Today, the tabernacle is bare. Today, we are the presence of our Lord’s body wounded yet whole, crucified and ressurected, but not yet fully because we have not yet fully participated in that passion. Today we know something of how hollow this world can make itself. Today we’re reminded, we’re not made for here, we’re made for forever. It’s why the hint of not forever that is death, is so jarring to our hearts. It makes no sense to the... Read more
My sister wrote this, and when I read it, I felt the fullness of the prayer in the story, and of the heart. I asked if I could share it and she agreed. Today is the three year anniversary of the day I prayed like Abraham. Natalie had been in and out of the hospital for asthma, fevers, and neutropenia. I rushed her to Texas Children’s ER around noon on Good Friday of 2018 when she could no longer stand... Read more
What do you want Mom? They ask this question around Mother’s day, Christmas and my birthday. I’ve learned…they don’t really want to know. Perhaps having ten children, I’ve been skewed so beyond normal that my wants remain too outside standard deviations to be tolerated, or perhaps, to survive having ten children, I’ve learned what I need to want to thrive. For the curious and for my children in case they want proof in writing about my personal quirky wants for... Read more
Today my son turns 28, and it will be his second birthday during a pandemic. It’s hard to gin up the energy one would want to celebrate, when this past year has been one of waiting for something that has yet to fully happen. I suggested we redshirt everyone and put a 27 on the cake. He didn’t go for it. However, I decided it was a good idea to think back over the past year, and consider all the... Read more
I OUGHT TO KNOW BY NOW, THE PREMISE ALONE DOOMED ME… To make life easy on a Thursday, I brought home two quarts of gumbo and a pound of brisket for dinner. A phone call took me from the kitchen and when I returned, two of my sons asked, “What are the rest of you having?” Scrambling eggs for some and making some pasta and meatballs for those left behind, one child begged for frozen waffles. A toasted makeshift eggo... Read more
Pop quiz for the grown ups. Do you remember being confirmed? Do you remember your confirmation saint and why you chose that person? Do you remember your confirmation sponsor? Do you remember feeling like, now I know exactly what God intends for me to do and has equipped me to do it? Because my answers are yes, yes, yes and no. I also can tell you without telling you, I picked my confirmation saint name in an attempt to impress... Read more
We wore green, I put on the music of Celtic Folk and cooked corned beef. My youngest created a home for Leprechauns the night before and they left behind some dollar coins, a green donut and Irish Spring Shampoo plus flowers and a note. She thrilled at the discovery. I’M IRISH ENOUGH… I think the geneology breaks down such that we get into 16ths and 32nds when you look at my kids but it doesn’t really matter. We’re irish enough,... Read more
WE’VE NOT LOOKED AT CHRIST ON THE CROSS AS FOR US It’s been a tough run for being Catholic in recent years, because we keep finding out, the Church is a hospital full of the sick, some of whom don’t know they are sick, and others of whom still don’t know. We keep thinking we’re better. We’re not. That’s the hard reality and the great comfort, because we’re not better, and yet God loves us. We’re not better, and yet... Read more
#https://www.pexels.com/@simonmigaj WHEN I SAW HIM STANDING THERE…well, he was just seventeen. When I first saw my future husband across a crowded room at a Notre Dame Freshman mixer, I decided not to introduce myself. He was too serious. Glancing at my outfit, which I thought projected cool (Actually, it screamed stuck-in-the-early-eighties, saw-and-liked-Xanadu) he thought to himself, “Look at that girl in the silly hat. Bet she’s pretty superficial.” We were both right. My first words to him were “Who are... Read more
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