Mystery of Parenthood

On this episode of the Mystery of Parenthood, Trey and Stephanie Cashion visited in studio with their guests, Andrew and Sarah Swafford, about cell phone usage in the family and by our children.  Multiple ways to set guidelines and limits for both children and adults were discussed, and challenges around this subject were addressed and tackled in a straightforward and practical manner.

On Tuesday, September 27, host Trey Cashion discussed his reaction to a new video, "This Wonderful Sacrament," released by the Diocese of Austin in support of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' call for a Eucharistic Revival. Trey unpacked the different modes of unity that are on display in the Eucharistic sacrifice and, even more so, the unity it effects in us and in the Church. Li...

On Tuesday, August 9, 2022, host Trey Cashion discussed four of the most fundamental challenges parents face: inadequate time; the failure to pass on moral values to their children; work-life imbalances; and a lack of emotional bonding between parent and child. While in no way unveiling to parents challenges about which they are not aware, Trey's goal was to talk about why these four items are fun...

We hope you're enjoying the last part of summer vacation before the school year begins again. Trey and Stephanie are too, so we bring you an encore episode from Tuesday, February 1, 2022. Trey gave an extended reflection on the significance of Catholic families living like they are friends of God. Remember, only God can take the mystery out of parenthood. Pray, parent with a purpose, and prepare f...

On Tuesday, February 1, 2022, host Trey Cashion offered an extended reflection on the significance of parents and children alike being friends of God if we are baptized, believe in Christ's salvific action, and are striving to follow the example of Jesus Christ. How does that change our relationship to God when we remain aware that He desires friendship with us? How does that reorient our parentin...

Enjoy this encore presentation of Mystery of Parenthood from Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Trey and Stephanie Cashion were pleased to welcome back Monica Ashour, from the Theology of the Body Evangelization Team. Monica spoke with them about how to create families that prioritize bodily presence ("the body demands a response") and embodied relationships over virtual connections and social networks in or...

On Wednesday, July 19, host Trey Cashion encouraged families, especially parents, to invest time in Eucharistic Adoration as a way of making grace more available to themselves and their children. Remember only God can take the mystery out of parenthood. Pray, parent with a purpose, and prepare for God to amaze you. He will!

On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, hosts Trey and Stephanie Cashion discussed an article in Catholic Exchange by Dave McClow: "The Good Samaritan: Not Just a Good Neighbor." This show was a rollicking good time despite the weighty subject. Lots of laughter was shared along the way, but the central point shone through: We are broken, wounded sinners left for dead due to our transgressions (whether original...

In observance of the Fourth of July, host Trey Cashion offered a Catholic interpretation of freedom: what it is; what it isn't; and what it's for. Remember, only God can take the mystery out of parenthood. Pray, parent with a purpose, and prepare for God to amaze you. He will! 

On Tuesday, June 14, hosts Trey and Stephanie Cashion discussed an article from Greg and Lisa Popcak listing four ways the family can mirror the Trinity in order to show God to the world. Trey and Stephanie especially emphasized the way that the family brings a unique person into existence from the love between the husband and wife. This is analogous to how the Holy Spirit, one of the divine perso...

On Tuesday, June 7, host Trey Cashion explained an article in the liturgical journal Adoremus, "Even Children Know the Nature of Mystagogy: How Early Education in Liturgy and Scriptures Can Reveal a Lifetime of Faith."  Trey used the article to talk about how the Mass, in particular, highlights events in salvation history through its signs; necessitates catechesis in the meaning of its signs; and...

On Tuesday, May 17, host Trey Cashion took listeners on a theological and liturgical tour of the Catholic Mass. This episode looked at the Introductory Rite and the Liturgy of the Word. Trey refreshes your memory and gives you some tips for helping children across various ages to understand why we do what we do. He also looped in two documents of the Second Vatican Council—Sacrosanctum Concillum a...

On Tuesday, May 9, host Trey Cashion discussed the article by Dr. Gwen Dewar, "How to Help Kids Make Friends: 12 Evidence-Based Tips."  There is much in the article that is worth incorporating into your parenting toolkit. Trey also critiques some of Dewar's recommendations, particularly her seeming reluctance to admit that punishment and discipline do have a proper part to play alongside positive...

