DCPP 8: What's holding you back from building your Domestic Church?

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast!

This week we are chatting about practical and meaningful things that you can do in your Domestic Church to more fully enter into the Triduum. And in case that term is new to you, the Triduum is the time when we mark the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. The Triduum begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and concludes the evening of Easter Sunday.

How do we mark these days? Well, before we get into that, we want to stress our #1 tip. TAKE THE WHOLE FAMILY TO AS MANY OF THE LITURGIES AS POSSIBLE. If possible we take the whole crew to the Holy Thursday Mass, to the Good Friday Service AND to the Easter Vigil. And yes, our kids are regular bad kids. But, they usually really like to go to these special liturgies. They are unique and interesting! Feet washing! Candles! Touching the cross!

Anyway, it’s hard, and this year George is at a really tough age, but we plan to take everyone to everything anyway. And so, that is our number one tip!

Here is a quick list of possible things to do in your Domestic Church (meaning at home) each day of the Triduum:

• Holy Thursday

  • Seder Meal 

  • Wash Feet

• Good Friday

  • Fasting (even the kids)

  • Do all the miserable jobs

  • Pray the Stations of the Cross at 3pm

• Holy Saturday

  • Day of quiet and preparation

  • Decorate Easter eggs 

  • Bake and cook for the following day

• Easter Sunday

  • Sing Alleluia! 

  • Enjoy all the new life you can.

  • Feast! 

You, of course, are not limited to doing these things during the Triduum. We just hope this was helpful!

And, from our home to yours—have a blessed Triduum!

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

https://www.domesticchurchproject.com

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. We hope that your Lenten journey is going well. We have had lots of good times and hard times, and we are all collectively yearning for Easter!

This week we are joined by Amanda and Chis Costello. They are a military family. They have two children and they are currently homeschooling. They are also graduates of the DCP Bootcamp.

We wanted to talk to the Costellos and just basically hear about their Domestic Church. After all, we all are called to lead a Domestic Church but that doesn’t mean that they are the same! They way we teach the faith, pray and have fun together can will be radically different and it’s beautiful to peak into another Domestic Church and observe how they do things!

We talk about a lot of things including their individual backgrounds, things that ignited their Faith and how they teach the faith in the home.

One powerful part of the conversation was when Chris shared how going through the DCP Bootcamp actually prompted him to go to confession. He hadn’t been to confession in years. Although he had undergone a reversion, something was stopping him from actually going to confession. And so, it took a ten year old daughter to get him there. Pretty amazing.

We aren’t currently enrolling families in the DCP Bootcamp or app, but we plan to open up enrollment right around May 1. so, if you are listening around that time frame, we invite you to click here to join us: https://app.domesticchurchproject.com/feed

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. Today we are excited to welcome Jonathan Strate to the podcast. Jonathan is Ascension's New CEO and, as you will hear in this interview, he is passionate about Parish Life.

We found this conversation with Jonathan super refreshing. Across the Catholic World we have heard 2 pretty major extremes: that Parish Life is dead, and that all of our Faith Life should be lived in the parish (and we should ignore the Domestic Church). Jonathan, the father of 5 ages 8 and under, took a more balanced approached and challenged us all to reinvest in both our parish life and the life of our Domestic Church because it is only when we see these things as working together that they will thrive.

Our conversation covered topics from his own parish experiences, Faith Formation and small groups in the parish. In the end, we spent time discussion the ultimate small group: Our Family and how we evangelize the souls that God has entrusted to us.

We hope you enjoy this interview!

And, while you are at it, we encourage you to check out the new life of kids products from Ascension. We own everything, and we highly recommend them! https://ascensionpress.com/pages/kids

Have a blessed Lent!

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the DCP Podcast! Life has been NUTS for us lately, and we are working hard to get back into the swing of things right now. What is craziest of all is that we have yet to talk about Lent on the podcast (WHAT!), and so, it is time to do just that.

But first, let’s acknowledge something. We are a little over 2 weeks into Lent, but if you are like me, you likely had the wrong goals in mind with your Lenten resolutions. At the start of Lent I always see Lent as an opportunity to curb some bad habits…but that is NOT the point of Lent.

The point of Lent is simple: Jesus.

Everything that we do this Lent should be about making Christ MORE the center of our homes and our hearts. And so, if you are taking a minute to reevaluate your Lent (like we are), here are some ideas about making Jesus the Center of Lent…because there is still a lot of Lent left.

