about what they truly like to do.

I have found that my children like to draw, gymnastics, Monopoly Deal, and video games.

Today I want to talk about the good that can come from video games.

What? Aren’t video games evil?

LOL!

Video games are not evil.

Yes, there are some video games that can be too violent or have other moral issues, and as parents we must make the best decision for the good of our children, but that is not what I want to talk about today.

I want to focus on video games to play together as a family.

Some of my favorite memories growing up were playing video games with my siblings.

We were extremely competitive, well if you think breaking a table, lamp, and a few controllers playing Super Mario Cart is extremely competitive.

Okay, maybe we were sore losers too. LOL!

We would laugh and joke and just have fun together, we could just be our selves around each other.

Now, as a father of 4 children, I like that my children are getting into video games to play together with each other, like Lego Star Wars.

It is great to see them being silly and working as a team.

Online video games can be a blessing too.

With online video games, my son can play with his cousin or I can play with my nephew even though we are far away.

I read an article by a Catholic priest called GAME ON: WHY VIDEO GAMES APPEAL TO THE HUNGRY HEART - “KINGDOM HEARTS” TO “FORTNITE,” KEY HUMAN DESIRES MANIFEST THEMSELVES IN VIDEO GAME CULTURE.

(Here is the link to view the article - https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/game-on-why-video-games-appeal-to-the-hungry-heart/6000/

I wanted to highlight what he said about why people like playing video games and what our human hearts’ desire:

These virtual worlds become places to actualize the longings of the human heart. Our yearning for communion, our need for mission, our hope for self-realization—all these innate human qualities are on full display in the world of gaming, even if it is unbeknownst to the gamer themselves.

I want to challenge you to play with your children every day.

Be silly and have fun.

If you have never played together with your child in a video game, I recommend asking to play with them or just watch them play.

Video games can be very important to children.

Showing an interest in what they are doing in their video games can be a great way to show them love.

To love someone means finding what is true, good, and beautiful about what that person likes to do.

Dance Party Song: Feel It by Tobymac - https://youtu.be/O8xGaE4S2gk

Prayer for the Day:

Lord, give us opportunities to play together as a family.

Help us to see the good, true, and beautiful in what each other is doing.

Jesus, help my family to do well in the video games they are playing.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

June 1st

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Bible for the Day: Luke 5:8-10

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Tip for the Day: Turn Away From Sin! Turn to God and Your Loved Ones!

God has created us to love and want to be loved.

Sin wounds our relationship with GOD AND NEIGHBOR.

The thing I hate most about sin is people are hurt by sin and feel trapped by it.

Sin makes us trapped by putting questions like this in our head:

How will they react if they know what I did?
Will they still love me?
Will they just write me off?
Will they yell at me?
Will they hate me?

What is Sin?

Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods.

What does the quote “We are called to hate the sin, but love the sinner” mean?

God calls us to mercy and love towards everyone.

We can never agree with someone choosing to sin; however we need to be compassionate towards them and help them when needed.

Don’t treat someone like a project.

Nobody wants to feel like they are defined as their mistake.

Jesus went to sinful people and loved them for them.

He did not love their sin, but their sin is not who they are.

We are sons and daughters of God.

Jesus forgave their sins and then challenged them to go and sin no more.

In the Our Father, we say at the end “and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.”

We need God to free us from our sins.

God wants to bring freedom from sin through the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Allow God to bring healing and joy and peace through this sacrament of mercy and love.

Ask yourself, am I living and speaking in love and the truth of God?

Take time regularly for an Examination of Conscience.

Not just to know your sins, but more importantly, that you can prepare well for Confession and the merciful love of God.

God loves you so much and sent His only son to die for YOU!

Adult Examination of Conscience (there are many versions of the Examination online): https://www.ncregister.com/info/confession_guide_for_adults

Fr. Mike Schmitz has a great video on the Victory of Confession on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiVjwlUO9Sc

For further reflection, the distinction between the 7 Capital Sins & the 7 Heavenly Virtues:

7 Capital Sins – It is not just the severity of the sin that makes them capital sins, it is that they easily lead us into more sins.

What people are thinking when they commit the 7 Capital Sins:

Pride - It is all about me. I am the only one that matters. If it benefits me, it does not matter what happens to others. I am better than everyone else and the rules do not apply to me.
Greed – I must have everything. It is all mine.
Envy – I hate this other person because they have …
Anger – I hate this person for whatever the reason and want them to suffer.
Sloth – I will not do something, because I do not want to. Or I will not do something because I have too much to do.
Gluttony – I will overeat. Instead of one piece of cake I will eat three whole cakes. I will do other things in excess that keep me from loving God and neighbor.
Lust – Misuse of our love for other people and God

7 Heavenly Virtues – Good habits to do, in order to not fall into bad habits or overcome the bad habits.

Humility – To take on the tasks put before me even if I know suffering will occur. Think of others before myself and be selfless.
Generosity – Giving out of love for God and neighbor
Kindness – be kind and caring; use words to help someone grow closer to God
Gentleness – patient with people, understand they are not perfect and make mistakes (hate the sin, not the sinner)
Diligence – hard working, taking adequate time to prepare yourself for your task at hand
Temperance – taking the good things in life and using self-control, being wise with our time with neighbor and God
Chastity – A proper use of love towards others

Take time today to thank God for the times you have had the strength and grace to overcome the temptation to sin.

Write down these victories that you and God won together.

Pray for relationships today.

If there is anger, hurt, resentment, distrust, etc, we ask the Lord for healing and peace.

Songs for the Day: Fear He is a Liar by Zack Williams - https://youtu.be/sQTnREEtuNk

Prayer for the Day:

Lord bring healing to relationships hurt by sin.

God, the pain is real.

Help people to speak peacefully and lovingly to one another.

May our words and actions reflect the love that God has for everyone.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 29th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

With the school year ending/ended, it can be scary for children because they will be losing a regular get together with friends.

Make sure you take time to stay connected with family and friends.

Pray over the phone with people, have a get-together over Zoom/Facetime or other online video options, and play online games with family and friends.

Bible for the Day: Genesis 1:27

God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Tip for the Day: You be you today. You do not have to fill someone else’s shoes.

Picture of my son wearing my sandals. LOL!

Your family is a gift and blessing.

You are a gift and blessing.

Thank God for you.

You be you today and no one else.

I have noticed that a lot of parenting is trial and success/error.

What works for one child may not work for another child.

Each person in the family is unique and unrepeatable.

We are each beautifully and wonderfully made by God.

Here are some ideas to strengthen your family:

There is no cookie cutter model for your Catholic family to follow.

Whatever works and draws your family closer to God, His Church, and each other, is good for your family.
“Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Don’t be so hard on yourself

You are a blessing and gift to your children
Everything does not have to be perfect, things will go wrong

Be there for families in need

If someone asks for prayer, take time to pray with them right at that moment (or text them or email them)
Give to those who are struggling (sometimes the best thing is to offer to babysit their children, everyone needs a little break and babysitters can be expensive)

Think outside the box when asking children how they are doing.

Emotions are good and a gift from God. It is not sinful to feel an emotion (Jesus was angry and sad too).
It is how we act upon the emotion that can be sinful or good.
Children can share their feelings by drawing, coloring, talking, dancing, etc.
Instead of asking “How are you?” Or “How was your day?” – be more specific by saying “What was 2 ways that you helped out someone today?” “What made you sad or happy or angry today?”
Make a Temper Scale

Movies and music can be great ways to talk about virtues and God.

After watching a movie, talk about the virtues and emotions in the movie and how the characters reacted. How can this movie help us to grow closer as a family by what we learned?
What from this song can draw us closer to each other and God?

Be a solution-based family

Something good or bad has happened, now what little steps can we take to address the concern
You do not have to fix the problem completely, simply take little steps
Give children a chance to help in coming up with ways to solve the problem
Schedule time to work, play, talk, and pray together

Teach children what a true apology is

Say that you are sorry and do NOT put any excuses on the apology, like “I am sorry for yelling at you, but you made me made by … or if you would not have done this…”
Simply say that you are sorry.
Reassure the person that you will not do that in the future
Then later on, you can talk about how to heal the relationship and move forward

Journal as a family

Journaling will help see how God is working in your lives as a family.
Thanksgiving - Write down people and things that you are thankful for.
Supplication - Write down people that you are praying for

Songs for the Day: Beautiful by Mercy Me - https://youtu.be/bmUfJtsaqps

Prayer for the Day:

Lord, give us time today to talk with the people we love.

May our words be encouraging and kind.

Help those who are struggling with loneliness, that they may always know that they are not alone.

God, You are always with us.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 26th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you need prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com and let me know the best time to contact you.

Bible for the Day: Philippians 3:13-14

Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.

Tip for the Day: What Do You See in the Following Picture? Destruction/Bad Behavior OR Play/Learning?

I saw my 4-year-old son hitting his cars with the toy hammer.

My initial response was “stop that”, you are destroying your toys, be more respectful.

However, I caught myself before I said that and did the following instead.

I said this to him, “Why are you doing that?”

He responded, “I’m fixing the cars.”

Wow, I would have never looked at him hitting the cars with a hammer that way.

Be careful about how you respond to your child’s behavior. (Of course, if they are doing something very destructive or sinful, tell them to stop. However, make sure you talk to them about why it is important to be respectful and loving.)

How I respond as a parent to mistakes can be helpful to encourage or harmful.

