This morning I was blessed to speak with Anna Mitchell on the Son Rise Morning Show. We talked about family dinners and struggles, and more. If you didn’t get a chance to tune in, here’s the link to listen in. Move the marker to the 10:30 mark to hear our visit, or listen to the whole thing.
I haven’t had time to write a blog post in a while because I have been working hard on developing a new EWTN TV series called “Feeding Your Family’s Soul” and I am happy to report that I am just about finished! All forty shows are developed, but I just need to do some final preparations (like figuring out what I am wearing on 41 shows! 🙂 As well, I have a few other things to do too. But, don’t worry! I’m just teasing about the 41 outfits. Maybe I’ll just pack 8 or 9 outfits 🙂 ).
My new series is comprised of 40 episodes to start with and I will also do a guest appearance on another show while I am there–hence the 41 shows. I’ll be flying down to the network very soon to film. I’m very excited about this new series because it is an opportunity to offer encouragement and the Catholic “tools” to Catholic and Christian parents and grandparents.
Just before developing all forty shows to begin the series, I was busy with the writing of my Fatima book which is titled Our Lady of Fatima; One Hundred Years of Stories, Prayers, and Devotions. It will release March 2017.
In my busyness, I almost forgot that it was time to plant the garlic! That is something I do annually. Every year at about this time, I am digging lots and lots of holes in my raised bed garden and planting hundreds of cloves of organic garlic. It is actually a bit back-breaking for me, but since I am so obsessed with garlic, believing it is very healthy and even medicinal, I am committed to growing it. I use it in home-made soups and meals I make for the elderly and sick. I also use it in our family meals. Sometimes, I give the bulbs of garlic away. But, I always need to save some from the late summer’s harvest to replant that fall.
So, I took full advantage of the warmer weather the other day and got down in the dirt to plant a bunch of garlic–all the while offering many prayers while out in God’s Creation.
The garlic is planted. Now I need to add a thick bedding of straw.
On another note here is a recent radio chat I had on “Seize the Day.” I hope you’ll enjoy it. It was right before Mother Teresa’s Canonization so I guess it is not exactly “recent.” But, I just received the link to it today.
Mark your calendars. In addition to the shows I mentioned above, I’ll be appearing on EWTN’s Bookmark show on December 11, 2016 and another show coming up in January that I’ll tell you about soon.
On still another note, if you receive Legatus magazine you will see my new column in the upcoming November issue.
The family is such an amazing blessing created by God!
Would you like to send me a photo of your family sitting at the dinner table for consideration of being included on my “Feeding Your Family’s Soul” website? I would include your family photo in some of my blog posts or somewhere on that website!
Every photo that is sent to me will be placed in a drawing to win a copy of my book Feeding Your Family’s Soul: Dinner Table Spirituality!
So, what are you waiting for? Please send them to me at: DMCOBoyle@aol.com.
I am 
NOT looking for perfection! Just normal everyday family photos of you gathered together at the dinner table–no matter how small or large your family is. And, mind you, this is requested by a mother of five and grandmother (yours truly!). So, I know that dinner times could get messy at times! It is rarely Norman Rockwell picture perfect!
If possible, in addition to your family name with the photo, please give me a sentence or two about your family dinners together.
Thanks in advance and God bless you!
Donna-Marie
In case you didn’t get a chance to see Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R and me recently on EWTN’s Sunday Night Prime discussing the family and my new book Feeding Your Family’s Soul: Dinner Table Spirituality, you can see it here and also below:
I have some happy news for you. I am excited to tell you that I have created a new television show for EWTN titled “Feeding Your Family’s Soul”! They will be short 2 minute shows filled with inspiration, encouragement, and the Catholic tools for today’s families. I’ll be going to the EWTN network soon to film forty shows! Yes, that’s right–forty! I’ll begin with those and go from there.
So, please keep me in your prayers to do a good job in presenting the Catholic tools and encouragement to Catholic parents and grandparents.
