Share the faith at Christmas time

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Several new books make interesting reading for toddlers, teens and adults and deserve to be considered for Christmas gifts.
"All Shall Be Well: A Spiritual Journal for Hope and Encouragement" by Hilda St. Clair. Paraclete Press (Brewster, Massachusetts, 2016). 120 pp., $15.99.
Teenage readers and adults alike will find calm, inspired creativity and peaceful contemplation with this beautifully illustrated journal. Sixty quotes illuminated with bright watercolor are accompanied with activities to help focus the day on God. Hopeful and encouraging, the journal is a reprieve from a loud and hectic world. Ages 13 and up

Authors offer tips for improving relations, strengthening faith in kids

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  "Keep Your Kids Catholic" is a timely book written by husband and father Marc Cardaronella, who draws from his experience of leaving behind the Catholic Church after eighth grade and on into adulthood, to assist parents with strategies that may foster the lived experience of faith in their children.
Making a case against the assembly-line religious education programs that many parents blindly trust as a guarantee that the faith will be passed on, Cardaronella shares his own experience that is quite typical of many adult "revert" Catholics who went through a program without ever experiencing a living relationship with Jesus Christ.
One thing that is perfectly clear from this book is that any hope of having children living the faith must be preceded by parents who are fully engaged in living the faith. Faith formation that seeks adult conversion in children begins with an adult conversion for the parents.

Moms’ Faith, Health Important to Kids, World

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Two new books show that if mothers take care of their health and faith, the world can be a better place.
"Divine Mercy for Moms: Sharing the Lessons of St. Faustina" gives practical solutions for mothers to put into practice the Divine Mercy devotion. "The First 1,000 Days: A Crucial Time for Mothers and Children -- And the World" analyzes efforts to stop malnutrition at a very personal level by documenting the lives of several mothers and children in the United States, India, Guatemala and Uganda.
Although different in their nature and intended audience, both books address the value of motherhood for the spiritual and physical health of the world.