Ideas:

• Read the Daily Gospel as a Family

• Do the Jesus Tree! https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/collections/jesus-tree

• Watch the Chosen or Jesus of Nazareth

• Do a Family Adoration Hour

These are just a couple of ideas and we pray that they help you lead your family closer to Lent this year.

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. We are thrilled to be hosting the Sequieiras this week! Lourdes and Glen are the parents of two young boys, and they are also graduates of the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp. Along with roughly 100 other families the Sequieiras went through the DCP Bootcamp, a 6 week experience for the whole family, as par of our Beta test during the fall of 2020. we currently have over 500 families going through the DCP Bootcamp and in today’s episode they share about their experience. As you listen we invite you to ponder if this program is right for your family right now!

The Sequieiras live in California, and like many families there lives have been reshaped by COVID. Glen is a teacher, so he now works from home. The boys were both in public school and are home as well. During the first shut down the family started to listen to the Catholic Sprouts Podcast and it was through that that they become interested in doing the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp.

One of our favorite things to discuss with families is how the parents grew up—meaning did they grow up in a Domestic Church, or is this all new to them too!? And just so you know, both Bill and I had wonderful childhoods, but we can’t really say that we grew up in a Domestic Church—although we hope that our kids will say that one day! If you feel like you have NO IDEA where to even start when building a Domestic Church, you are not alone. Anyway, we also touched in this conversation on what Glen and Lourdes grew up seeing in their homes, and how they have worked to carry over some of those things and transcend others.

The Sequieiras families can say that the DCP Bootcamp was transformative for them, and they invite other families to come of this journey with them! We are currently enrolling families in our DCP app, which houses the Bootcamp. If you are ready to build and lead your Domestic Church, then I invite you to check out all of the details. Just head here: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com

We will be closing enrollment on Friday at midnight, and we don’t plan to open back up until roughly May 1.

Thank you for listening, and we hope to walk this journey with you. After all, we are all called to build and lead a Domestic Church, even you!

Have a blessed Lent!

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast! We are excited to share today about the 3rd week of the Domestic Church Project. During this week we ask families to get to work building their Domestic Churches by putting in place the key pillars that will support their little church. These are Obedience, Unity, Prayer, Seeking Holiness and Trust.

Now, that is an awesome list of virtues, all of which would define the ideal family. And, we are far from an ideal family. In our conversation we talk about out thoughts on each of these topics and how we strive to move toward these ideals, but we also talk about about how hearing about these virtues is hard! It’s hard because if you are like us, you can’t help but measure yourself up against the ideal and see how far you are from that ideal.

And this is where we remind ourselves of one super important point.

The world of building a Domestic Church is not really our work. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Through the goodness of God we are invited to be co-workers in the vineyard. He has placed our children in our care and we need to take that seriously, but when it comes to virtue, we need to rely on God for these gifts.

Also, it is important to note that when we seek to achieve these virtues, the best way to do that is through remaining close to Jesus. After all, He is the source of all goodness.

And so, if you too are an imperfect family struggling to measure up, know that we are right there with you. But even more than that, know that God is there with you, and that He can do all things.

And His grace is sufficient!

Finally, keep in mind that we will be opening up the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp for enrollment February 15th-19th, so if you would like to take your family through this remarkable program, I encourage you to do that! To sign up when the doors are open, just head here: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com/dcp-community

It is just such a joy to be here with you!

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. This week we were delighted to have Matt Pinto, the founder of former president of Ascension Press, on the podcast. Although with his work at Ascension, Matt is also the father of six kids.

Having Matt Pinto on the podcast felt like the perfect time to tackle an important topic: Scripture. More specifically, how do we make Scripture a bigger part of our families and our homes.

This was an especially fun topic to talk about right now due to Ascension’s smash-hit new podcast, The Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike. Are you listening to this podcast? We are! And so are a LOT of other people. In fact, this simple podcast, which is mostly just Fr. Mike reading the Bible, was the TOP PODCAST on apple for several weeks at the beginning of the year. Crazy. With Matt Pinto we talk about where the idea for the podcast came from and what lasting impact he thinks this podcast will have on the world.