Be careful to be loving when you correct your children, speak kindly to them.

Otherwise, whenever they make a mistake, they may hide it from you because they are fearful of how you will react.

Encourage them to know that they can tell you anything.

Making mistakes is a learning opportunity.

I like to see my children fail.

Not because I am an evil dad who likes seeing my children suffering – LOL.

I like to see my children fail because it is an opportunity to learn.

Think about a scientist.

When a scientist does a test and it fails, does that mean they should just give up and they have learned nothing.

No.

The results of the test, negative or positive, tells a scientist something and they have learned something from the test.

As parents, we are given the joy and responsibility to educate our children.

Take some time to reflect on learning. Ask yourself the following questions using the words who, what, where, why, and how.

Who do you want to teach your children? Who do you want them to learn about?
What do you want your children to learn? What do your children need to learn?
Where are your children going to learn on the internet and social media?
Do your children know why it is important to learn? Do your children know why the lessons you teach them are important?
How are your children going to learn with you? How are you helping them to learn? How does each child learn best or prefer how to learn?

Lastly, do not just learn how to do something, take time to do it together.

Repair a car engine, wash laundry, build a tree house, do a cartwheel (I’m still working on this one).

Here is an example: My daughter asked me how to make banana bread.

Instead of having her watch a show on making banana bread, we went into the kitchen and made it.

Children love the experience of learning with you.

Share the experiences of learning and making mistakes together.

Song for the Day:

Broken Things by Matthew West - https://youtu.be/WdUu6ZsdVfM

Prayer for the Day:

Lord, help us to know that we are beautifully and wonderfully made in your Image and Likeness, sons and daughters of God.

We do not have to be perfect to be loved by you.

Thank you for your love for us.

Give us the wisdom to know what your will is for us.

Help parents to encourage their children to experience the joy of learning.

Help us to experience the joy of learning.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 20th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Bible for the Day: 2nd Corinthians 11:25-27, 30 (St. Paul writes about his hardships in order to boast about the grace of God)

Three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure…

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

2nd Corinthians 12:9

[God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I [St. Paul] will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.

Tip for the Day: When the ground is lava and you’re not sure how you are going to get from one couch to another.

Use the gifts you have to build a bridge.

The bridge was not strong enough for me to go across - LOL!

We need God’s grace in our lives.

Grace is like the oxygen for our spiritual bodies, without we die.

What is grace?

Grace is the participation in God’s life.

I love the quote that says: God does not call the perfect, He perfects the called.

We do not have to be perfect to do God’s will and do good for others.

God gives us His grace to help us make loving decisions.

God has also put important people in our lives to help us.

Parents & godparents are a gift from God to help children grow in holiness through God’s grace.

Thank God for the gift of parents & godparents.

The role of the parents/godparents is to help children grow in the practice (prayer, knowledge, sacraments, etc.) of the Catholic Faith.

I want to encourage all godparents to embrace the promise they made at their godchildren’s Baptism.

I want to encourage godparents to regularly contact their godchildren and encourage them through pray and to talk about their faith and life, write a letter of encouragement about the blessing their godchildren are in their life, and celebrate the children’s baptism, birthday, and other important religious events in their life.

How is God’s grace at work in your life?

Any good we do for others is because of God’s grace.

Here are some ways to reflect on how God is at work in your life through grace.

The Holy Spirit is at work in our lives through the Fruits and Gifts of the Holy Spirit:

Fruits of the Holy Spirit: charity, generosity, joy, gentleness, peace, faithfulness, patience, modesty, kindness, self-control, goodness, chastity
Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
- Wisdom: helps us judge what is important, meaningful, purposeful, etc.
- Understanding: to know something is different from truly understanding it. I can know a lot of facts about someone, but that is different from truly understanding that person.
- Counsel: helps us differentiate between right and wrong.
- Fortitude: courage and endurance.
- Knowledge: helps us to know God.
- Piety: proper reverence for God, helps us obey God out of love.
- Fear of the Lord: proper disdain for sin and awe of God’s goodness and love.

Through grace, humans have supernatural powers called the theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love.

Faith is a gift of God which helps us believe in Him.
Hope is the gift of confidence in Him.
Charity is to love as God loves, giving ourselves to Himself and being selfless and sacrificing for others.

Cardinal Virtues (sometimes called moral virtues because they help us live the moral life)

Prudence is the grace to form correct judgments
Justice assists us in dealing equitably with others
Temperance helps us subdue our sensual appetites and make proper use of God’s creation
Fortitude helps us persevere despite temptations to sin and despair

Grace gives us the strength to give love to others through the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy.

Spiritual Works of Mercy:

Instruct the ignorant
Counsel the doubtful
Admonish sinners
Bear wrongs patiently
Forgive Injuries
Comfort the Sorrowful
Pray for the living and the dead

Corporal Works of Mercy:

Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Give alms to the poor
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit the prisoners
Bury the dead

As parents, we do Corporal Works of Mercy all day long with our children.

As a father:

I feed the hungry by making breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Give drink to the thirsty by bringing up a water bottle to my child in bed.
I give shelter to my children with the home we live in.
When they are sick, I bring them juice and a blanket.
When they are in trouble and have to go to their room/step to think about what they did, I come to them and talk about what they did wrong, which is kind of like visiting the imprisoned.

Take time today to thank God for grace in your life.

Here are two videos to help explain what grace is to children:

Catholic Kids Media - https://youtu.be/wQENqPe-5Wk

Theo Matters - https://youtu.be/9PW3gaImhbg
Songs for the Day:

Your Grace is Enough by Matt Maher - https://youtu.be/LISbMRp0Y64

Prayer for the Day:

God, help me to see your grace at work in my life.

Thank you, God, for all the blessings in my life.

Give me the grace to help others.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 18th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Bible for the Day: Matthew 6:34

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.

Tip for the Day: One of the scariest sentences in the human language. School is almost over!

Ahhhhhhhh! (this is the G-Rated version of what I was thinking while I was curled up in the corner – LOL)

Take a deep breath and just breathe. YOU GOT THIS!

I’m not ready for school to end, teachers have been a blessing to our children.

THANK YOU TO ALL THE TEACHERS! YOU ARE A BLESSING AND A GIFT!

What are my children going to do all summer?

It brings the question we dread to hear, “Dad, I’m bored, what should I do?”.

Be Not Afraid!

You are their parent and God gives us the grace to work for the good of our family.

Be the amazing parent you are through God’s grace, and take it one step at a time.

Take time to prepare.

First of all, you need to find out the needs of your children by sitting down and talking about what they want to pray about, learn about, how they want to play and with whom to play with (this may mean some virtual play dates and video games), talk to, and work projects to complete.

Each family is unique and unrepeatable, so each families list will be different.

Have a regular routine, not necessarily a strict schedule.

Example of a family routine: wake up and eat breakfast and start work/school and pray together.

A strict schedule we would do the same things, but it would be more like this: wake up exactly at 7a.m., eat breakfast exactly at 7:25a.m., start work exactly at 7:45a.m.

The difference between a strict schedule and a regular routine:

The routine is more easy-going and not strict on times to make things easier on everyone.

The strict schedule can easily lead to parents or children getting frustrated if we did not do things at the exact time.

Every year the end of school brings about children mourning the loss of regular connection with their friends.

As Catholics, we know that grieving is not just when we lost a loved one, it is when we have any loss.

The end of school will bring the loss of regular connection virtually to friends.

It is time to plan out as a family how all of you will be staying connected with friends.

This may mean researching and checking out certain video games, social media options, and video chatting.

Now regarding the question, “I feel bored, Dad, what should I do?”

Here is a strategy.

Have three jars in your house:

Jar filled with game/play ideas
1. Link with some ideas: https://www.care.com/c/stories/3775/101-indoor-games-and-activities-for-kids/
Jar filled with family work/volunteer projects
1. Link with some ideas: https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/
Jar filled with talk ideas
1. Link with some ideas: https://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/communication/family-discussions

Take time as a family to come up with your own ideas too and add them into the jars.

Go to those jars regularly and pull out one of the ideas, then do that as a family.

As a side note: This is your chance as a parent/spouse to sneak in one of those household projects that no one ever does – LOL.

Songs for the Day: Breathe by Jonny Diaz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnjeMwxFuBA

Headphones by Britt Nicole - https://youtu.be/Lrg6Q7j7KjA

Prayer for the Day:

Jesus, I do not know what the future will hold.

Help me to trust in you.

I love you Lord.

Thank you, God, for all the blessings in my life.

Guide my family as we transition from school ending with summer almost here.

Holy Spirit, guide me in doing what is best for my family.

I love them so much.

I love you God.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 15th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you need prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com and let me know the best time to contact you.

Bible for the Day: Ephesians 4:31-32

All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. [And] be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Tip for the Day: Give people a true apology. Otherwise it feels like a slap in the face.

LOL! I love this game!

There is a great talk by Dr. Greg Popcak & Lisa Popcak on giving a true apology from May 14, 2020 on the More 2 Life Podcast.

A good apology involves three things:

Person apologizing owns what they did (saying to the person you offended “you have a right to expect more from me”)
1. Not to say, “I’m sorry you are offended, or you should have had a thicker skin, or I’m sorry I behaved that way but if you hadn’t done what you did then I would not have said it”
Recognize the pain that they caused you and empathize with you.
Willing to fix it
1. Sitting down with the person we hurt and say if this comes up again, how can we handle this differently so that it does not happen again.

