Best City to Raise Catholic Family - Page 7

BlueEyedLady · #91 May 10, '12, 8:18 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwizzleStick

Okay, got it. You mentioned "even noticeably the worst just by spending a weekend there," so I thought you saw the contrast between the best of the city and the worst on a weekend visit.

No, but my mom did. The first time she came to visit me she was shocked.

Megan7 · #92 May 10, '12, 8:41 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManOnFire

Look for catholic schools which have daily mass or mass several times per week for the kids. Weekday masses at school are usually only 35 minutes. Some parents think this much mass is too much, but when you start them early, the holiness grows on them, with them, and in them. Is there such a thing as too much peace and solemnity?

Like minded people want to keep their kids innocent longer. We all know what will happen eventually, but the later, the better.

Those enslaved into liberal lifestyles, i.e. the slums, are miles away and isolated. I wish I could help them, but they keep voting for more, then they wonder why these conditions are becoming more widespread, now sprawling into the white suburbs. We shouldn't need to pay private school tuition in order to escape from the effects of the liberal machine, but that's the cold hard reality.

Thanks so much for your kind message!

I think daily Mass is important too. I have seen children that were taken daily, then they moved to another place & stopped, and the difference is obvious

After reading so many posts on the family thread, of problems with children who go to private schools, who are homeschooled, etc. It saddens me so much

And it seems that problems can happen no matter what. However, I think daily devotions to Mass, prayers, and similar friends help to keep them holy a bit longer

And I do not even want to look at cases where they have gone to public schools in a liberal city

I am always curious when I see several vocations in a family, what did they do that was different, how did those children survive this horrible culture in which we live in ?
What is the recipe?

Thanks for your help,

God Bless,

PAX

Megan7 · #93 May 10, '12, 8:50 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hat4

To answer your questions about the Lincoln and Omaha area I can give a brief run down. The Omaha diocese is a little more liberal but not bad. The Lincoln diocese is know to be more traditional. Bishop Bruskewitz of the Lincoln diocese is great but he is about to retire. Omaha has a lot more night life but the bad areas of Lincoln are safer than some of the nicer areas in many cities. Lincoln is a smaller city (maybe 250k) but feels even smaller.

Hi Hat,

Thanks for your post!

I do not know much about when a new Bishop gets assigned

Do you all know who
you will be getting once Bishop Bruskewitz retires?

When is he supposed to be retiring, what year?

I am assuming that Bishop Bruskewitz has been supportive of the FSSP Seminary
& FSSP parishes, right?

Does that mean you will get someone similar, along the same thinking?

I was wondering if you have heard of many families homeschooling there?

Do you have a large Latin Mass community?

Thanks so much,

God Bless,

PAX,

Megan

SwizzleStick · #94 May 10, '12, 8:57 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandajane

I grew up in St. Charles, and I want to reiterate how AMAZING it is for a catholic family.

I grew up in the area and most of my family still live there. It is very Catholic and a wonderful place to raise a family. It has changed a lot since I was a kid as far as population and development, so it is much less rural now, but I have family in several of the parishes out there and they are good, traditional parishes (with beautiful old Churches and also new Churches too) and communities with very solid Catholic identities.

St. Theodore in Flint Hill, St. Patrick in Wentzville, Immaculate Heart of Mary in New Melle, St. Paul in St. Paul, Assumption in O'Fallon, Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie, Immaculate Conception in Old Monroe, St. Joseph in Josephville are all great parishes,

Kenny Kamel · #95 May 11, '12, 8:19 am

Here's a similar thread I posted in that might help:

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=446072

mama2mrs · #96 May 11, '12, 9:42 am

Near Ave Maria University in Florida.

Hat4 · #97 May 11, '12, 1:03 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megan7

Hi Hat,

Thanks for your post!

I do not know much about when a new Bishop gets assigned

Do you all know who
you will be getting once Bishop Bruskewitz retires?

When is he supposed to be retiring, what year?

I am assuming that Bishop Bruskewitz has been supportive of the FSSP Seminary
& FSSP parishes, right?

Does that mean you will get someone similar, along the same thinking?

I was wondering if you have heard of many families homeschooling there?

Do you have a large Latin Mass community?

Thanks so much,

God Bless,

PAX,

Megan

We don't know who will be the replacement Bishop but we're hoping for a good one.

I wouldn't say we have a large Latin Mass community, I only Latin Mass I know of is St. Francis.

Newsy · #98 May 11, '12, 3:11 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwizzleStick

I grew up in the area and most of my family still live there. It is very Catholic and a wonderful place to raise a family. It has changed a lot since I was a kid as far as population and development, so it is much less rural now, but I have family in several of the parishes out there and they are good, traditional parishes (with beautiful old Churches and also new Churches too) and communities with very solid Catholic identities.

St. Theodore in Flint Hill, St. Patrick in Wentzville, Immaculate Heart of Mary in New Melle, St. Paul in St. Paul, Assumption in O'Fallon, Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie, Immaculate Conception in Old Monroe, St. Joseph in Josephville are all great parishes,

From my experience, limited as it is, one parish on your list is very vibrant, but appears very liberal/modern. I attended a conference at the parish and it was wonderful. My wife and I stayed for Mass and were very uncomfortable. Very fast paced, very little genuflecting, rather noisy before Mass, it just didn't seem as focused as most other Masses I have attended. I guess we each see things in a different way.