On Tuesday, May 2, hosts Trey and Stephanie Cashion discussed the blog post by Becky Roach, "Seven Parenting Tips I Learned When Mary and Joseph Lost Jesus." This is a beautiful, instructive Gospel story to reflect on as parent, especially for remembering that Mary and Joseph know on a human level our anxiety about making mistakes in raising our children. There's also lots of laughs on this one. S...

In this episode of the Mystery of Parenthood, Trey Cashion covers a variety of topics of interest to parents.  The four topics discussed were 1.) When kids ask tough questions, 2.) The child in the pew, 3.) Teaching your children about generosity, and 4.) Talking with your children about God.  The discussion with show producer, Dennis Macha, was lively and through the lens of both their experience...

On Tuesday, April 12, 2022, host Trey Cashion considered a Wednesday audience by Pope Francis from 2021 in which the Holy Father explains the meaning and importance of the liturgies for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and the Easter Vigil. Remember to pray, parent with a purpose, and prepare for God to amaze you! He will!

On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, host Trey Cashion used the constitution on the sacred liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC), and how it pertains to living the liturgy within the domestic church. Especially, SC helps us to teach our children how our Faith directs us to hold in tension the human and the divine, the visible and the invisible, and the contemplative and the active. All of those binaries are...

On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, host Trey Cashion delved deeply into what the Second Vatican Council taught about the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chapter Eight of its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. Listen for  advice on how to inculcate this teaching within the domestic church. And remember to pray, parent with a purpose, and prepare for God to amaze you. He will!

On Tuesday, March 22, 2022, host Trey Cashion urged listeners to not bail out if they have reached the middle of Lent, but are holding to all their practices and penances perfectly. He discussed 6 tips for rebooting your Lent that you can share with your children so that you and your family can arrive at the Easter Vigil unencumbered by sin and open to the grace of the resurrected Lord! Remember t...

On Tuesday, March 15, 2022, host Trey Cashion invited RED-C's Coordinator of Youth Sports, Robyn Romansky, to discuss the article from Our Sunday Visitor, "As Parents Are We Appropriately Integrating Sports into Family Life?" Romansky, a former Olympic and Division I women's volleyball coach, spoke at length about the challenges and rewards of orienting sports on the virtues and with a view toward...

On Tuesday, March 1, 2022, host Trey Cashion went through the beauty and richness of the liturgy of the sacrament of reconciliation. He began by reviewing the nature of the sacraments, then explaining what matter and form are in understanding them. He moved on to highlight the scriptural basis for penance and how that pertains to the role of the priest in acting in persona Christi. Finally, he hig...

On February 22, 2022 (2/22/22!), host Trey Cashion spoke about the foundational role of humility in nurturing and sustaining a fruitful prayer life. He invited onto the show Norbertine novice, Frater Giovanni, who was in Texas as part of a vocations visit for his community at St. Michael's Abbey in Orange, California. Please listen in for some sparkling insights that will supercharge your prayer l...

Carpe Momentum! On Tuesday, February 15, 2022, host Trey Cashion urged us to follow the advice of St. Josemaria and seize the ordinary moments with our children in order to connect them with the life of faith. Trey used the essay, "Teaching the Faith in the Family: Guidelines from St. Josemaria Escrivá," by Dr. Michelle Dolz, to talk about how parents should be models of holiness as called for by...

On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, hosts Trey and Stephanie Cashion recapped Trey's recent appearance on the Catholic Dad Show ( https://ablaze.us/the-catholic-dad-show ), where Trey was billed as a "Catholic Dad of Genius." We here at the Mystery of Parenthood heartily concur! Give this episode a listen and you'll get a great capsule version of Trey and Stephanie's philosophy of parenting. Also, pleas...

On Tuesday, January 4, 2022, host Trey Cashion used a portion of Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s Life of Christ (1958) to move deeper into the Feast of the Epiphany. The visit of the Magi has captured the imagination of generations because it is shrouded in mystery and wonder: the gifts, the star, the anonymous wise men from the East. Yet, as Sheen so cogently shows in his account, the Magi are also typ...