Here is the link to listen to the podcast called “To Forgive…Divine”: https://avemariaradio.net/audio-archive/more2life-may-14-2020/

Giving an apology is difficult.

No one likes telling someone else that they messed up and made a mistake.

Apologizing is not a sign of weakness; it is recognizing that a one could have handled a situation more appropriately to respect the dignity of the other person.

Everyone is wonderfully made in the image and likeness of God.

We deserve to be spoken to kindly and lovingly.

Be careful when people use a fake apology to just move on from a situation.

They say sorry sarcastically and then blame you for the way they acted.

Hold people accountable to their words.

Let them know that you deserve a true apology.

Lastly a few ideas for when children are sent to think about what they did wrong and calm down.

The following is what should happen before they are ready to come out by Dr. Greg Popcak:

The child tells you what they did wrong.
Give a sincere apology.
Tell you what needs to be done differently. (Parents can help with coming up with ideas with the child. Do not just tell the child how they must act differently, it is better for the child to come up with the ideas on how to change their behavior.)
Child must be calm enough to role play what happened over again and to do it appropriately.

Song for the Day: Rise by Danny Gokey (Lyric Video) - https://youtu.be/8eUGUC4Ko30

Prayer for the Day: Video of Religious Sisters using play cups to pray the ‘Prayer of St. Francis’ - https://twitter.com/i/status/1257819816414461953

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 13th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you need prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com and let me know the best time to contact you.

Bible for the Day: Proverbs 16:24

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Tip for the Day: Don’t Push Each Other’s Buttons With Mean Words.

Do you remember the saying "sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you"?

This saying is false.

Negative words do hurt and can be extremely painful, especially when they come from those who are closest to you.

One of the blessings of family, is they know you very well.

But that can also be one of the downfalls of family, they know you very well, and they know exactly the right buttons to push to hurt you the most.

Be careful today to make choices to use your words to affirm one another, instead of tearing each other down.

We have the choice of how we use our words.

One situation in my life is the following with my son.

He forgot to turn off the lights before coming downstairs.

Now I have the choice of how I can respond.

The negative way to respond

Tear into him and say, “You never turn off the lights” and yell at him to go up and turn off the lights. And then to bring up ways that he has forgotten to turn off the lights in the past and how disappointed I am at him.

The positive way to respond

Remind him to turn off the lights and tell him to do it immediately. Then, come up with a plan together on how to remember to turn off the lights.

In both ways, the lights would get turned off.

However, the negative way would build resentment towards each other and distrust.

I encourage everyone to take the way of affirmation.

Never let the hurt from the past dictate how I will treat someone in the present.

This does not mean let them do and say whatever they want, bad behavior needs to be addressed.

If someone cannot be trusted, then appropriate boundaries must be in place for your families’ safety.

Do not let the past hurts control how you want to live your life now; you are an amazing child of God that has been beautifully and wonderfully made.

When we struggle with being affirming, here are a few suggestions:

Before giving a response, ask God how I should respond to this person in love. Reading stories from the Bible can be helpful, especially stories of how Jesus responded to difficult people.

Write down what you want to say ahead of time, then run it by someone you trust to read through it. You do not have to send it. Writing it down can be helpful in getting your thoughts in order.

Don’t assume that the person meant to hurt you, ask questions to find out why they said what they said or did what they did.

Think about the advice that you would give to a friend who is struggling with speaking kindly to their family. What would you say to them? Write it down. Then, give that advice to yourself.

How do we want people to remember us by, words of negativity or affirmation?

Lastly, I want to challenge everyone to use social media for affirmation instead of negativity.

Make sure to limit your negative intake on social media. If needed, set a timer for how long you are on social media.

Songs for the day:
Speak Life by Tobymac - https://youtu.be/ZeBv9r92VQ0
Words by Hawk Nelson - https://youtu.be/Bf_H7Lwl0FI
Hello My Name Is by Matthew West - https://youtu.be/ZuJWQzjfU3o

Prayer for the Day (Prayer of St. Patrick):

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 11th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Bible for the Day: John 14:1

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.”

Tip for the day: Don’t let the unknown of the “new normal” stop you from being an amazing parent. Take it one game at a time.

I am frustrated and scared hearing words like the “new normal” because of COVID-19.

I understand things are going to have to be different to keep our families and others safe.

I am not frustrated/scared about that.

My frustration and fear comes from news/internet sources that say the "new normal" will be terrible and will be impossible for people to do and we should just give up.

We can’t live in a spirit of fear and defeat.

Could you imagine a coach of your child’s sports team saying, “Go out there and lose. I know we can’t win, but at least we are playing the game.”

This coach would be ridiculous and no one would want to play for that team.

As Catholics, we are a resurrection and alleluia people.

Be Not Afraid.

We need to be solution-based families.

If there is a problem or concern, what can we do as a family to solve this problem.

First, we need to turn to God in prayer and seek His will for our lives.

Say to God, “God, thank you for all the blessings in our lives, now what can we do as a family to address this concern/problem.”

Here is an example of a concern my family had last week:

The other day my daughter and I had to take the dog to the vet to get well shots.

I talked with God & my wife and shared that I was nervous to take my daughter out, but I knew the dog would be calmer with her in the car.

My wife and I talked about it and we thought my daughter going was the best solution.

We had to take a little longer to get ready and plan it out.

We both wore masks and gloves and the vet nurse came out to take the dog in and out.

It all worked out.

Sometimes we will not be able to solve the whole problem, but we can still do little things as a family to make it easier on one another.

When those problems come along that we can not solve, be there for each other so we do not have to go it alone.

Go through the struggle/hardship together.

While you are going through it, be care-taking of one another.

Take care of one another by helping each other out, cleaning up something without being asked, writing a note that says I love you, sending someone a funny video.

Also, things will be stressful and difficult; each of us is experiencing this COVID in different ways.

Make sure you take time to play games with each other.

Just enjoy being silly and playing together.

Games are a great way to teach your children (like the picture up above, the game of operation gave us a chance to test out our children wearing masks/gloves).

My family loves to play charades, Hide & Seek, Monopoly Deal (no longer 3 hours of Monopoly – LOL), Lego Star Wars, Uno, and Go Fish.

If you have younger children, help the older children come up with ways to adapt the game for the younger ones.

It is helpful when the older children are apart of the planning process for making it fun for everyone.

When my older son and I play Risk or Chess, we have a rule that if my 4-year-old comes along, he can play too.

The rule is that any piece he adds or removes to the game is now removed or added to the board.

Songs for the Day:
Like You Love Me by Tauren Wells - https://youtu.be/HHrxS4diLew
When We Pray by Tauren Wells - https://youtu.be/9YZZzgJB33E

Prayer for the Day:

Lord, help us to be solution-based families.

Give us the wisdom and knowledge to address the concerns/problems in our lives.

Help us to trust in Your will for us.

Give us time today to play games with each other and laugh with each other.

Thank you, God, for the gift of our family.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 8th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you are in need of prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com and let me know the best time to contact you.

Bible for the Day: Psalm 139:14

Tip for the Day: You be you today! If you want to, it’s ok to dress like a lion.

LOL!

Each of us has been beautifully and wonderfully made by God.

You are made in the Imago Dei (the image and likeness of God), created with both a body and soul.

“The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world, the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus is to be a sign of it” – from Theology of the Body by St. John Paul II

By your prayers, acts of charity, and kindness to others, you show them the love and mercy of God.

You are a gift and blessing to those you love.

Take time today to be you.

What gifts and hobbies do you have?

Share those gifts and hobbies with those you love.

Help your children to find out what they are good at (or want to become good at) and encourage them to try those things.

When you love someone, you appreciate the things that they love and love to do.

You may not like the same thing, but it is important to find the goodness, truth, and beauty in what they like to do (If your children like video games, offer to watch or play with them).

Also, what are your loved one’s love languages – [how they show love and how they receive love]

Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, Acts of Service, Gifts, Quality Time

Take time to talk about what each other’s gifts and hobbies are.

Here are a few ideas of gifts and hobbies:

Acts of Generosity and Kindness
Art
Athletics: Name all the Sports/Activities:
Beauty/Grace
Carpentry
Communication {Speaking Clearly and People Understand You)
Computers
Cooking/Baking
Creativity
Dance
Debate/Negotiations
Drama
Encouragement
Engineering
Enthusiasm
Financial (good with money)
Joy/humor
Leadership
Mathematics
Mechanics and Cars
Music
Organizing
Outdoor Activities and Nature
Peace Maker
Reading
Science
Sewing / Fashion
Taking Care of Animals
Writing
Gifts of the Spirit: Counsel (giving advice) Courage Right Judgment (making good decisions) Piety (being holy, praying) Fear of the Lord (trusting & respecting God) Wisdom Knowledge

Song for the Day: Gold by Britt Nicole (*video contains some mature content) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9PjrtcHJPo

Prayer for the Day:

Lord, help us to be ourselves today.

Give us your grace today to be kind, patient, and loving.

God, help us to know our true value and worth in Your eyes.

Thank you for beautifully and wonderfully creating us in your Image and Likeness.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 6th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Bible for the Day: Jeremiah 29:11

Tip for the Day: When you feel like you are trapped on top of a rock and you are going to fall, put your hope and trust in the Lord!

It is so great being a dad, because you get to say things like “hey kids who wants to climb this huge rock”.

Kids say, “We do!”

Then you get to say, “okay now that you climbed it, how are you going to get down?”

