The grace of God often comes to a person in the midst of paradox and mystery. This is perhaps the truth that many missed when they read part of my story of return to the Church. In short, I was an atheist, fallen-away Catholic involved in serious sin who stumbled into Mass one day and received the Eucharist. This moment was the start of my journey back to the Church and eventually into religious life. Certainly, a reason to celebrate right? Unfortunately, many... Read more
What if someone got into your car, demanded all of your money and threatened to kill you? Read more
Marriage and family are high voltage topics in any arena these days. So when Pope Francis decided to confront these issues head on and gather all the bishops in a Synod on the Family to discuss just the things that already have everyone in a tizzy, I have to admit I felt a little tense. So, I have to say I am not surprised that the discussions at the Synod and the resulting Relatio document have ruffled feathers. First of all, as Father... Read more
When I first walked through the doors of a Catholic Church again, I was still an atheist, living with my boyfriend. One day, with little to do, I walked by a nearby church while Mass was going on inside. I stayed. I have no idea why I stayed but I stayed. And I went to Communion. Read more
I was reminded of these generous hearts the other day when I was riding in a car with one of my sisters. We stopped at a red light and I saw a man with a cardboard sign asking for money. Read more
ISIS supporters are hailing a 10-year-old boy they say died in US airstrikes in Syria as the youngest martyr of the war raging in Syria and Iraq. Supporters of IS laud Abu Ubaidah, a 10-year-old boy said killed in US airstrike and shown posing with guns… pic.twitter.com/0yaMQf1k9e — Dave Griffin (@mrdavegriffin) October 10, 2014 A tribute video was posted to YouTube by ISIS supporters but it has been taken down. Excerpts can be seen here. The video depicts the face of a smiling... Read more
Hello Dear Readers (old and new), I am so excited to join the Catholic channel at Patheos.com. I feel it is apropos for a religious sister like me to be blogging “in community” rather than on my own, so that is just one reason among many why I am excited to join the awesome group of Catholic writers at Patheos. Not much will be changing. I will still be writing about a variety of topics from a Catholic and particularly Pauline viewpoint.... Read more
When I first read about Brittany Maynard on People.com I gasped. Brittany’s smile is beautiful and her life circumstance so tragic. At 29-years old Brittany has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given months to live. She has moved to Oregon where assisted suicide is legal so she can end her life as she says “on her own terms.” The article about her story has already been shared almost 100,000 times. After reading the piece, my mouse hovered over the... Read more
I am a St Thérèse book connoisseur, partly by choice and partly because everyone gives me gifts related to St. Thérèse because I was named after her. Now that I have worked in the Daughters of St. Paul publishing house, Pauline Books, I know that all St. Thérèse books are definitely not created equal. Any publisher worth a grain of salt will tell you that any book with St. Thérèse’s face on it sells. Unfortunately, this means that the market is flooded with books about the little saint, and... Read more
We have all heard the statistics. The Catholic Church in the United States, as well as in some other parts of the world, is hemorrhaging members. Upwards of 10% of Americans are now said to have left the Church. The overall number of Catholics in the United States has remained stable mostly due to immigration, but even that is likely to change. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that nearly 1 in 4 Hispanics now identifies him or herself... Read more
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