We Are All Called to Lives of Holiness
here are a lot of wounds in the Mystical Body today and, in many ways, the Synod on Synodality is pouring salt into those wounds. Since 2018—and even before that—it seems as if the cries of the evangelized People of God continue to go ignored. Whether it is the scandals, corruption, the lack of supernatural …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: For All of Us Who Feel Ignored by the “Listening Church”"
Today I cover two aspects of St. Therese of Lisieux's teaching: Doing small things with great love and persevering in trial and testing knowing it is a sign of God's love for us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9nDBkLbYVg Today is my 39th birthday. I'm requesting that anyone who views this video or stops by the blog to offer a …
Continue reading "The Saints and the Cross Episode 2: St. Therese of Lisieux"
Suffering agony in this life isn't easy. It doesn't matter if that agony is our own or our neighbor's. All of the calls to radical individualism and self-reliance are lies in the face of the ontological reality that we are all bound to one another. God has created us for union with Him and communion …
The nature of suffering and its connection to growing in the virtue of charity is something that I spend a lot of time pondering. This connection has become even more prevalent in my spiritual life in relation to the Cross for a variety of reasons. We have a tendency when we are faced with suffering--especially …
Continue reading "Charity and Communion: Enduring Versus Trying to Fix Suffering"
How does God prepare us for the mission He has in mind for us? One of the ways He does this is by testing us. God allows certain things to happen in our lives to see if we will be faithful and endure what He is asking of us. He uses suffering, temptations, weaknesses, failures, …
Continue reading "When God Tests Us to Prepare Us for a Mission"
In the Mass readings right now we are working our way through my favorite epistle, the First Letter of St. John. It will play a key role in aspects of the book I'm working on. If there is one word that describes this letter it is love. The Beloved Disciple whose deep spiritual friendship with …
My husband quietly pulled me aside this morning and asked me to walk with him to our van. He needed to tell me that he had been coughing up blood again, but that he didn't want our daughter to know about it at this point in time. He was about to leave for the ER. …
Continue reading "The Constant Powerlessness of Serious Chronic Illness"
“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” G.K. Chesterton Our culture seeks to hide suffering behind closed doors. The elderly are left in nursing homes while the unborn are "humanely" disposed of in abortuaries. We pretend that suffering …
Continue reading "No, We Can’t Fully Protect Our Children From Suffering"
Image taken from Wiki Commons. As I scroll through my social media feed looking at the day's news, I am struck by the sheer commonality of the sin of presumption on display. It appears that far too many of us--myself included at times--do not understand Our Lord's admonition that we are not to judge other …
Continue reading "Leading People to Christ Rarely Begins with Teaching Sexual Ethics"
Image: Wiki Commons There is an adage in our culture that is prevalent in movies, books, even daily conversations. It is: "People never change." It is even quite common for Catholics to make this statement. If this is true, then we are all in trouble. Scripture and our Faith tell us otherwise. People deeply attached …
Swimming the Depths 