LOL! [If you are wondering, I did help them get down.]

Today I wanted to focus on the virtue of hope.

What does God and our Catholic Faith teach us about hope?

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. (From the Catechism of the Catholic Church)

Hope is not an easy virtue to have, because it takes trust in God and trust in others.

I want to encourage you today to live in a spirit of hope.

Hope is also defined as longing for the good in our lives.

What are good people and things in your life? What and who are you thankful for?

Turn to those people you love and to God to help you through difficult times.

We are not alone; God is always with us.

Use the gift of technology to contact those who we can not be around right now because of the social distancing.

Make a regular schedule of times to contact people, whether to play an online app together, Facetime on the phone, or call someone to talk about life.

Thank God for the gift of technology.

Song for the Day: Living Hope by Phil Wickman on YouTube - https://youtu.be/u-1fwZtKJSM

Prayer: Take Time to Pray these Bible Verses About Hope & Trust

50 Encouraging Bible Verses

“Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.” -1 Peter 5:7
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” -Jeremiah 29:11
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” -Romans 12:21
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” -Proverbs 3:5-6
“Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”” -Joshua 1:9
“He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” -2 Corinthians 12:9
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” -Revelation 21:4
“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread of them: for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.” -Deuteronomy 31:6
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 6:23
“Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” -Matthew 6:20-21
“Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” -Matthew 7:7
“Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” -Psalm 119:105
“Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” -John 4:14
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” -John 1:5
“The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” -Zephaniah 3:17
“O taste and see that the LORD is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!” -Psalm 34:8
“They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” -Isaiah 40:31
“Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” -Isaiah 41:10
“We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:38-39
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -Ephesians 2:10
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” -1 Corinthians 10:13
“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful;” -Hebrews 10:19-23
“Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” -James 1:2-4
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” -Matthew 11:28
“Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.” -1 Corinthians 16:13
“I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” -Psalm 32:8
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” -Romans 5:6-8
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:4-7
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” -John 3:16
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” -Romans 12:2
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” -John 14:6
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” -Philippians 4:13
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” -Ephesians 2:8
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” -Galatians 5:22-24
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” -John 10:10
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” -Phil 4:8
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” -1 John 1:9
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” -Isaiah 53:5
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” -Matthew 6:33
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”” -Genesis 1:26
“He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” -Ephesians 2:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” -2 Cor 5:17
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” -2 Timothy 1:7
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” -Romans 15:13
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies”” -John 11:25
“The prayer of a righteous man is very powerful.” -James 5:16
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” -John 14:27

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 5th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you are in need of prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com and let me know the best time to contact you.

Bible for the Day on Motherhood:

Proverbs 31: 25-27

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Tip for the Day: Thank God for the gift of mothers. Take time to thank your mother today and every day.

Remember her name is just mom, not mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, & mom. LOL!

Check out this great video reflection on motherhood called Happy Mother’s Day: https://youtu.be/3swO8vx7ItE

Here is a great idea for Mother’s day from Catholic Icing website on making a spiritual bouquet: https://www.catholicicing.com/spiritual-bouquets-for-mothers-day/

Please pray for all those who are mourning the loss of their mothers.
Eternal rest grant unto all mothers who have died O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Prayer for the Day:

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 4th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you are in need of prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com and let me know the best time to contact you.

Bible for the Day: Ephesians 4:26

Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.

Tip for the Day: When you are angry, do not lock your brother in the dog cage.

LOL!

When there is an injustice, we are justified in being angry.

Whether it be someone cut you off in traffic, your child screams at you when they think you ate their piece of cake (I will never joke about that again), or you die for the 20^th time trying to complete a level on Roblox (I rounded down, it was actually more like 50 times).

All our emotions have been given to us to work for our good.

The emotion of anger is not sinful; even Jesus was angry, and He never sinned.

It is how we think or act upon that anger that can make it sinful.

The effects of sin have complicated our acting upon our emotions, by the darkening of the intellect and weakening of the will.

I love the advice I heard from Dr. Gregory Popcak on anger:

Anger is not first a call to action; it is a call to prayer.

We need to take that anger and bring it to God and ask God to consecrate it.

God, you have given me this anger to be aware of an injustice.

Help me to respond in a way that will glorify God and work for the good of those involved.

Help me to be the person you want me to be.

It is good to not let our anger bottle up and then explode, like a volcano exploding.

Take time regularly as a family to talk about what makes you frustrated or angry.

Don’t assume that other family members can read your mind and know why you are angry.

Come up with little changes that can make a huge difference.

Song for the Day: Forgiveness by Tobymac - https://youtu.be/xfkhqpl81NA

Prayer for the Day:

Lord Jesus, there is anger in my heart and I cannot root it out.

I know that I should calm down and offer the hurt and disappointment to You

but my emotion is running away with me.

Help me to overcome this weakness and give me peace of heart as well as mind.

Let me learn from this experience and grow into a better human being. Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

May 1st

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Tip for the Day: Read this Amazing Article:
The Point of Family Prayer is “Love” Not “Getting It Right”
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithonthecouch/2020/04/the-point-of-family-prayer-is-love-not-getting-it-right/

I wanted to highlight some great ideas from the article and add to it.

Family prayer does not have to be done perfectly.

It just needs to be done in love and charity to God and our loved ones, here are some examples of how families can pray:

Lord, keep us safe on our car ride

Thank God for this 500 piece puzzle being done.

Do not worry if your child gets up while praying the Our Father and jumps on the couch – LOL!

Prayer as a family is about encountering our loving God in everything we do.

God wants prayer to be apart of our lives like breathing, essential for us to live.

Prayer is more than just memorizing/saying words (though memorizing prayers is important, especially when we do not know what to pray if we are too emotional in the moment).

Prayer is not a chore; it is about talking with our loving and merciful God and then listening to what God wants to say to us.

Make prayer a regular thing your family does, make it your identity as a family.

Prayer as a family needs to be personal and relatable to our lives.

When praying as a family pray for people and things in your life.

Be specific in prayer.

If your child is going to play Roblox, pray “Lord, help my son to play well with his friends in Roblox. Amen.”

If your family is driving, pray “Lord, please bless our trip today. Help us to not get stuck in traffic and to be safe. Amen.”

If someone is sick in the family, pray “Lord, bring healing to our loved one. Amen.”

if someone is going to work, pray “Lord, help to keep our loved one safe who has to work today. Amen.”

If someone died, pray “Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.”

When your family is thankful, pray “Lord, thank you for the gift of chocolate donuts, they are so yummy in our tummies. Amen.”

Be yourselves while you pray.

You are amazing and God wants you to be you.

Lastly, memorized prayers like the Our Father, Hail Mary, St. Michael Prayer, are important to know because they are a rich treasury of love to God.

Teach your children what the words to these prayers really mean, so it will help them better understand why they are saying the prayers.

Prayer for the Day:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 30th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Bible for the Day: Psalm 52: 10-11

I trust in God’s mercy forever and ever.

I will thank you forever for what you have done.

I will put my hope in your name—for it is good,

in the presence of those devoted to you.

Tip for the Day: When You Are Feeling Down, Bring a Little Color Into Your Day

My daughter is 6 and she can draw a lot better than me – LOL!

Do not get overwhelmed by the negativity in life.

Yes, there is a lot to be concerned about, and we need to be aware of what is going on around us through looking online and watching TV.

However, be careful how much negativity you are exposing yourself to online & TV.

Negativity causes us to isolate from God and loved ones, we can feel hopeless and in darkness (like the picture above which is not colored).

Do Not Be Afraid; you are not alone.

God is always with us.

When we feel afraid or hopeless, turn to our loved ones.

Our loved ones are a blessing and joy to our day (yes, even when we can’t stand them, they are still our joy and blessing).

Like the picture that is colored above, they are the color to our day.

When afraid or hopeless, we need to reconnect with God, loved ones, and our best self.

Pray to God and ask God to help you, read Bible verses about God’s love and mercy
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. – John 3:16
Ask a loved one to give you a hug or play a game together
Write down ways that you have overcome difficulties in the past, then come up with ideas to overcome the difficulties you are struggling with now (you can’t fix everything, however you can do little things that will make a big difference in your life and the life of your family)

Take time to play, pray, talk, work with your loved ones.

Use technology to contact your loved ones (play apps together, Facetime, call someone to pray together).
Thank God for the gift of the technology we have.

Be silly and laugh together: watch funny videos, play the game spoons (just be careful not to break furniture – my family is extremely competitive LOL), play charades, draw funny pictures together

Song for the Day: Hope In Front of Me by Danny Gokey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KIhYZQ_ovw

Prayer for the Day:

Lord, give families opportunities today to play, pray, talk and work together.

Help them to be silly and laugh today.

Give them the knowledge and wisdom to know what concerns they need to address today and how to address it.

Lord bring healing to damaged or broken relationships in their lives.

May anger and resentment toward each other end.

May true love, forgiveness, and mercy take place in their lives.

Jesus, you know what it is like to be hated and betrayed.

Help us to offer forgiveness to others.

Help others to forgive us for how we have wronged them.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 29th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you need prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com, please let me know the best number to call you and time/day.

Bible Verse for the Day: Psalm 18:2-4

I love you, Lord, my strength, Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,

My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!

Praised be the Lord, I exclaim!

Tip for the Day: Be Awesome Today! You are Amazing!

You do not have to have it all together to be an amazing person today.

Life is very difficult.

