Last May, I traveled to Israel with the Catholic Press Association as a guest of the Israel Ministry of Tourism to cover Pope Francis’ meeting with the Patriarch of Constantinople. On May 26, the day after Pope Francis met with Patriarch Bartholomew in Jerusalem, the Holy Father attended a reception at President Shimon Peres’ home. I was also invited to that reception and had the privilege of hearing the Holy Father address President Peres and the people of Israel. I... Read more
Memories of Dad are a gift. A blessing. I pause life – the social-media scanning, the conversations around me, the house cleaning & writing, Once Upon A Time (which is my latest obsession), the errands – and I soak up the gift. The wispy grace. There are a handful of people who have been my open-door to grace. I can pick up the phone to reach them… or write an email… or walk to the bedroom or home office. But... Read more
It’s Sunday. If you are Catholic, you know what that means. Resurrection. Christ has risen. It doesn’t matter if it is Ordinary Time. It doesn’t matter if it’s Easter Season. It doesn’t even matter if it’s during Lent. If it is Sunday, there is a turning toward the Resurrection. Not just a glorious moment. It is the glorious moment. Today, as I prayed the Glorious Mysteries, I thought about my trip to Israel – the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,... Read more
The book is done. The editor has it. She wrote to say that it is moving to marketing and final copyediting. Time to open the champagne, right? I couldn’t figure out what was going on inside me. Was I just having trouble accepting the end of the season of writing? Shouldn’t I be kicking up my heels and dancing about now? Was it like the Robert Frost poem I read in graduate school? “Reluctance” Ah, when to the heart of... Read more
So it is time to let down my hair. I am home from my retreat. Time to sort through the happy tears, the moments of grace, the Sacraments that came at just the right moment with just the right touch of divine intervention. What did I learn? What broke through when I let down my guard down? I have wounds. I have learned to ignore them. They are healed. I don’t even think about them any more. Don’t want to... Read more
High school debate class taught me something, and I have lived long enough to see it play out over and over. People can argue rationally for or against almost anything. They can make both sides sound good – even if it is completely impossible for both sides to be right. But there is one thing I didn’t realize when I was sixteen, in debate class, and learning to deliver one point after another with speeds beyond the novice level. In the real... Read more
I just signed up for Prezi. It is supposed to revolutionize the speaking industry. It’s Power Point on steroids. Animation. Interactive. So, I’m learning the ropes. Prezi sends me emails to keep me engaged. One of the latest emails included links to helpful websites for speakers. Seth Godin was on the list. Seth says, “Before you start working on your presentation, the two-part question to answer is, ‘who will be changed by this work, and what is the change I seek?'”... Read more
To all those Catholic grandmothers who love to read to your grandchildren… I’m just like you. And my grandsons know where I keep the books that they love. When they walk through the door, it doesn’t take very long, and they are bringing me books to read. Omry’s favorite is Chugga, Chugga, Choo-Choo. He loves the rhyming sound and the train theme. Jojo’s favorite is Caps for Sale. He likes the repetitive lines that he can echo back... Read more
I met these young men at today’s meeting between President Shimon Peres of Israel and the Holy Father. I loved the true brotherhood I saw in the boys who sat in the row in front of us. They kept asking us to write a story about them (they are from a school near Mount Carmel). They told us they love footbol (soccer) and one hopes to convince the Holy Father to begin a Vatican futbol team. At the very moment... Read more
Denise Bossert
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