In addition, did you see my new website “Feeding Your Family’s Soul”? I created it recently to have a specific place to aid Catholic families. I’ll be building upon it steadily with all kinds of valuable information for the family, news about my shows, and wholesome recipes for family life, as well as food recipes too! Take a look here.
May God bless you and keep you!
Donna-Marie
NEW REVIEW: Feeding Your Family’s Soul:
When I was a child, my family did not gather around the dinner table to share life together. Sure we ate at the same time, but on most nights, it was at the kitchen counter with the evening news blaring on the TV. When I visited my aunt and uncle’s home, I savored the commraderie around the dinner table—dishes being passed around, conversation flowing, even clean up and the rotation of chores was a novelty that I secretly wished was part of my normal routine.
When my husband and I married and started our family, dinnertime became very important to us. I don’t recall us talking about how we would gather together; we just did it. Perhaps my childhood experience unconsciously made dinnertime sacred to me. I am grateful that both of us knew the significance of coming together at the end of the day to pray, talk, and share a meal together.
When our children were small, conversation wasn’t very deep or insightful, but it was a chance for Greg and I to check in with each other after a long day. As more children joined us around the table, it became important to share highlights of the day. It gave the children a chance to share the spotlight, and it helped us connect the dots regarding what was reallygoing on at school and among friends.
We recently entered a new phase in our family life. Our two oldest daughters have started playing volleyball in the fall, and our family dinnertime has certainly been affected. Late-afternoon and early-evening games require us to eat in shifts. It can be tricky to have dinner ready for half of the family, when I am at a game. Missing out on the one time of the day when our entire family can be together can throw the rest of the evening off, too, since dinnertime is often the transition into our bedtime routine.
Thankfully, volleyball season has an end date, and our regular routine will return in about a month. However, this season of hit-or-miss meals together reminds me of the importance of the everyday dinnertime tradition and how all families need to fight to preserve it.
In her new book Feeding Your Family’s Soul: Dinner Table Spirituality, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle gives families a companion in the fight to preserve dinnertime togetherness. In it, she shares 53 conversation starters for each week of the year. Not only do the chapters give parents ideas on how to shape dinnertime conversation, they include wisdom from the saints, prayers, Scripture quotes, questions, and delicious recipes to prepare together.
Each week, the family will learn about an aspect of the Catholic faith through storytelling and discussion, which will allow children (and adults alike) to ask questions and seek understanding. If a family has some extra time on Saturday and Sunday to introduce the week’s theme, it will provide a springboard for continued conversation during shorter, weekday meals.
This book can be utilized in a number of ways. A family could easily begin with Chapter 1 and go through the book in order. Or a family could skip around the book and focus on the chapters that line up with the liturgical calendar. For example, Chapter 4 on “The Communion of Saints” could be highlighted the week of November 1, when the Church celebrates All Saints Day, and Chapter 47 on “Why Catholics Honor the Blessed Mother” could be read and discussed during the month of May, which is dedicated to Mary. In addition, if parents want to focus on a particular virtue with their children, such as mercy, they could easily incorporate the corresponding chapter (Chapter 11 on “Learning Mercy from St. Faustina Kowalska”) to help that teaching along.
I am really excited about incorporating Feeding Your Family’s Soul into my family’s dinnertime conversation. Especially after this fall’s volleyball season, it will get us back on track with connecting to and conversing with each other on a daily basis. I am confident that the stories, questions, and prayers will enhance our family’s prayer life and extend our shared experience into other parts of the day.
If Feeding Your Family’s Soul is a book you’d enjoy adding to your spiritual library, I am pleased to give away three copies, thanks to Paraclete Press. To enter the giveaway, simply fill out the Rafflecopter giveaway below. I will pick three winners next Friday, Oct. 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
[Visit the blog here to enter the contest and to see more.]
You can have a look at one of the chapters in my new book Feeding Your Family’s Soul: Dinner Table Spirituality by clicking here.
You can order the book here.