It is okay to not be okay (heard a great podcast on that from a Catholic mom, if you are interested here is the link: https://media.ascensionpress.com/podcast/its-ok-to-not-be-ok/.

God does not want us to pretend that everything is okay, because it is not okay.

As a parent, sometimes we need to hold it together for our children's sake.

But, it is important for us to let our children know that sometimes we are scared and worried and sad too.

Adults cry and get scared too.

Even Jesus wept in the Bible over the death of Lazarus.

There is a lot going on right now.

Go easy on yourself today.

If you are angry, share your anger with God.

If you are sad, share your sadness with God.

If you are joyful, share your joy with God.

If you are thankful, share your thanks with God.

If you want a new season of your favorite show, share that with God too. LOL!

Emotions are not bad.

God created us with emotions to help us experience life around us.

Example: When we are angry, it means that there is an injustice that we need to recognize and address in our life. Anger is only sinful when we act or think upon it in a negative way that hurts our relationship with others, God, and ourselves.

God is always with us through everything.

God is our stronghold, refuge, and deliverer.

God only wants good, beautiful, and true things for you.

Talk with your family today and ask what little things can we do that can make a difference for each of us today.

Here is a great song called Strong Tower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0mZm14D3ec

Prayer: Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 28th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you are in need of prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com and let me know the best time to contact you.

Bible Verse for the Day: Psalm 92: 1-5
Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord; cry out to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with a song of praise, joyfully sing out our psalms.
For the Lord is the great God, the great king over all gods,
Whose hand holds the depths of the earth; who owns the tops of the mountains.
The sea and dry land belong to God, who made them, formed them by hand.

Tip for the Day: Make a Family Mission Statement (Don't Guess that You Can Read Each Other's Minds)

LOL!

Successful family life does not just happen, it takes love and support and planning from each other.

Family members can not read each other’s minds, so we need to talk about what our expectations are, in order to help each other.

We need to have our goals written down, so we know how best to serve each other.

A great way to write down these goals is by making a family mission statement.

Prayerfully answer the following questions as a family (give everyone a chance to add to it and discuss what is best for your family), then take your answers and write them into a family mission statement.

Put the mission statement in a prominent place in your house so everyone can see it and you can quickly refer back to it at any time.

Here are some questions that may help in making a mission statement:

What does our family love doing together (playing, praying, talking, and working)?
How do we want to play, pray, talk, and work together?
As a family, how can we better help one another…
What do we need to change to be better as a family?
On what virtues do we want our family based?
1. List of Possible Virtues: Acceptance, Assertiveness, Authenticity, Beauty, Caring, Cleanliness, Commitment, Compassion, Confidence, Consideration, Contentment, Cooperation, Courage, Creativity, Determination, Dignity, Encouragement, Enthusiasm, Excellence, Fairness, Faith, Flexibility, Forgiveness, Friendliness, Generosity, Gentleness, Graciousness, Gratitude, Helpfulness, Honesty, Hope, Humility, Integrity, Imaginative, Joyfulness, Justice, Kindness, Love, Loyalty, Moderation, Modesty, Optimistic, Orderliness, Passionate, Patience, Peace, Perseverance, Preparedness, Reliability, Respect, Responsibility, Reverence, Self-discipline, Service, Sincerity, Thankfulness, Trust, Truthfulness, Understanding, Wisdom, Wonder
As a family, what can we give to others and how can we help people outside our family?
What are your greatest strengths and talents?
1. Here is a Worksheet on Who Has God Created You to Be - Talents and Gifts Sheet

Here is a sample Family Mission Statement (your family would want to be more specific with how they want to live these out):

Every month check how your family is doing with the mission statement.
Figure out if there is anything that needs to be added or edited in the mission statement.
The mission statement will change over time with the needs of your family.

Prayer for Families:

We bless your name, O Lord,
for sending your own incarnate Son,
to become part of a family,
so that, as he lived life,
he would experience its worries and its joys.

We ask you, Lord,
to protect and watch over this family,
so that in the strength of your grace
its members may enjoy prosperity,
possess the priceless gift of your peace,
and, as the Church alive in the home,
bear witness in this world
to your glory and faithfulness.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 24th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

I wanted to share a fun family activity called the Edible Rosary.

It is Food & Prayer time! It is so great being Catholic! We love to eat and pray at the same time!

Here is a fun video on How to Make an Edible Rosary: https://youtu.be/fgOTP-2FYkQ (I want to thank Mrs. Bilotti Schneider for making the video).

My family has been doing the Edible Rosary and it has been great.

Chocolate & Prayer - a match made in heaven. LOL!

When our family has done the rosary we have used blueberries, chocolate chips, jelly beans & robin eggs.

We keep rosaries close by our dining room, so the children can use them.

Though you do have to be careful that the children do not use them as weapons on each other (LOL!), we found that out the hard way.

It is helpful to adjust the rosary to the needs of your family.

We found that using short Bible verses with the rosary was very helpful for our family.

We rotate one Hail Mary at a time (after they lead the first part of the Hail Mary, they have a chocolate while everyone else says the Holy Mary Mother of God part).

My 4 year old was having a problem staying at the table, that was no big deal.

Sometimes children need to get up and move around.

We found that he eagerly came back for his part of the rosary, probably because of the chocolate incentive.

Also, he was having a hard time learning the Hail Mary.

So we had him use his hand and each person he pointed to would say a few words of the Hail Mary.

Here is a handout for how to pray the rosary: How to Pray the Rosary

I hope your family enjoys this fun, delicious, yummy prayer time.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 23rd

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Tip for the Day: Put on your bubble & be not afraid.

LOL!

Okay, well we all don't have bubbles.

But we have something even better, God is always with us and gives us His grace, love, and mercy.

Today, I want to encourage you to BE NOT AFRAID.

Catholics are a resurrection people; we live in the victory of Jesus.

We recognize and remember the suffering and death of Jesus; however, we live in the joy of the resurrection.

We do not turn away from the suffering in the world.

God calls us to be active in prayer and sacrifice to help where we can.

There is so much uncertainty in the world right now, but God is always with us.

We are never alone.

God has created us with an intellect and will so that we can work together with God's grace in our lives, in order to live with a solution-based mentality.

Being solution-based means that we see a problem, feel our emotions and empathize with others, then work with God's grace to take steps to address the problem.

Take time today to write down the ways that God has answered your prayers in the past or all the people and things you are thankful for.

I heard this great song today on the radio called The Breakup Song by Francesca Battistelli which is all about overcoming fear - Here is the link to watch it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0wpP5o7xpI

Fear is a liar and has no place in our hearts. (Listen to this song called Fear is a Liar by Zach Williams on YouTube - https://youtu.be/1srs1YoTVzs *Please note - mature content)

Bible Verse for the Day:
Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. - Isaiah 41:10

We need to be a message of hope and joy to the world.

So take time to share hope and joy with others online every day.

Here is one of my favorite prayers.

Prayer for the Day: Christ Has No Online Presence but Yours Prayer

Christ has no online presence but yours,
No blog, no Facebook page but yours,
Yours are the tweets through which love touches this world,
Yours are the posts through which the Gospel is shared,
Yours are the updates through which hope is revealed.
Christ has no online presence but yours,
No blog, no Facebook page but yours. Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 21st

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Bible Verse for the Day: Philippians 4:4-7 – On Joy & Peace

Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Tip for the Day:

Everyone should take their emotional temperature throughout the day.

LOL!

Take your emotional temperature when you wake up, after breakfast, in afternoon, evening, and before bed, or whatever times you think are best for you and your family.

*Make sure to write it down.

Emotional Temperature Scale may look like this (everyone’s will look different):

1 (easy going everything is going great, kind with actions and words)

3 (starting to feel frustrated by others, talking in a faster way, finding it a little difficult to be around other people)

5 (more easily frustrated by others, moving quicker and rougher, talking sarcastically or making rude/angry jokes)

7 (feeling like everything is up to you and no one is helping, very agitated, talking even faster and more rude/angry, isolating yourself from others)

10 (lost it, yelling, out of control, talking in absolutes [did you catch the Star Wars reference - LOL] (ex. Clean your room or Christmas is canceled!), nothing someone says can talk them out of being upset, they need time to cool down

Pick a number about how you are feeling, acting, and talking.

When you take your temperature and are not sure if you are a 5 or a 6, then always pick the larger number.

*Make sure to write down, not just the number, but how you were feeling, acting, and talking.
This is the crucial part of doing this.

Once it is written down for a few days, it will help you to see patterns.

It will help you to see what is working and what is not working, and help in planning out the little ways you can make a difference.

IMPORTANT NOTE: No one jumps from a 1 to 10 instantly.

What is probably happening is we may be living at a 7 or 8 all the time and think that is our normal 1 or 2.

Come up with ways to lower your emotional temperature and write them down and put them where you can find them easily.

Ours is on our fridge (the central hub of the home – LOL).

Ideas: read a book, hug a stuffy, deep breaths, dance, gymnastics, eat something, card game, board game, push ups, drawing, praying, quiet space, TV/electronics.

Do not expect to go from a 9 to a 1 instantly with your ways to lower your emotional temperature.

Going down one notch or a half a notch is a huge success.

Here are a few ideas that have helped my family with our emotional temperatures:

Breathing exercises:

Count back from ten
Take a deep breath and let it out with each number
Try to make each breath deeper and last longer.
Say, “Jesus, help me or I trust in you” with each breath

5-4-3-2-1 exercise:

Working backward from 5, use your senses to list things
- 5 things you hear
- 4 things you see
- 3 things can touch from where you are sitting
- 2 things you can smell
- One thing you can taste

Give someone a hug and allow your heartbeat to reset their heartbeat.

