The Beads in Every Pocket

Today the Church keeps the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, first set after the victory at Lepanto in 1571, when Pope St. Pius V asked all of Christendom to pray the Rosary and credited the outcome to Our Lady's intercession. The Rosary was always meant for ordinary people: a prayer that needs no book and no learning, only a string of beads and a willingness to keep going. It is also a school of the Gospel, walking a family through the life of Christ one mystery at a time, so that children who cannot yet read the Gospels can still learn them by heart. Small hands fidget, decades get dropped, and someone always loses count, but the habit forms anyway. This week, pray a decade together as a family each evening, and let a different child lead it each night.

Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
— Luke 1:28

Missed an issue, or want to revisit a past theme? This and every past newsletter is now archived on our website.

Walk with Team CHECH

Join Team CHECH at Houston Coalition for Life's Run/Walk for Life on Saturday, October 17, 8:00 to 11:00 a.m., at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Memorial Park. Walk, run, or push a stroller. Meet at 8:30 a.m. for a team photo, and wear your CHECH shirt if you have one. Every dollar Team CHECH raises goes to the Blue Blossom Pregnancy Centers. Join Team CHECH

Houston & Beyond: Performing Arts 2026–27

Our updated guide gathers the season's concerts, plays, ballets, and operas across Houston and beyond, with links to tickets and schedules, so you can plan family outings for the whole year. Print it for the fridge or click through from your inbox. Download the Guide now, and find it anytime, along with our Fall Festivals guide, on the Houston Catholic Family Calendar.

Dear Mater

Dear Mater, I feel guilty when I don't get through everything on our homeschool list. How do I distinguish between what is truly important and what can wait?

Mater's answer starts with a question every homeschooling parent should ask: am I homeschooling, or am I schooling at home? Read Mater's answer on our website. Have a question of your own? Submit it here, anonymously if you'd like.

Before the Lesson, October

This week Mater reminds us that learning is relational, and that the point is not to finish the list but to form the whole child. Before the Lesson is built for exactly that: a few minutes a day, gathered together, with a story, a poem, a hymn, and a painting to love before any lesson begins. October, the month of the Most Holy Rosary, brings Longfellow's "The Brook and the Wave," the Salve Regina, George Gershwin, art from Albert Bierstadt, and five stories told by Mrs. Marie Romero of HomeLore. "The Mice in Council," "The White Snake," and "Long, Broad, and Sharpsight" are ready now, with "Cupid and Psyche" and "Merlin" coming soon. Members will find it in Member Resources; everyone else can purchase the October guide, with the printable PDF and all of the month's audio.

Upcoming in Houston

Schoenstatt Girls and Young Women: Info Gathering | Sat Oct 10 | Katy | K–8, 9 a.m.–Noon; high school and young adults, 1–3 p.m. | Meet Sister Maria Paula and learn about the new Katy-area group, with pilgrimages to the Austin and Rockport shrines for older girls

Help Your Teen Access More Money for College: BigFuture | Oct 14 | Free webinar | How the FAFSA, scholarships, and financial aid work together

Knights of Columbus Essay Contest: Deadline Extended | Due Thu Oct 15 | Grades 8–12 | 500–750 words on JFK's "the rights of man come... from the hand of God" | Gift cards for winners in each grade

Mother-Son Costume Dance: Holy Family Catholic School | Fri Oct 16, 5–7 p.m. | HFCS Gym | $15 per pair | Music, bingo, games, food, and a costume duo contest | Preregister flyer

Pear + Pei Homeschool Art Classes | League City | Six weeks: Thursdays, Oct 15–Nov 19 (register) or Fridays, Oct 16–Nov 20 (register), 10:30 a.m.–Noon | Ages 6–14 | $180, all supplies included | Drawing, painting, watercolor, clay, and mixed media.

Space Exploration Panel: Blast Into Space Fall Festival | Sun Oct 18, 1:30–3 p.m. | Shrine of the True Cross, Dickinson | Gene Kranz and astronauts David Leestma and Tim Kopra on space, faith, and the cosmos

Priesthood 101 | Sundays, Oct 18–Nov 22, 3–4:30 p.m. | St. Helen, Pearland | Six-week discernment group for high school young men

Sensory Friendly Day | Mon Oct 19, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | Children's Museum Houston | Exclusive access for children with autism, sensory processing disorder, and other learning differences, with dimmed lights and quiet rooms

Holy Bones! Why Catholics Believe in Relics | Wed Oct 21, 7 p.m. | Shrine of the True Cross, Dickinson | Apologetics talk by Fr. Rick Arriola

Pro-Life Essay Contest | Through Sat Nov 7 | Grades 5–12 | Free | From the Culture of Life Studies Program and IEW, with prizes including publication

Save the Date: Science Day 2027 | Thu May 6, 2027 | Daikin Park | Science experiments with HMNS and Orbit | Join the interest list

New at MFAH: Hodler, Joyful Woman | Now on view, Kinder Building | Free on Thursdays

Thomas Aquinas College

Mater reminds us this week that the goal is children who love learning, not just children who finish the book. Thomas Aquinas College has built an entire education on that idea: no textbooks and no lectures, just the original Great Books, from Euclid and Sophocles to Aquinas and Pascal, read and discussed together in small classes. Rising seniors can try it for themselves this summer at TAC's High School Great Books Programs in California or New England, two weeks in July ($975) or one week in late July or early August ($600), with housing, meals, and books included. Applications are open now, and the first 30 students accepted to each program get an early bird discount of $200 off the one-week or $400 off the two-week program. Find Thomas Aquinas College among our partners on the CHECH Partnerships page.