“Every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.” Some of us have good lives and some of us feel like we’re “doing okay,” while others feel stuck in a cycle of endless bad days. No matter where we are or what kind of days we have, keeping a daily gratitude journal... Read more
From Heart of Mary Women’s Fellowship: I’ve struggled with being happy with what I have for a long time. There are days that I don’t feel grateful for anything at all in spite of the fact that I have a lot of blessings in my life. If you’re anything like me, you tend to take the things in your life for granted and don’t see the things in your life as anything special. How exactly do we start being grateful?... Read more
I’ve been a devoted fan of Food Network ever since I was in high school. I credit the network for helping me learn how to cook through Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals and Alton Brown’s Good Eats. Chopped is not a show I watch all the time, but when I heard of a nun competing on last night’s Thanksgiving special, I decided to put my usual Monday night TV schedule on hold to watch. Sister Alicia Torres is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of... Read more
From the Heart of Mary Women’s Fellowship: It’s easy to feel grateful when things are going well, but we really need gratitude when our lives are chaotic and messy, when we feel like there is no hope, because gratitude gives us something to hope for. Through gratitude, we find the hope for a better future because we already have good things in our lives in spite of the hardships that we suffer. Go read the rest of the study... Read more
An attitude of gratitude creates blessings.- Sir John Templeton, philantropist How often do we give thanks for the things that we already have? Do we give thanks to God every day? Or do we only do it during Thanksgiving and the holidays? What are we grateful for, anyway? Do we even spend time feeling thankful at all or do we complain about the things we don’t have and how different things could’ve been or how they should be? However... Read more
The nature of forgiveness in Buffy-verse is complicated to say the least. Angel gets a whole spinoff dedicated to him trying to atone for his actions, but one reason I have issues with Angel is because the nature of forgiveness is very much an absent thing in Angel. Angel embraces this existentialist belief that goes along the lines of “If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do” and he never forgives himself for his past actions nor... Read more
So last night, at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land, TX, I had the privilege of attending Mass in honor of St. Maria Goretti, whose relics were being venerated. The church was packed. I honestly haven’t seen a church so crowded outside of Christmas and Easter. The line to venerate the reliquary was almost a mile long and I’m very certain I’m not exaggerating when I say that. My dad and I, however, were lucky to get a seat... Read more
So for the past few days, I’ve been away on retreat. It was an amazing, wonderful experience. I wanted to share a poem I wrote while I was praying at Adoration during the retreat. Trust Fall How did this happen? My body was so weary My spirit so weak I just wanted to fall And I wanted you to catch me So I ask You to catch me And into Your arms I fell All of a sudden, I am... Read more
One thing I love about being a Cradle Catholic is that I grew up celebrating Halloween. You might be surprised to learn that Halloween is a Catholic holiday. As the Word on Fire website says, it’s time for Catholics to embrace Halloween. So here are some Dos and Don’t to make your Halloween a great one. DO choose your costumes wisely. In spite of the stereotype, there are great costume ideas for women that don’t involve dressing like a hooker.... Read more
Once More With Feeling is an episode that a lot of fans consider to be their favorite and it definitely tops my list because I’m a sucker for a good musical. In fact, I got introduced to Joss Whedon through Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. I know most of the songs in this episode by heart and honestly wouldn’t change a single thing about this episode. For the most part. WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS ENSUE! Don’t read if you haven’t started Season... Read more
Monique Ocampo Writes
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