We Are All Called to Lives of Holiness
Part of maturing spiritually is coming to a greater understanding of our own strengths and weaknesses. We begin to see the areas that allow us to love and serve God — as well as others — while also seeing where we may need work and also coming to accept that we may lack certain gifts …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Accepting Our Own Gifts in Order to Serve God"
In our attempts to convince the world of the rightness and goodness of our message, we often forget to be completely honest about the difficulties on the path to holiness. We forget saints had very dark nights and arduous climbs while at times tangibly experiencing the immense joy of God. We often focus too much …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Being Honest About When NFP is a Cross"
I know I haven't been writing much on the blog these past few months. First, I hope you are all having a very blessed Easter season. Life has been crazy between homeschool, grad school, my husband's illness, book ideas, and my now broken fibula, so I had to trim back and blogging was cut temporarily. …
Continue reading "Hoping to Blog More Soon and Facebook Writer’s Page to Follow"
God is rather gratuitous in the beauty He bestows upon Creation. This is evident in crystal clear rivers descending into roaring waterfalls, the sun gently rising over the ocean, the quiet of sunset over snow covered peaks, misty trees golden by early morning light, and it is most profoundly seen in the eyes of our …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Beauty Reflects God’s Love for Us"
I have been in active ministry for over ten years. I've had occasional breaks as my vocation has required, but I've worked with a variety of people and priests over those years. In all of my time serving in the parish and local community I have observed--as Pope Francis has said many times--that gossip is …
Continue reading "We Need to Stop Gossiping About Our Priests"
The topic of silence has grown in popularity on social media in recent months. This is especially true in light of the various pieces written on Cardinal Sarah’s brilliant book, The Strength of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise. Silence is an important topic. We are inundated with noise. This noise is not only an assault on …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Silence in Advent Prepares Us for the Joy of Christmas"
It is fitting that my daughter came to me on a dark November night. It is the month the Church remembers the dead and prays ardently for the poor souls in Purgatory. The days are cold while the trees shake off the last remnants of autumnal glory to enter into the silent deep of winter. November …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Responding to the Painful Reality of Death"
I didn't jump on the #metoo bandwagon not because I have not been sexually harassed. By God's grace, I have never been assaulted or raped and it is only His grace that I give credit, because there have been times I sensed very real danger, but got out of it quickly. Yes, most women in the military …
Two months ago, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to my husband yelling for me. He was standing over our sink coughing up blood. He had coughed up blood a few years ago and had a lesion on his lungs, but it healed. We thought it was some kind of fluke. It wasn’t. It was …
Continue reading "The Blood, We Thought It Was Some Kind Of Fluke"
Yesterday I decided to briefly post some of my thoughts on the recent horror that occurred in Las Vegas on Facebook. In typical fashion, the abominable event has turned into a chance for political grand-standing. As a human being and as a Catholic, I have grown tired of this typical fight that inevitably does us …
Swimming the Depths 