Personally, I never thought this would ever work, however the first time I did it with my youngest child I was amazed at the difference it made.
This does not happen immediately but takes time.
It is important to wait for a deep sigh from the person before they are truly calmer.

If someone is yelling at you, do not yell back but talk in a calm voice.

The person yells at you and you respond, “I am not yelling at you, you do not have to yell at me. Let’s talk in a calmer voice.”
Usually I have to say it at least 4 times until it takes effect.

More techniques for bringing down our emotional temperature can be found at this website (the website calls it grounding techniques): https://www.healthline.com/health/grounding-techniques#physical-techniques

Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 20th

Dear CCD Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Tip for the Day:

Stop and enjoy God's creation.

Check out the beauty and wonder of the world.

God put the whole world in our hands.

LOL!

Take time to go outside and enjoy God's creation.

Go online and see all the wonderful people and things God created.

Give thanks to God for our loved ones and all of creation.

This weeks family handout is on the Bible: Week 3 - Bible Family Handout

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 16th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

There is a great website for ways that families can do service together called Doing Good Together (They provide tools to both families and organizations to help them raise compassionate, engaged children. Their innovative activities, resources, and support help make empathy and "giving back" a natural part of life's early lessons.): https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/

Bible Verse for the Day: Psalm 94:19 - When cares increase within me, [God] your comfort gives me joy.

Tip for the Day:

Peace comes through meaningful connections.

LOL! I don’t mean connections with light sabers, though sometimes we do need to blow off some steam.

Meaningful connections are when we spend time just playing, praying, talking, or working together with each other.

When we are silly and kind with each other.

We are honest about how we are feeling with each other.

With the gift of technology, we can still have meaningful connections with loved ones who are far away through making a phone call, video chatting, and many other ways.

Thank God for the technology we have.

One of the best ways we can connect with God and one another is through intercessory prayer.

Intercessory prayer is simply asking God to help someone else.

I would encourage all families to have a prayer journal, where they write down everyone they are praying for.

Be specific with names and what you are praying for.

The beautiful part of having a prayer journal, is your family will see over time how God is answering prayers.

God loves you so much and wants good for your family.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 15th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

If you are in need of prayer or to talk, email me at kkimmel@rcn.com and let me know the best time/day to contact you.

This week’s family handout is on the Mass: Week 2 - Mass Family Handout

Parent Resources for Children for Divine Mercy Sunday, April 19th: Divine Mercy Sunday Children Handouts

While watching the Mass does not replace actual attendance at Mass, it can help your family pray together and stay connected to the universal Church.

Watching Mass at home gives parents a great opportunity to teach about the parts of the Mass: what happens at Mass, what do you see and hear at Mass.

Be easy going with this, make this more of a time of closeness with one another, not a chore to do.

Our first experience of watching the Mass went like this:

The kids helped set up the seats (a gymnastic mat makes a great pew – LOL).
We took a moment (a few seconds) of quiet.
My 4-year-old tackled my older son and ran out of the room.
Our kids asked questions about what they were seeing, so we stopped and talked about it.
They reminded us that they loved us by giving us hugs.

We do not have to sit and be quiet.

We can sit, stand, respond throughout the Mass.

For little children, you can ask, what do you see and hear (colors seeing, candles lit, names in Bible stories).

Feel free to pause and talk.

You don’t have to watch it all the way through, be open to the needs of your children and maybe small segments would be better.

Ideas to help before Mass begins:

Set up the room a little differently, bring out some religious items, light candles, set up a prayer table, put out a Bible.
Take time to do physical activity before watching the Mass
Preview the readings ahead of time (maybe make a game of how many times they hear a word)
Ask the kids about their prayer intentions (who they want to pray for)

Ideas to help after Mass:

Have a snack afterwards (I prefer donuts – YUM!)
What do you remember from Mass?
What was one thing you heard or saw that connected to your life?
Take a walk together

Every family is unique and will watch the Mass distinctly from another family, so do what is best for your family’s needs.

It does not have to be stoic (sit there and be silent).

Watching Mass can be a great opportunity to grow in deeper love with each other and God, through better understanding and appreciating the Mass.

Fr. Mike Schmitz has a beautiful reflection on watching the Mass at home at the beginning of his first online Mass, check it out at (Please note, his reflection is only at the beginning before he begins Mass): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VOQh60GnKqQ&t=69&feature=youtu.be

Prayer: Lord, help us to be the family you have called us to be. Help us to show kindness and love with one another. Help us to get a deeper love for learning. Give us the grace and peace to work for the good of our family. Thank you, God for the gift of the Mass in our lives. Thank you for the gift of our family. Jesus, we love and trust in you. Amen.

Here are two great websites that help children better understand the Mass:

Catholic Icing.com - https://www.catholicicing.com/weekly-mass-resources-for-kids/

Magnifikid is a great resource to learn and follow along with the Mass for children. It is free online at this time: https://us.magnificat.net/flipbook/KID/sample/2/

Here is information about the spiritual communion prayer:

It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, which is a source of grace.

Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and lovingly embrace him at a time or in circumstances when one cannot receive Him in sacramental Communion.

Spiritual Communion Prayer

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace you as if you were already there

And unite myself wholly to you.

Never permit me to be separated from you.

Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 14th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Hearing that schools are closed for the rest of the 2019-2020 academic year, it made me think about advice I heard.

Take opportunities to have your children get into a love of learning.

Have them learn about what they want to learn.

My children have been loving the new things they have been learning.

They have been doing gymnastics (I tried a cartwheel and almost did one – LOL), making Lego videos, learning to draw (Draw So Cute is great on YouTube), coloring, making bread, climbing up furniture (though I wish my 4-year-old did not know this - LOL).

My hope and prayer is that when we all come out of this COVID situation: we have a deeper love for learning, know what we like to do, know what we are good at, and learn new things and take time to practice them.

One great way to learn as a Catholic Family is to have Catholic items to look at in your home, or even in one central spot on a prayer table (link about making a prayer table below).

When anyone sees these Catholic items, it reminds them about God’s love and mercy for them.

You don’t have to buy the items; you can make them or print them out online.

Our family made Stations of the Cross that we put going up our stairs.

While my 4 & 6-year-old were playing with sand, they decided to pull out the rosary book and pray together. My daughter teaching my son how to pray the Hail Mary.

It is great when you have the religious items around because you can pick them up at any time and for any reason.

You can use the children’s normal toys to talk about virtues and God too.

While you are watching a movie, talk about what good choices (virtues) were made; use Legos to make a video about making good choices; use food to pray together (chocolate chips to make a rosary – prayer has never been so YUMMY LOL).

Anything that is good, true, and beautiful (called the transcendentals) can draw us closer to God.

As it says in the Bible in the Letter to the Philippians:

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

Lastly, I want to share a website that has great ideas for setting up a prayer table (altar) in your house: https://www.catholicicing.com/how-to-set-up-a-home-altar-catholic-home-altar-ideas/

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 9th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Family Tip for the Day:

My family went for a walk on Tuesday and when we got back we played in the back yard.

We had a great time playing football.

With having kids who spread from 4 to 10 years old, the goal of the game was different.

Basically, take the football and run to the end zone and just have fun.

We have done this with all our games so that my 4 year old can play.

He even plays chess with us.

The rule is that any piece he takes off, then that piece is out of the game. LOL!

He does not understand the goal of the game or might not even like the game, but he just wants to be with us.

That is the goal for our family right now, just be there for each other.

So how do we do that?

Be a Team

Huddle Up - take time a few times in the day to check in with your team (maybe first thing in the morning, at lunch, at dinner, and right before bed)
- Pray together
  - pray blessings over each other - Lord bless my son as he goes to play Roblox, Lord bless my daughter as she Face-times her friend, Lord bless my son who is Spiderman and is literally climbing up the wall - LOL)
- Talk about what is working and what may need to change
Do it for the Good of the Team - encourage each other to help out for the good of the team
- Come up with regular chores to help out, so that the parents are not stuck with everything
- At this time, spend time doing the chores together. Play and be silly with the chores
Take a Timeout
- Take your family emotional temperature throughout the day (1 is calm and easy going to 10 is out of control)
  - What times of the day are we more likely to argue or fight or yell?
  - What ideas do we have to bring down our emotional temperature, just one point or a half of point at a time
  - Some ideas our family uses is: drawing, writing a story, eat a protein snack, gymnastics, play a game together, push-ups.
  - Always remember the word for stop when people seem out of sorts and try and meet that need first
    - HALT - Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired
Every Team Has a Distinct Game Plan
- What works for one family may not work for another
- Give everyone a chance to come up with a good game plan, this empowers the whole team
Schedule Practice Time for Every Day
- Have regularly scheduled time to PLAY, PRAY, TALK, & WORK together
- Make sure you schedule the time, otherwise it may not happen
- It does not have to be long for each, maybe just 2-5 minutes for each
Your Goal is the End-zone
- Figure out what the goal of your family is
- Take time to make a family mission statement
- It does not have to be complicated, it can simply be a few virtues that your family wants to grow in
- People do much better reaching a goal when they know exactly what the goal is
- A good starting point for goals are the Fruits of the Holy Spirit
  - Kindness, Generosity, Joy, Charity, Self-Control, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Goodness, Peace, Patience, Modesty, and Chastity
  - Pick two or three to work on for the month
- After you set your goal, make sure your team is working towards the goal

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

Dear Parents,

Due to the Governor's order that schools are closed until the end of the academic year, we have decided to postpone 1st Holy Communion.

