If you follow me on social media you may have seen that I spent this past weekend on retreat. This is my 4th retreat with the Sisters of Life and each year it is incredibly fruitful, so if I can make it, I’m usually there. I have learned, anytime you go on retreat, you should head in without expectations. God surprises me every single time. I think I have some idea of how the weekend might go. Nope! Not even close. Some years it’s been filled with tears, as I worked through something. Sometimes it’s been filled with a mix of confusion and then peace. This year, without a doubt,…
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Why do people claim to be “Catholic?”
Last weekend, my husband and I attended a comedy show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The opener was a comedian I didn’t know named Pat McGann. His material started out funny but quickly turned ugly. He mentioned that he’s “Catholic,” the religion in which nuns beat students and priests molest children, but we don’t ever leave. As his act went on, he did a bit about Holy Communion, and made a sexual joke about receiving the Body of Christ on his tongue. And I felt PAIN! I’m not exaggerating. I felt actual pain as my heart broke for Jesus. Then my righteous anger flared and I was…
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10 Important Things I “Discovered” as My Faith Grew
Today I was thinking that I’d share some ideas that have been very important in my walk with the Lord. But first, as a reminder to you (and to myself), I am an average Catholic woman with no training in theology. I am not an apologist (a person who offers an argument in defense of something). Even more so, I feel particularly uncomfortable with the idea of teaching others about theological things. BUT – I do feel a tug on my heart, a nudge of the Spirit, guiding me to say something, guiding me to state the Truth. Because once God has worked in our lives, it is our…
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On Air with Sr. Marie Pappas
This is so exciting, guys! Just before Christmas I was on air with Sister Marie Pappas on her radio show, Pathways of Learning, on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel. How did this happen? Well, our two oldest children go to St. Columba school in Hopewell Junction, NY. Sister Marie is the religious education director at the same parish. For our annual school gala, Sister Marie offered a chance to join her as guest on her radio show as a live auction prize. Well, John and I won the prize!! This was back in April. Fast forward to this fall, I began this blog. When Sister Marie asked what we’d like to…
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It Seems As If Everyone Celebrates Christmas Nowadays
The other day a friend told me a story. Her son came home with a note for Santa written by a classmate. She hoped that he could give it to his elf to bring to Santa. The writer of the letter explained that she is a 6 year old Egyptian girl who does not celebrate Christmas, but went on to say that she believed in Santa and asked if Santa would bring her something to show that he is real. As we laughed about this conundrum that my friend found herself in, she said that Christmas has become such a huge, commercialized thing that everyone celebrates Christmas nowadays, and this…
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Do You Know that You Are Set Apart to Be Holy?
Earlier in the month, I sat in front of the computer searching for a Christmas card. I noticed many that say something like, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Best Year Ever,” “Counting Our Blessings,” and, most annoyingly, just “Blessed.” And each was followed by a picture of an impossibly gorgeous family, with just the right clothes, frolicking in a bucolic field of evergreen trees. Honestly, it frustrated me. As I called myself a Grinch, I reflected about why these sentiments bothered me. I realized that these cards seemed like just another opportunity to shout our “blessings” to others. It’s the social media pitfall in Christmas card form. “Blessed” has become…
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Christmas Lists and Unanswered Prayers
You may be wondering what Christmas lists and prayers have to do with each other. Great question! Hang tight – if you haven’t figured it out yet, I love a good analogy. For the last 2 weeks our kids have been honing their Christmas lists. They’ve been scouring catalogues, noting TV ads and filling a note pad with ideas. I gave them free reign to list even the most outlandish ideas, like a “real live puppy (a lab of any kind)” and another trip to Disney. Then, we divided the lists into “wants,” “needs,” “things to wear,” “things to read or learn,” and “things to do.” After all this, the…
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Does God Take Delight in Your Garden?
In my last post I wrote about being gardeners in our children’s lives, planting seeds of faith in their hearts. But as I thought about that analogy, I realized it could be applied to our own lives also. So, let’s take a look at our gardens. What is planted in our gardens? How is it doing – dying, surviving or thriving? And how can we help it to flourish? Maybe yours is a garden that was once planted well with choice veggies. You were given good seeds, and they were put into a well-nurtured environment. But as life took over, you forgot to tend to the garden. Now, even though…
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Tending Our Garden of Little People
A few weeks ago I took our daughter to Confession. I really wanted her to get it in before school started, get her a jolt of grace. (As a side note: my spiritual director had recommended quarterly Confessions for a child her age.) But she did not want to go, AT ALL. Anyone else surprised by this? No, I wasn’t either. Anyway, in the chapel with her, I was lamenting (ok, downright complaining) to Jesus about how hard parenting is and how we’re trying to teach and pass on our faith to our kids, but I just worry that it’s not sticking. I was intrigued by the answer I got…
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Opening Our Hearts
Last post, I wrote about being open to the possibility of Jesus transforming our hearts, being open to a real and personal encounter with Christ, and being ready to accept his Love. We need to let Him find that crack in our hearts of stone and give us new hearts. But how can we be open to Him? Honestly, much smarter minds than mine have tackled this question. But it seems to me that the desire to want to know and be with God is enough. He will find you, like the Good Shepherd that He is. It is our job to accept Him – but to accept Him as…