Additionally, I have some exciting news that I will share soon…Stay tuned! 🙂
It was lovely to see Bonnie Rodgers from Boston Catholic TV recently when I was at the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN) Conference this past summer. Check out our interview below…
[Hit the pause button above if you are not ready to view the show. This will allow you to read the blog post first. 🙂 ]
I believe that we need a strong backbone to parent our children and grandchildren properly. We can’t allow the culture to dictate to us about how we should parent our children or how our home life should be. As the first and foremost educator of the faith to our children and grandchildren, we absolutely need to know our faith and to in turn teach it to the children. God is counting on us!
The video above is the recent discussion I had with Fr. Andrew Apostoli about my newest book “Feeding Your Family’s Soul: Dinner Table Spirituality” on his very popular EWTN Sunday Night Prime TV show. During our time together, I show how we can seize the opportunity to teach the faith right at the dinner table. Fr. Andrew and I even talked about (in the words of Fulton Sheen), “dead bodies floating down the stream”! As well, how we do not want to be one of them! We need to go against the flow of our world today to parent our children properly.
Recently, a weary homeschooling Mom of many children came to me for a little “shot in the arm.” She was worn out from demands pulling at her, sleepless nights, and active children. A new school year was about to begin and being in her third trimester of a pregnancy, she felt quite exhausted. I think you get the picture. Things were getting to be a bit overwhelming. We chatted through emails and then it was time for this show to air. Afterwards, the gracious Mom emailed me again to share her thoughts. With her permission, I will share some of her note to me:
“Before I head to bed, I just wanted to tell you that the Sunday Night Prime show was tremendously excellent! It was a huge blessing that came at the perfect time for me! I feel completely renewed in my goal and purpose as a homeschooling mom!
I love the quotes and the reinforcement that being countercultural, having a backbone, swimming up stream (not floating downstream with the other dead bodies) is absolutely God’s call on my life. Through your interview, I am convinced now, more than ever, that He is with me and for me in this sometimes very intense homeschooling adventure. No other path allows me to so vehemently protect my children from evil influences. This show was a God-send at the beginning of a new homeschooling year for me (and at the end of the pregnancy). My resolve is strengthened! Thank you!”
By the way, in addition to the above opportunity to view the show, you can also see the show here on the EWTN website. I hope that you will enjoy the show! May God bless families everywhere!
Books can be pre-ordered here at Amazon or autographed copies here at my website and at Paraclete Press!
God bless!
Donna-Marie
It’s time to announce my upcoming book, Feeding Your Family’s Soul: Dinner Table Spirituality which will be released at the time of dear Mother Teresa’s canonization.
Are you ready for the cover?
That’s always an exciting part of the book writing process for me. It kind of puts a “face” on the book.
Well, here it is!
What do you think?
This book is comprised of 52 faith lessons for the family. It encourages parents and grandparents to step up to the plate as first and foremost educator and to seize the moment to teach the faith right at the dinner table.
Here’s the book description:
This book is uniquely suited to come to their rescue. Feeding Your Family’s Soul: Dinner Table Spirituality is a vital tool to enable parents to transform a regular dinner time into a prayerful faith lesson for their elementary school to high school aged children. It will indeed help to fulfill the Catholic Church’s vision for evangelization in the family and beyond.
Through 52 fun and creative faith lessons (one for each week of the year), this one-of-a-kind book will encourage parents and caregivers to seize the opportunity in teaching the Catholic faith to the children (the captive audience waiting to eat!) while gathered at the dinner table, and while reminding them of the value of coming together as a family to break bread and share hearts.
Here’s a special endorsement:
Donna-Marie’s book is a real treasure. The family has been called the “domestic church” and it is there that we first learn about God, our prayers, and how to live our Christian life. Donna-Marie certainly offers a valuable tool, because when the family gets together for a meal, it is an appropriate time to share and teach the faith. We are reminded at a meal that we not only feed our body, but we need to feed our soul with God’s word and message.
—Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R., Founding member of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and Host of EWTN’s Sunday Night Prime
This book bears a foreword by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers and has received wonderful endorsements.
I’ll fill you in some more very soon.
Are you excited? I am!
