From Heart of Mary Women’s Fellowship: One saint in this modern age who lived a life of compassion towards everyone, no matter what race, religion, or ethnicity they were, was Mother Teresa. She reached out to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, and devoted her life to treating them with dignity, no matter how the society she lived in disapproved. Read the rest here! Read more
From Heart of Mary Women’s Fellowship “Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.” Whenever I look at this verse, I can’t help but think that Jesus knew about the ongoing battle to keep babies alive in the womb. It calls to mind how there are videos out there of people who work at abortion clinics negotiating prices for the body parts of aborted babies. It calls to mind how often large families... Read more
From Heart of Mary Women’s Fellowship: We may be trying to live a minimalistic spirituality instead of giving ourselves completely to God. We may say that we are living holy lives, but our actions may contradict our words. In other words, we have a lot in common with how St. Teresa of Avila was during her youth and adulthood. Wanna know how? Find out here! Read more
From Heart of Mary Women’s Fellowship: It breaks our heart when we see Jesus fall for the first time because his broken, beaten, battered body has to bear the burden of the cross. When he falls for a second time, it hurts again because at this point, he has met his mother, received help from Simon of Cyrene, and found a moment of relief with Veronica, who wiped his face clean. And yet, in spite of the support, he still... Read more
When I shared my commentary about Kesha’s struggle to break free of her contract and desire to be free of her alleged abuser, a friend of mine reminded me that I had to include compassion towards those who have been raped and sexually assaulted. So this follow-up post isn’t just a letter to Kesha, but to all victims of rape, assault, and abusive relationships (physical, verbal, psychological, sexual, etc.). My dearest sisters and brothers, If you’re reading this, you probably... Read more
I am not a big fan of Kesha. I liked a couple of her songs and thought that she was doing well with her latest album. But given the latest controversy surrounding Kesha trying to get out of her contract,I feel like I need to give my 2 cents about this. As we all know, in the criminal justice system, people who are charged with a crime are innocent until proven guilty. This means that it’s up to Kesha and... Read more
While I love Audrey Assad’s latest album, Inheritance, there are a lot of other songs on my playlist that I’m listening to this Lent. Today, I want to share you ten songs from my Lenten Playlist “Walking By Faith.” If you want to see the whole playlist, check it out here. The first song I want to share with you is Matt Maher’s “Everything is Grace.” I already loved this song because of its association with St. Therese of Lisieux, but when... Read more
Luke 6:45 “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” When we love something, we have a tendency to talk non-stop about it. Think of your local sports fanatic, a friend who is about to get married, or look on tumblr at all the fans swooning over Hamilton and the... Read more
There’s not much that Deadpool and Risen have in common aside from the fact that they came out this month and I saw the movies a day after they premiered in theaters. You might be surprised to find out, though, that while I initially liked the movie about the smart-aleck assassin more than the movie about “the resurrection as told by a nonbeliever,” the latter movie actually left me wanting more. Spoilers ensue. You have been warned. I do agree with... Read more
Monique Ocampo Writes
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Award Shows: Hollywood’s Favorite Pulpit
I skipped the Oscars last night. But a quick look at all the post-Oscar news showed how little I actually missed. First, the good: Leonardo Dicaprio finally won an Oscar! I’m also happy that Inside Out won Best Animated Movie and that Mad Max Fury Road won so many awards. But I have some things I need to get off my chest. Why is it that so many of the movies nominated for Oscars are ones that aren’t seen by the mass population? I... Read more