We will be re-scheduling a later date after our options become clearer.

We will continue to send out resources to parents and put family resources on the parish website.

Praying for you and your family.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 8th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

As I watch the news and read the newspaper, my heart breaks for our world: for those who lost jobs, those who are sick, those who are alone, those who must work to help others, and so much more.

Please be careful to limit how much you and your children are exposed to.

Of course, stay informed about what is happening for the safety of your family, however there is a lot of negativity that is out there.

I find myself praying this prayer often, “God, what is going on! God help our world!”

Please continue to pray. Prayer is powerful and life-giving. God’s grace is at work in our world. Your prayers are so important and so needed.

As a husband and father, I wanted to share some things I have learned about what is called the problem of evil.

Basically, the problem of evil is stated as: If there is a good God, then why is there evil (or lack of the good) in the world?

Fr. Mike Schmitz does a wonderful job addressing this issue: Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen? - Fr. Mike Schmitz - https://youtu.be/0NOTU1g0Z8w

Also, Fr. Mike Schmitz gives a wonderful reflection of God and a summary of all of salvation history in this 20 minute video on YouTube - from Ascension Press - https://youtu.be/Y2d8n1tMmzg

I would highly recommend watching both videos.

My personal reflection on the problem of evil and God:

*Please note: even when you get an answer to why there is evil in the world, there is still the pain and hardship that people are going through, so be compassionate to others and yourself.

One of the best pieces of advice I have heard in my life is: give God everything.

So if you are angry, yell at Him and be honest about how you are feeling.

Your feelings and pain are real.

It is not sinful to be angry, it is just a feeling.

It is how we act upon that anger that can be good or sinful – remember Jesus was angry in the Bible when he flipped the tables of the money sellers in the Temple, and He was sinless.

You are hurting; share that hurt with God.

If God is truly God (which He is), then He can take it.

The important and hardest next step is to open yourself up to a response. In my life most times the response has been very gentle (can almost be brushed off as coincidence), but there have been times when the response has been a more definitive call to “muscle up Buttercup”.

I have spent many times in my life crying out to God about why is this evil happening.

I want to share one moment in particular.

Not many people know this, but my wife and I had a miscarriage with our 4^th child, Malachi Luke (even as a type this, I am crying because I miss him).

My wife’s OB called with the results of her bloodwork and ultrasound on October 15^th 2014, my oldest daughter’s 4^th birthday. I had about 30 minutes to mourn before we had to get ready to leave for my daughter’s birthday party. Asking a 4-year-old to postpone celebrating her wasn’t really an option.

My wife at The time was working at a homeless shelter for pregnant women primarily gathering donations for their community outreach program. Her faith in God's identity was very shaken after the miscarriage. If God was good why did something bad happened to my family?

She went back to work very quickly and as she worked she pondered and refused to pray, but she found that she couldn't escape the thought, if I am in so much pain where does my capacity for goodness come from? And just asking the question and being open to a response was a kickstart to a new understanding of God.

I have turned to God with anger and heartache.

Yelled at Him many times and said what the hell is going on.

Why would God take him from me?

After a long time and a lot of prayer, I have concluded that I am not angry at God.

I am angry and heartbroken about what has happened, but not at God or any other person.

I have talked to God and thanked Him for the gift of all my children.

I have thanked Him for the time we have had with Malachi and I continue to talk to Malachi and ask him to pray for me.

My heart as a father still hurts and misses him.

I cannot guarantee you an answer to the question of why do bad things happen, that would be irresponsible for me to say I have that answer.

All I can share is my experience and what God teaches us in the Catholic Faith.

I do not know what the future holds.

I cannot guarantee that everything will be alright, because I do not know that.

When my children ask me, “Daddy will we be okay and not get sick from the coronavirus?”

I answer them honestly and with fear in my voice, “I do not know.”

Then with the grace of God and courage from God, I say, “I have never known if we will be okay in the past, I do not know what the future holds, BUT what I do know is this…

I LOVE YOU NOW AND ALWAYS! I AM SO THANKFUL FOR OUR TIME TO PLAY, PRAY, TALK, AND WORK TOGETHER EVERY DAY! YOU ARE MY BLESSINGS! I LOVE BEING YOUR FATHER & NOTHING CAN CHANGE THAT! MOST IMPORTANTLY GOD LOVES ME AND GOD LOVES YOU!”

Ideas for your family:

Do little acts of sacrifice for your family out of love for them.
- When you pick up that sock for the 100^th time, or trip over the cars your child put there deliberately for you to trip over, or my child yells at you; God give us the grace to respond out of love.
- Help us to talk kindly and lovingly to them.

Share & write down how God has answered your prayers and give thanks for all the good things in your life.
- I want to stress the importance of writing it down, because when we are struggling, it is difficult to think of the ways God has been good to us. If it is written down, it will be easy to go back to it.

Pray the Psalms together.

- The Psalms express all the emotions of the people of God (sadness, joy, anger, excitement, fear, etc.).

Listen to the Song “The Least of These” by Matt Maher - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgV5-gnnZG0

Trust in the power of prayer and pray often as a family.

Help children to know that God is always with us.
- Even though he does not make the pain go away, he is still with us through the suffering.
- One of my favorite Bible verses comes from John 11:35 and it is two words “Jesus wept.”
- Jesus wept over the death of Lazarus.
- Our God loves us and is with us through the hardship, we are never alone.

My wife and I did a talk on Prayer and here are a few thoughts we have about God and the problem of evil.

In this part of the talk, we shared 7 struggles with God and prayer.

Here are struggles 3 and 4, that relate to the problem of evil.

Struggle 3 - God is a malicious being who tries to hurt us into loving him.
An example of this lie would be, God caused you to have an illness so that you would trust Him.

We don’t have a malicious God who burns us like a little boy using a magnifying glass to burn ants, to force them where to go.

The things that come from God are truth, beauty, and goodness (these are called the transcendentals) - we have evil when something gets in the way of God’s goodness.
We have free will and sometimes people make evil choices.
The analogy of the sun can help us understand that only good, true, and beautiful things come from God.
1. What comes from the sun?
2. Heat and light.
3. When you wake up in the morning and it is cold or dark, do you yell at the sun?
4. Sun, what is wrong with you! Ahhhhh!
5. Well, no.
6. It is not the sun who caused the dark or cold.
7. It was that something got in the way of the heat and light.
8. In a similar way, we should not blame God for bad things happening in life.
9. God does not use evil and disease and death and natural disasters to bring us into submission.
  1. That wouldn’t be love that is toxic emotional abuse.
  2. God wants us to know our priceless value in His eyes and strengthen us in our ability to bring forth truth, beauty, and goodness.
  3. And even in the midst of illness and natural disasters humanity still has the capacity to manifest goodness and truths to others.

Struggle 4 - God leaves us alone to fend for ourselves and does not care for us.

God is with us always through the joys and sorrows.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

He may not free us from our hardship, however He is there with us to strengthen and love us.
Similar to a best friend being there through a hardship.
The friend may not solve the problem, but the important thing is that the friend was there.
Unfortunately, in our relationships we settle for less than we deserve.
We are nibbling on scraps of leftovers, when there is a feast to enjoy.
1. It is common for our understanding of God to be shaped by what we see and experience around us.
2. We mistakenly think that love is utilitarian - “You love me only because of what I will do for you”.
3. It is not about establishing a relationship of love with the person, it is only about how useful they are to me.
4. This is not love, that is not the love of God.
5. The love of God is boundless and He loves us unconditionally.
6. We don’t have to earn His love, it is a free gift.
7. God’s love is sacrificial.
8. He calls all of us to love each other in this way, with sacrificial love.
Our heavenly Father wants us to live life abundantly.
John 10:10 - Jesus said, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 7th

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

Proud Daddy Moment:

Our family just started praying a decade of the rosary after dinner every night, with a little bible verse for each Hail Mary.

On Monday, April 6th: My daughter and I made tacos for dinner, and my 4 year old was very much against eating the tacos.

He had a T.T.T. (Terrible Taco Tantrum - LOL) which ended with him running to the top of the steps to be sad. (This is not the proud daddy moment)

We let him have some time to cool down.

We prayed the decade of the rosary.

As we finished, he ran downstairs and to the table and said, can we pray now, then he started making the sign of the cross and wanted to pray a decade with us.

I was so proud of him.

For my son, he saw rosary time as time to connect with his family, not as another chore to do.

Our family is not perfect.

But we don't have to be.

God does not call the perfect (Look at all the people he called from the Bible).

God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called!

ABRAHAM was too old.

ISAAC was a daydreamer.

MOSES was a murderer and couldn’t talk.

SAMSON had long hair and was afraid.

JONAH ran from God.

JOHN THE BAPTIST ate bugs.

PETER denied Christ.

The DISCIPLES fell asleep while praying.

ZACCHEUS was too small.

LAZARUS was dead!

He simply and lovingly says, "Come to me as you are, I love you".

God loves you so much and wants the best for us, like any loving parent.

And as any loving parent, He does not leave us to simply stay where we are, but He encourages us to grow in virtue by making good choices.

Enjoy your time together with your family to laugh and be silly and say words of encouragement to one another.

