Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

"Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer." ― Padre Pio Parents worry about many things - finances, children's health and education, extended family, grandparents… and then there is the state of the world and the economy!  How do Christian parents handle all the things that COULD go wrong?  The answer is that this world is not our home and God is in...

"True love involves the selfless pursuit of what is best for the other person, even if it means sacrificing one's own preferences and desires" ~Dr. Edward Sri We are so happy to share with you the recording of one of the largest public date nights we have ever had!  Our interview with Dr. Ted Sri and his wife Beth was fun, insightful, and, we hope, inspirational to everyone who heard it.  Their ne...

It is not our job to change our child. It is their job to change us ~ Maggie Radzik Oh boy, do we have a treat for you!  In this podcast we have a fascinating conversation with catechist and Montessori trainer Maggie Radzik.  Maggie is a leader in Catholic Montessori in the US and she is committed to seeing the work of Maria Montessori applied in a truly Catholic context.  What is so genius about...

"Families are the ultimate and best example of a team" Every family is made up of individual people with strengths and weaknesses. Knowing these enables us to work together better! Patrick Lencioni, celebrated author and speaker, has found that there are six "geniuses" found in effective teams. Every person has two of them. When we find out our working genius and that of our spouse, we can functio...

"A definition of self-control is joyful mastery over one's thoughts and desires." - Dominican Sisters of Mary on Open Light Media  Children are little raw balls of personality - and some have more than others!  They are unformed little people and it is the job of parents to form them.  This is a great joy to be given the privilege of training a child in the way they should go, but (let's be honest...

"A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels." - Proverbs 31:10 Let's be honest.  Moms do much more work than the average person, especially when they are at home with young children for most of the day.  Even moms who work, or who have a side hustle, rarely pull back on caring for children, running the household, and keeping everyone fed and clothed.  But this great service...

"We are witnesses to what the Lord Jesus has done in our lives." ~ Tony Foy, Executive Director of NET Ministries Ireland Many of you may have picked up that Mike is pretty proud of his Irish heritage.  We had a daughter who wanted to be an international missionary at 18 and Mike was hesitant until she said she wanted to be part of NET Ireland.  That was a quick sell!  NET is an organization that...

"Most people spend more time planning a one-week vacation than they spend planning their life."  ~ Michael Hyatt As we begin a new school year and the fall season we think this is a perfect time to start or re-start a new habit or routine in your family and be more intentional about your family culture. This is a great time for your family to do a reset! Too often we put off making changes in our...

"If you want to be a great parent, you need to be an amazing spouse"  ~Mike and Alicia Hernon Often romance is associated with shallow, fleeting feelings, but really, the romance that we share without spouses is a powerful example to our children of the exclusive intimate relationship that only spouses are to enjoy.   A kiss in the kitchen or an embrace in front of your children is not only to mak...

"We do not hesitate to declare that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the most effective school of the love of God; the love of God, We say, which must be the foundation on which to build the kingdom of God in the hearts of individuals, families, and nations" ~ Haurietis Aquas, 123 What is the devotion of Nine First Fridays?  This is a request that Our Lord made to St. Margaret Mary Alacoqu...

Love should be seen as something which in a sense never 'is' but is always only 'becoming'" ~ St. John Paul II All marriages go through a cycle.  That cycle includes times of romance, when everything is going well, your love is full, and you are working as a team.  It also includes times when things aren't so great - we call this "disillusionment".  Disillusionment is when you don't have the feeli...

"The family is where children discover how to be human. It's where they learn how to respect and love other people.. where they discover their place in a family story larger than themselves." -Archbishop Charles Chaput   We meet parents all the time who tell us, "My kids don't get along!" and our response is, "Of course they don't get along.  That is kind of what your job is as parents.  To teach...

