2025 is a Jubilee year of hope, declared by Pope Francis. With such years, there are special graces which may be obtained by going through Holy Doors, praying for the Pope’s intentions, making a pilgrimage, and more. I love indulgences because I need all the grace I can get. So when I read up on the opportunities for this coming year, I felt surprised the only place designated in the United States is the National Shrine of the Immaculate... Read more
We don’t spend much time thinking about the three kings or three wise men that journeyed far from their obviously comfortable homes (bringing gold, frankensence and myrr anywhere would have been a pricy and risky endeavor), to follow a star. They found a baby in a manger, a trough used to feed animals, and yet understood in the heart, that this child was more than a child, this was the King of Heaven. Imagine the faith, the trust, the... Read more
Being a parent of older children, I must relearn what I knew when they were little. Saint Therese of Lisieux’s famous saying, “Do little things with great love,” holds, it’s just the little things you do change. As a young mom, I understood, when I got them dressed, I’d clothed the naked. When we served them three meals a day plus miscelaneous snacks, we fed the hungry. Evening trips to deliver cups of water meant giving drink to the thirsty. ... Read more
So I just came back from a ten day trek to Texas and back to say goodbye to my mom. My sister, brothers, their spouses, all of our children, all of us came to bury Mom. It hurt. It still hurts. I’ve tried writing. Nothing stops the hurt or distracts for long. I’ve woken at three in the morning for an ugly cry, and found myself short of breath in the midst of opening Christmas presents. Grief will be a... Read more
Visiting my sister, I’ve found a thousand rabbit holes down memory lane as we go through letters and photographs. I know I lived through those years but the solid stories behind them seem to be missing. They come back in a moment with the pictures –but why they weren’t accessible without the memory jog is disquieting. Am I so busy in the now, I am not retaining the past? Yes. Should the past be forgotten? No. Mom was my memory... Read more
Whenever people ask me, “Hey Sherry, or Hey Mom, what do you want for…insert holiday here?” I draw a blank. I have a standard joke I tell people who need to verify my identity when at appointments. “I like chocolate, silver and anything red.” So when my husband in November, gave each of us a piece of paper on which to write what we wanted for Christmas, I wrote down a few things, but not what my heart first desired... Read more
The phrase, “How are you doing?” seems so innocent, so simple, so straightforward. It is until the answer is something other than “fine.” I have learned this week, to say, “Not okay.” or “I don’t know.” I wrote a piece about my mom but made it a page instead of a post. So I wrote another page about my mom. That too, was a page and not a post. Grief makes you foggy, grief makes you stupid, and grief makes... Read more
When my children were little, their exploits could be shared because the stories themselves were universal in nature even if the details differed. Who hasn’t dealt with a squirmy toddler who makes getting dressed in the morning an Olympic sport? What parent doesn’t know the seemingly endless grief of trying to be patient with a child who simply will not go to bed. Potty training, lost shoes, getting buckled into or out of the car, schedules, check ups, the list... Read more
Taking down the recycling, walking the dog and braving the lower than forty degrees which makes it unpleasant for me, weather, my thoughts turned to what am I doing? Not why am I living in a temperate zone where the weather can think about snow but not snow, and there is a need for gloves and thick socks and puffy coats? But what should I be doing spiritually? How do I grow as a human being, challenge myself to be... Read more
All of November, we pray for the souls of those in Purgatory, which is everyone who isn’t already a saint, not dead, or didn’t accept God’s friendship in this lifetime at the moment of judgment. We participate in offering each soul God’s mercy by our prayers, by our acting as intercessors, practicing what the saints, both known and known only to God, do for us. Preparing for mass on November 1st, I thought of all those family members I’ve loved... Read more
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