—Feast of Blessed Anthony Grassi This day is just beginning, but I can’t let it go forward without mentioning yesterdays’ Gospel reading. It is from Chapter 1 in Matthew and it is the genealogy of Jesus. Here the gospel writer goes to great pains to show that Our Lord and Savior is indeed descended from the line of King David. Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling with portraits of Our Lord’s earthly ancestors. After reading this post, you may think... Read more
I tend to pray this Novena while commuting to work. Something about driving highways makes me meditative. I have been trying, as I pray, to offer up my suffering to ease someone else’s and I have been picking a different person each day. I discovered, however, that what I consider suffering many would consider blessings. Take my annoyance at driving behind a slow-moving truck. It’s a bother, yes. But another way to look at it is – hey at least... Read more
In the past, I have shared my affinity for both the writings of John C.H. Wu (the Chinese Chesterton, here with his family and Pope Pius XII) and St. John of the Cross. Do you remember when I shared my friend John’s thoughts on Thérèse of Lisieux? He compared her to Lao Tzu and Confucius. As this is the feast day of St. John of the Cross, I would like to share with you some of John Wu’s thoughts about... Read more
Father James Martin, SJ, author of My Life With the Saints, posted this on his Facebook account a few minutes ago. I predict it will be going viral, but as of this posting, the following video only has 360 views. Let’s ramp that number up, shall we? But just remember that Herod the Great might be on-line too. We will need to jam his access to the web for a couple of hours. I know some people. Don’t you dare... Read more
Feast of St. Lucy I’ve got to tell you folks that it snowed in my little town last night. The schools closed, the courts closed, basically the whole world closed down. My kids are home, and I’m home, so we are playing in the snow. Make fun of us Southerners all you want. But since snow days rarely come around, we’re going to make the most of it. My family just put up our Christmas tree last night too, so... Read more
Third Sunday of Advent, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe During the Summer of 2007 I read an awful lot of books that led me to join my parish RCIA program in the Fall of that same year. I’ve written about most of my reading program in earlier posts in this series, and I continued reading great Catholic books once my RCIA class started too. For example, I read Mirabai Starrs’ translation of The Book of My Life by St.... Read more
Third Sunday of Advent, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe In School of Community Tuesday night, we gave ourselves an assignment: Each day this week, we are to pick a person to whom we offer up our suffering so we might ease theirs. This discipline has led me to examine exactly what I think constitutes suffering. I’m an employed, happily married mother of two healthy, happy sons. We own a cozy, well-heated home in a safe community. We have full... Read more
Feast of Pope Saint Damasus I Guest post by Julie Cragon Last Christmas, I watched a young couple holding a newborn and playing with young children at a Christmas party. I knew the couple wanted children and was having a difficult time. They have seen doctors and talked to many people and even thought about adoption. I have stayed out of the conversation because they and their family have “thought of and tried everything.”But she has been pregnant once and... Read more
I loved the Mad Max film series. My favorite was the second film in the franchise, The Road Warrior. But by the time Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome came around, the story was pretty stale to me. But for some reason, the song sung by Tina Turner from that last film is stuck in my head. I think I need to share it with you. Maybe it’s because Thomas Merton died today, back in 1968. Maybe he is pointing out the... Read more
Feast of Pope Saint Gregory III Guest Post by Julie Cragon I was first introduced to the Christmas Novena to Saint Andrew in 1987. After a couple of years of trying to conceive, my husband and I found out we were pregnant early in the year. Along with my two sisters and a sister-in-law, I would have a new baby in November. Unfortunately, we lost our child in late April. By October and November, when the other new little ones... Read more
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