Sorry, not trying to bash your list.

SwizzleStick · #99 May 11, '12, 3:14 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newsy

From my experience, limited as it is, one parish on your list is very vibrant, but appears very liberal/modern. I attended a conference at the parish and it was wonderful. My wife and I stayed for Mass and were very uncomfortable. Very fast paced, very little genuflecting, rather noisy before Mass, it just didn't seem as focused as most other Masses I have attended. I guess we each see things in a different way.

Sorry, not trying to bash your list.

Really? I am very surprised and so sorry to hear that. I guess the influx of population changes things. Was the actual Mass traditional? Do you mean people didn't genuflect at their pews when arriving and leaving? You mentioned people being noisy before but were they also noisy during Mass? Was it generally irreverant?

Can you PM me which Church so I can ask about Masses these days? Maybe it was an unusual occurence. I hope so. I'd hate to think that any of these Churches may have changed so much from when I was growing up.

tarboy · #**100** May 11, '12, 3:54 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by po18guy

I am using Bishop Sheen's analogy. He said that it was better to have your children defend their faith in a secular school than to lose it completely in a Catholic school.

I like this analogy from B Sheen, provided you have strong home catechism.

Quote:

I suggested SLC as it probably has decent demographics, but is highly LDS, which means that one's family will learn to defend and live their Catholic faith - when surrounded by "hostile forces", if you catch my drift

I disagree with this suggestions. I've visited SLC and it was anything but secular.

MrsDDD · #**101** May 12, '12, 12:37 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarenElissa

Ya, people always look at me weird because I actually like the bus. I'm a big reader, so I'd much rather spend a bit longer on a bus and be able to read instead of a shorter drive in a car, but actually have to pay attention to the road. Add that to the MUCH lower cost of the bus, and I'm all for public transportation.

Yes, I grew up in DC and loved riding the metro- so relaxing! I wish I knew more about public transit here. We lucked out with an express bus that goes from our house to my husband's work downtown. I've taken the metrolink when I lived in Ucity but worked in East St. Louis. I had to transfer and it wasn't too bad but one of my co-workers had a lot of trouble getting to and from work. Lucky for me, I had the option of driving when the weather was bad.

BTW don't let people freak you out when it comes to East St. Louis. Most people that are afraid of it, have never been there. I worked with special needs kids and was often in public housing alone (I'm a white woman, for reference) and had no problems. There are a ton of great people in East St. Louis

KarenElissa · #**102** May 12, '12, 4:25 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsDDD

BTW don't let people freak you out when it comes to East St. Louis. Most people that are afraid of it, have never been there. I worked with special needs kids and was often in public housing alone (I'm a white woman, for reference) and had no problems. There are a ton of great people in East St. Louis

Ya, I tend not to worry too much when I hear about the "bad" parts of town. I've traveled a lot and spent a fair amount of time in "bad" parts of town and never really felt unsafe.

MrsE1022 · #**103** May 24, '12, 12:02 pm

We live in Northern VA and I've more than once thought of moving up North to be in a more Catholic culture. Although we have SO many Catholics around here, they certainly aren't the norm and its a very transient area and being so close to DC EVERYTHING is political unfortunately. I feel like a crazy person down here sometimes. I'd love to live somewhere where CCD and CYO and Knight of Columbus are things everyone knows about, Catholic or not.

hwriggles4 · #**104** May 24, '12, 9:53 pm

For those who like the South:

Someone mentioned Houston. I have family in Houston and two of my brothers attend the same parish. In the past 10 years, I have seen that parish go from a "social hall mentality" to a vibrant parish where people are interested in the Catholic faith. My perception and observation is that had to do with a new pastor, a new adult faith formation coordinator, and the ACTS retreat. I find it more pleasant to attend if I am visiting. I am also impressed with Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, and the amount of seminarians there has doubled in the last 10 years.

Dallas is pretty good too. You may have to do some "shopping" for a parish, but you will eventually get comfortable somewhere. Dallas also has a very active pro-life apostolate, and there are many Catholic activities to find here. My observation of the Diocese of Fort Worth is with Bishop Vann at the helm, the orthodoxy there has greatly increased.

I enjoyed the parish I attended when I worked in Oklahoma City. I was there for a few months on a work assignment years ago, and I found Catholics there to be friendly and knowledgeable. I think that had something to do with the amount of Protestants who challenged the Catholics, which forced Catholics to learn their faith. Oklahoma is only 3% Catholic. I'm told Tulsa has a similar story.

Someone here mentioned the Raleigh-Durham area. Part of the success there (IMHO) is due to Bishop Burbidge. Raleigh has gone from 8 seminarians to 20 in a short time. I've heard Charlotte is a good place to be Catholic too, as is Greenville, South Carolina.

Generally, the amount of Protestants in the South (IMHO) has helped force Catholics to learn their faith. I also find my Southern Baptist friends and Non-Denominational friends to be very knowledgeable about the Bible, and interested in family life, as well as support for the Pro-Life Movement.