Family communion can only be preserved and perfected through a great spirit of sacrifice. - St. John Paul II Let's be honest.  Parenting is hard. Some studies have shown that up to 18% of American parents regret having children.  Though that statistic may not be completely true, it does show a growing number of people who don't just struggle with being a parent, but actually resent it.  We need to...

   Food is love, but it's only love if it's shared. ~ Fr. Leo Patalinghug Family dinner is something so simple yet so important and foundational in your family culture.  We need to constantly be reminded and encouraged to take time to focus on those relationships in our family daily, or at least weekly.  In this fun, engaging conversation with Fr. Leo, we discuss family dinners, but also inviting...

Blessed is the house where an older person lives! Blessed is the family that honours the elderly! - Pope Francis, from his message for the Second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly None of us live in a vacuum.  We didn't just appear upon the earth in isolation!  We are all part of a family - not just our nuclear family, but a wider group made up of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great gr...

The vocation of marriage and the vocation of consecrated life beautifully work together and we think this interview demonstrates that fact!  In this podcast we have a conversation with Sr. John Paul, from the order Mary Mother of the Eucharist, a Dominican congregation in Ann Arbor MI.  She is a fellow Franciscan University alum and principal of St. Michael School in Columbus OH. Like parents, she...

We love it when our listeners dictate what we talk about!  In this episode we tackle some great email questions and voice memos that parents have sent us.  A mom asks if its ok that her 2 yr old is wearing his sister's dress up clothes and another mom is overwhelmed at another child on the way. Does this make her not "open to life" or a bad Catholic?  We also had a wife share with us her heartache...

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." - G.K. Chesterton As we celebrate the founding of our country, we want to take time to salute and honor those families who serve our country. The decision to serve affects not only those serving in our armed forces but also the spouses and children.  In this podcast, we discuss with thr...

"You know what my bedtime routine was when I was a kid? Darkness!" ~ Jerry Seinfeld We love our listeners.  And we love answering their questions!  In this episode, we are joined by our Program Coordinator, Katie (Hernon) Gamboa who represents the "every-mom" and gives us some great topics to talk about.  The first issue we tackle is sleep!  Since few young parents ever get enough of it, we help o...

"It's better to be wrong together than right alone" - Michele Doman Every couple argues.  Or at least they should.  The reason is that arguing can be a path to unity which is what marriage is all about.  Some couples argue in measured tones with carefully reasoned ideas, while others argue with raised voices and emotional exchanges.  Every couple is different, but there are some principles that we...

Anxiety results from assuming responsibility that God never intended. I need to play the part God meant for me.  ~ Michele Doman This is a very special podcast that takes you behind the origins of the Messy Family Project.  Many of the ideas, philosophies, and lessons that we teach come from the wisdom of the Church, and also from wisdom we have gained from others.  This show is an interview that...

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." – Augustine of Hippo We want our community of messy families to be above average.  Intentional. Vibrant. Better than all the rest.  One way to do that is to be very thoughtful about how you spend your leisure time with your family this summer.  Every family and every trip is different, but no matter what the length is or where y...

Every family has an anointing and in order to walk in that anointing we need to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. - Deacon Larry Oney After Jesus ascended into heaven the apostles had the Eucharist.  They probably celebrated mass together, they had the Blessed Mother with them, and surely they prayed and fasted.  But they did not go out and evangelize, heal the sick, or preach the word.  Why? ...

"Love is never something ready made, something merely given to man and woman, it is always at the same time a task which they are set. Love should be seen as something which in a sense never 'is' but is always only 'becoming'..." ~ St John Paul II What is one of the most important things you can give your marriage?  TIME.  We build relationships with the material of time - no time spent means noth...

"My kids don't get to hurt me.  That is way too much responsibility for them." ~ Dr. John Delony So many of us don't have a healthy relationship with our emotions and don't have the boundaries that we all need to protect ourselves appropriately.  We get caught up in the things we can't control and wind up ignoring what we can control. In his book, "Own Your Past, Change Your Future" Dr. John Delon...