In our conversation we also covered ways to weave Scripture into life at home. Matt shared that his family uses Jesus Calling at the dinner table. Nancy shared that one of the instrumental tools in her own journey with scripture has been the scripture studies created by Jeff Cavins for Ascension Press. She heartily recommends the Walking Toward Eternity that Jeff Cavins wrote with his wife Emily (https://ascensionpress.com/collections/walking-toward-eternity-the-struggles-of-your-heart) and, of course, the Great Bible Timeline (https://ascensionpress.com/collections/the-bible-timeline-the-story-of-salvation).

We had such a fun time talking with Matt and soaking in all of the wisdom he had to share about falling in love with Scripture and raising a good and holy family.

If you are interested in finding even more tools to lead and guide your family, we encourage you to join us inside of the Domestic Church Project app, which will be enrolling new families February 15th-19th.

Head here to sign up: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com/dcp-community

Thanks for being here!

Bill and Nancy

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. Once again, we are Bill and Nancy, the parents of five kids, ages 9 and under. We are the creators of the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp, a six week experience for Catholic Families that enables them to set up and live in their Domestic Church. Zero Prep, and designed to help ANY Catholic Family.

Well, although we are the creators, we are FAR from perfect in this regard, so Bill and I are taking our family through the Bootcamp for the second time right now. And, guys, it’s been so good for us! Last week we finished up the 2nd week of the Bootcamp. This week asks you to take a close look at the wounds that exist in your family, and then take those wounds to Christ in the sacrament of confession.

In this episode we discuss what it was like for our family to go through this content and the things that came up for us. We cover:

• The PRIDE we have to confront as we realized that only God can heal us…that we on our own we can’t heal ourselves.

• The major sin we struggle with as parents: yelling

• How it’s tough to go to confession…and yet it feels so good to have gone!

• The beautiful practice of taking young kids to confession.

And so much more!

We currently have over 400 families going through the DCP Bootcamp, and it has been a GIFT to hear about their experiences as they confront the wounds in their own families.

If you would like to join us, we are opening up enrollment again the week of Ash Wednesday. We will only be open for a few days, so to make sure that you don’t miss it, sign up for our email list at https://www.domesticchurchproject.com/dcp-community 

If you are listening to this episode during your enrollment week, head here to sign up!

https://www.domesticchurchproject.com/dcp-community 

It is such an honor to be building our Domestic Church with you!

All the very best,

Nancy and Bill Bandzuch

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. This week we are kicking off our family’s journey through the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp, a 6 week experience for the whole family that will train you to establish and lead your own Domestic Church. We currently have about 500 families going through the Bootcamp inside of our app, and we are taking our family through the Bootcamp for the 2nd time.

The first week of the DCP Bootcamp is called “Demo.” We spend this time looking around our home and wondering, do we really have room for God here? Next, we look at our calendars and wonder if we are making any time for God. Each night the family takes on a small challenge designed to help them make lasting changes that will allow Jesus to dwell in their home.

So that’s the content of the DCP Bootcamp. In this episode Bill and I talk about how all of this played out (and continues to play out) in our home. We talk about our prayers space, how we deal with over commitments and clutter and distractions. We are definitely a work in progress, but we are here to share our small victories and struggles because we are all on this journey together!

If you are interested in taking your family through the DCP Bootcamp, we will be enrolling new families right around Ash Wednesday. Head to https://www.domesticchurchproject.com for more info and to sign up for our email list so that you don’t miss this small window of enrollment.

We can make space and time for Jesus. We can!

In Christ,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast!

In case you missed it, our new app launched on January 1, and we’ve had a wild couple of days welcoming families and parishes into the app. We closed enrollment on January 6th at midnight, and we are looking forward to guiding over 500 families through the DCP Bootcamp. On top of this, we are also preparing to take our family through the Bootcamp for the second time.

To this end, we are taking about all the key things that need to happen to get ready to build your Domestic Church. In this episode we talk about a few key prerequisites for building your Domestic Church. These include:

• Committing to personal prayer

• Making time for your family, that is distraction free.

• Adopting an attitude of willingness to TRY, and awareness that you will fail, in one way or another.

• Accepting that everyone in your family is a sinner, and this might not be easy.

• And, above all else, opening yourself up to the Holy Spirit and acknowledging that this is HIS work.

It’s a simply little list, but nothing here is simple.

And so, whether you are planning to build your Domestic Church with the Bootcamp or another program, please know that you are in our prayers.

If you missed this enrollment window for the DCP Bootcamp, we invite you to prayerfully consider joining us at the start of Lent when we will be welcoming families into the program again.

Thank you for being here, and God bless!

In Christ,

Bill and Nancy