I want to encourage your family to have scheduled time every day to play, pray, talk and work each day.

I want to emphasize the word scheduled, because we need to be intentional of our time together.

Quality family time does not just happen.

We need to work towards it.

Your family is a gift and blessing to you.

Prayer for your family:

Lord, please bless us today and every day with time to play, pray, talk, and work together as a family. Help us to love one another, which means working for the good of another. Help us to be patient and kind with our words. God this COVID situation is so difficult. Help us to be forgiving with one another. Jesus, thank you for the gift of our family. Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

April 2nd

Dear Parents,

Praying for you and your family.

On Sunday, I woke up feeling happy for the day. Immediately, I felt guilty for feeling happy because of what the world is going through right now. I thought, what is wrong with me, why am I feeling this way with so much suffering around?

I had to tell myself that it is okay to be happy, it is okay to laugh, it is okay to be joyful.

Then later this week, I heard this great advice from Dr. Popcak:

God gives us permission to be joyful even in difficult times.
It doesn't mean you have to be pretending to be happy and bouncing off the walls.
It's okay to find things that you're grateful for and give thanks to God.
Celebrate the little blessings you receive every day.
Realize that God is still taking care of you and blessing you, even though there are real concerns.
You are not turning a blind eye to the world, you are simply giving thanks to God for all your blessings and then with God’s grace, you can address those concerns.

My prayer for your family today is:

Lord, bless us with peace and joy. Give us the wisdom to know how to serve others today in a loving and kind way. Help us to be patient with one another, because this is COVID is so stressful. God there are real concerns that families are struggling with. Help each of us to know how to help those in need. Help us to use the technology we have to bring joy to others.
Help us to laugh, be silly, and talk about what & who we are thankful for.
Jesus, we trust in you. Amen.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

March 29th

Dear Parents,

God loves you so much! Be kind, silly, and work for the good of each other! Take time to pray, play, talk, and work together everyday!

During this time of virtual learning for schools, I want to send my prayers for you and your family.

This is uncharted water for all of us. Realize that your families’ needs must come first. Take time weekly or even daily to check in with each other and see how it is going. What worked last week might not work this week. What works for one family might not work for your family. There is no cookie cutter model of Catholic family life, each family is uniquely and wonderfully made by God.

Yesterday, I found myself yelling more with my children. I remembered back to some great advice I was given. Before I speak or act, use the acronym HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired) to stop myself if I am feeling any of these, because that will affect the way I am behaving. When I feel this way, it makes it harder to speak or act kind.

It is better to step away and collect my thoughts.

Our family has been using the rewind button in our house when we speak unkindly to each other. It has been a great help. If anyone speaks rudely or inappropriately, say “we are going to rewind and do that conversation again, but this time we will speak kindly to each other”. Like in sports or with instruments, practice makes perfect.

*This week's topic is PRAYER: Prayer Family Handout - Click Here

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

March 25th

As I sit at home and watch my children (one child is writing a book on Slenderman, one can do cartwheels [tried to do one myself and did pretty well – no hospital visit LOL], one can draw beautiful pictures from the YouTube channel DrawSoCute, and my 3 year old was dressed as Spiderman all day long [found out he can climb like Spiderman too – LOL], I wonder what will they remember from all of this time together?

Will they remember me yelling at them when I am frustrated with all the stress?
Will they remember us playing charades as a family?
Will they remember us watching Mass together and my son tackling my daughter?
Will they remember me being on my phone more often getting more stressed by what I am reading about COVID-19?
Will they remember me praying blessings over them?
Will they remember me being unsure of what to do and what the future holds?

The truth is, I do not know what they will remember. I will do my best to be the man of God, father, husband they need me to be through God’s grace, and take it one step at a time and not get overwhelmed by the future.

The lyrics to the song from Frozen 2 “The Next Right Thing” comes to mind:

Just do the next right thing
Take a step, step again
It is all that I can to do
The next right thing
I won't look too far ahead
It's too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath, this next step
This next choice is one that I can make
So I'll walk through this night
Stumbling blindly toward the light
And do the next right thing

My prayer for you and your family is this:

Thank you, God, for your love and grace in our lives to help us to do the next right thing. You never leave us alone. You are with us through everything. You give us the knowledge, wisdom, courage to make the best choices for our families and friends.

“For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.” 2^nd Timothy 1:7

May our children and loved ones look at this mandatory stay at home time, as a time that our families grew in love, patience, truth, prayer, playfulness, generosity, and joy. May this time together bring healing to problems and challenges in your family life. May we have plenty of time to talk with loved ones and friends via the internet, FaceTime, and phone. May we continue to have plenty of time together to play, pray, talk, and work as a family. Amen.

Your families and friends are in my prayers.

CCD UPDATE:

With the State of Pennsylvania closing schools until April 6^th, Religious Education Classes (CCD) are canceled until their next class after April 6^th. However, this may all change again.

One of the most difficult things with this situation is not knowing. Some parents have been asking about when will Confirmation be rescheduled, or is 1^st Communion going to happen, or what will happen with CCD?
I do not know when Confirmation will be rescheduled.

As of right now, 1^st Communion is still scheduled for April 25^th, but this may change. If it changes, I will let parents know right away.

As of right now, the CCD program is on hold and I am praying about what the CCD program will look like for the parents and students moving forward.

There is so much going on with public/private schools going to virtual schools, and as a father of 4 children myself, I do not want to overwhelm parents right now.

CCD, for right now, is simply be with the ones you love and take time to play, pray, talk, and work with your loved ones at home. BE PRAYERFUL, BE FUNNY, BE LOVING!

I will continue to work with our amazing CCD teachers and send out resources for families to grow in the Catholic Faith.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

Coordinator of Children's Religious Education

March 23rd

As I take a break from deep cleaning, I am watching Frozen 2 and I wonder, will “all of this make sense when I am older”?
As a husband and father of four, this new situation is very stressful...
As an adult, I am trying to wrap my mind around all that is happening, I can only imagine what children are going through.

Praying for your family. Lord help us to be there for our loved ones, even if only over FaceTime or text or the internet or a phone call, and help us to make good decisions for the good of our families. Help us to be solution-based with our decisions, thinking what little thing can I do now. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Help all those affected by COVID-19. Jesus, we trust in you. Amen.

It is so important that we stay connected with loved ones during this time, thank God for the gift of the technology we have, to be able to communicate with loved ones instantly.

When struggles and hardships come along, and we are very stressed, it's good for us to do three things:

Reconnect with God (pray with and for each other)
Reconnect with loved ones (hug and talk about how things are going)
Reconnect with our best self (what little steps can I take to help me think and react better)

Stay connected with loved ones. Remember we are not in this alone, when hardship comes along we can turn to those who love us. The people we love may not be able to solve the problem and make it go away, but it is so important that we are there for each other. Also, with all the technology we have, it is easy to call, Facetime, Snapchat, and Instagram someone. Thank God for the technology we have.

It is okay to feel what you feel. God made us with feelings, thank God for that. Regularly throughout the day share how you are feeling and ask how others are feeling. We do not have to share all our feelings with our children, however when we share age appropriate responses about how we are feeling, it encourages them to know that they are not alone in feeling scared or anxious or sad.

News and social media are important but please be careful to limit the exposure to it.

Take time each day (maybe 5 minutes for each) to PRAY, PLAY, TALK, and WORK together as a family.

Be intentional with family time and make a schedule for each day. Have a family meeting and go over how everyone is doing, what needs to be done each day, and how each of us can be kind and caring for each other.

Remember your family is a beautiful gift and distinct from any other. What ideas work for one family, may not work for another. Trust yourself and the grace that God gives you to be the best parent for your children. You are made in the image and likeness of God, beautifully and wonderfully made.

Pray together and for each other, encourage your children to ask God for things in prayer.
God help my son in Fortnite to work together with his friends to annihilate the other team. Amen.
Make the prayers relate to our lives and help children to know their prayers are important to our loving God.

Be open to changing the schedule and just be silly and play with each other. Sometimes we need to just turn on a funny Youtube video and laugh together or have a sock fight (be careful of three-year old’s they are stronger than they look), or bake together.

I heard some great advice from the podcast the Messy Family about families being at home together.

They said it is important to have a regular routine not a strict schedule.

A strict schedule will be hard to maintain and add more stress in these uncertain times.

Example of the difference:

A strict schedule says we must wake at 7a.m. and eat breakfast at 730a.m. and pray the rosary at 8a.m.
In a routine, you will do all the same things but not get caught up on exactly when stuff will happen, understanding that the needs of your family will change day by day.

Use whatever routine works for your family and be open to adjusting for your families’ needs.

God bless,

Kevin Kimmel

Coordinator of Children's Religious Education

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St. Jane School

About Us

St. Jane Parish is a family rooted in our faith in Jesus Christ and our devotion to his Church. We strive always to be a welcoming community, with our doors open to all who seek the Lord.

Address: 4049 Hartley Avenue
Easton, PA 18045

Phone: 610-253-3553

Fax: 610-253-5711

Email: info@stjanesofeastonpa.com

Mass Times

Daily:
6:30 a.m., 8:15 a.m. (Mon-Fri)

Saturday:
8:15 a.m.
Sunday Vigil: 5:00 p.m.

Sunday:
8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., Noon

Holy Day: Consult Bulletin

Reconciliation:
Wednesday: 7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Saturday: 3:45 - 4:45 p.m., or by appointment