Adults have childhood memories of days spent playing outdoors and exploring the environment  around them. Children a generation ago are the parents of today, and you might expect such outdoor play to be part of their families lifestyle. But today’s overscheduled kids are increasingly “plugged in” to electronic devices and media and unplugged from the fundamental and formative experience of nature in their own neighborhood. Their senses — including, most sadly, their sense of wonder — are bombarded, overwhelmed, and ultimately diminished. Studies have linked excessive television viewing to obesity, violence, and even lower intelligence in kids. Children who regularly spend unstructured time outside: play more creatively , have lower stress levels, have more active imaginations , become fitter and leaner,  develop stronger immune systems , experience fewer symptoms of ADD and ADHD ,  have  greater respect for themselves, for others, and for the environment.  Get your child involved  in “Green Hour” a day — a bit of time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world – it can set them on the path towards physical, mental, and emotional well-being . This can take place in a garden, a backyard, the park down the street, or any place that provides safe and accessible green spaces where children can learn and play.  Children who spend time outdoors are healthier, overall, than their indoor counterparts

In June, Pope Benedict XVI cleared the way to canonization for Blessed Alphonsa of India, making her that country’s first female saint. A Poor Clare nun from Kerala, Alphonsa was raised by an aunt after the death of her mother when Alphonsa was a child. She suffered a number of illnesses throughout her life but endured silently and even cheerfully, believing that suffering made her more worthy of God. She is patron of sick people and of people who have lost parents.

Born, 1809 at Loudin, diocese of Poitiers, France. Priest and member of the Paris Society of Foreign Missions. Missionary to Viet Nam, working in Annam. Accused of theft after weapons were planted on his land to discredit him, he was actually arrested for his faith at Ban-ho. He was kept in chains in a cage for three months, routinely beaten, and when interrogated was expected to sing his answers as he was known for his beautiful voice. The martyred priest was beheaded and his body hacked to pieces on 20 September 1837 at Ban-Ho, Tonkin, Vietnam. Saint John Cornay was beatified in 1900 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.