View from the Domestic Church: Rooted in Love!

In addition to my books

I have written for the English edition of L'Osservatore Romano (Vatican newspaper)

The National Catholic Register, Catholic World Report, Our Sunday Visitor (national) newsweekly, Columbia Magazine, The Catholic Transcript, The News Times, The New Milford Times, Hearth magazine, Canticle magazine, Lay Witness magazine, Faith & Family magazine, CarbLite magazine, On the Web - many areas, including Catholic Exchange, Catholic Online, Catholic Lane, Catholic Mom, and a parenting column for Irish Family Press (print edition), a Catholic weekly newspaper published in Ireland as well as the online format. My work appears in many foreign publications as well (Nigeria, Singapore, Africa, Russia, and more).

A Catholic Woman's Book of Prayers

With all the mixed messages that women receive from society today, women can be distracted from--and even unreceptive to--the deep and abiding love that Christ has for them. Whether single or married, religious or consecrated, parenting children, or spiritually mentoring others, women need to know that the Lord understands the many challenges they face, their desire for inspiration, and, above all, their need to be affirmed as women.Through this book of original and traditional prayers from one of the top ten most fascinating Catholics of 2009 as rated by Faith & Family Live, women can realize God's divine Love, thrive in inspiration from Saints and the Church and rest in the affirmation of the "feminine genius." (order above by clicking book image at top of page)

First and foremost educator

"Since parents have conferred life on their children, they have a most solemn obligation to educate their offspring. Hence, parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it. For it devolves on parents to create a family atmosphere so animated with love and reverence for God and others that a well-rounded personal and social development will be fostered among children. Hence, the family is the first school of those social virtues which every society needs."--Gravissimum Educationis (one of the documents of the Second Vatican Council)

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Rooted in Love!

Available at www.donnacooperoboyle.com

I just came across a review for my book Rooted in Love: Our Calling as Catholic Women. Here's the description from the publisher:

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle, bestselling author and popular EWTN television and radio personality, accompanies Catholic women through the ups and downs of their lives, encouraging them to be reflections of Christ in all things.With warmth and candor, Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle demonstrates why she is so beloved by her readers, viewers, and listeners. Through sometimes-unexpected stories from her own journey, she shows that being a faith-filled Catholic woman does not mean being perfect. Rather, in the midst of parenting difficulties, marital problems, economic hardships, and sickness--among other challenges--one finds strength in Christ and in the wisdom and community of the Church. She highlights how the sacraments, the virtues, prayer, Mary and the saints, the works of mercy, and various devotions and practices all offer women grace and guidance for their lives.

Here's the review. The reviewer says she is "not fully comfortable with Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s evangelical style." Nonetheless, here's her review:

“Rooted in Love” has a very appealing cover. It gives a partial view of a woman walking through a field of what appear to be dandelions or buttercups. The layout, typesetting and soft, bright colors are pleasing. Even more pleasing is the connection between the feminine and the earth, and the representation of natural beauty. This book comes in an attractive “package.”

Can you judge a book a book by its cover? There are some parts I like in this book, other aspects that I don’t identify with. I am not fully comfortable with Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s evangelical style.

Nevertheless, I find enough good in the book to write about it. I was reading a chapter a day but did not get farther than three paragraphs on Day 5 before pausing to meditate. “How is Christ ‘my life’ at home?” the author asks.

As a professional family life minister, I know a lot about Christ in the home. But that day I needed to reflect on Christ being not just “in” my life but “being” my life at home. Once again I had to be present to Christ who reveals himself in the quotidian of the household.

The very next paragraph deserves highlighting. Cooper O’Boyle says, “For me, the greatest joy in my vocation is the awareness that I have been raising my five children in the faith all these years — thirty-five to be exact. I consider my home to be a ‘domestic church,’ a little church where amazing growth and transformation happen right within the nitty-gritty details of daily life.”

Her thinking is affirmed by “On the Family” (“Familiaris Consortio”), an apostolic exhortation Pope John Paul II wrote early in his pontificate, and by “Follow the Way of Love,” a 1993 pastoral statement written in ordinary language by the U.S. Catholic bishops...

See the entire review here: http://www.foryourmarriage.org/rooted-in-love-our-calling-as-catholic-women/

God bless you and yours,