In the Office of Readings today we learn how Thérèse of Lisieux came to understand her vocation: She realized that she was too insignificant to be an apostle, prophet, teacher, or martyr. Instead, she realized, “My call is love.” This leads to a question: In the great body of the Church, what, Lord, am I? It’s a matter of “knowing one’s place,” isn’t it? As a recent convert, I realize sometimes that (a) my place is near the back of... Read more

Now and then I’ll publish guest posts from friends of this blog around the globe. This lovely piece was written by a long-lost schoolmate of mine who prefers to remain anonymous. I’ve already written about Thérèse of the Child Jesus (Thérèse of Lisieux) in recent days, so I’ll let my old chum observe her feast day here. Catholic tradition is something I happily left behind as a teenager in the 1960s. Back then, Sacred Heart of Jesus portraits, scapulars, the... Read more

The positive comments on this blog have been astonishing since I began posting just six weeks ago. Few comments have touched me more than one from “Mary” this afternoon. In Catholic-land, “Mary” is almost as anonymous as “Anonymous,” so I have no idea who Mary is. But she picked up on my post about Julian’s baptism and urged me on. You can find Mary’s comment beneath Julian’s story. It’s her P.S. that sparks this post: When days arrive, as they... Read more

At Adoration this afternoon, I thought for the first time in a long while of W. H. Auden’s poem “The Ballad of Barnaby.” Maybe that was because I often spend time at Adoration wondering just what I’m supposed to do down here anyway. Like “Barnaby,” our Adoration Chapel is set in “the crypt.” This poem has haunted my adult life, and I think I know why. For 25 years, I was a performer in a world-famous stage magic troupe based... Read more

I nearly busted a gut helping Father Barnes lug St. Michael the Archangel back and forth from the sacristy so that the great heavenly warrior could preside from the top step of the high altar at mass this morning. I always thought angels were light, airy beings, but this guy’s enormous—10 stone if he’s a pound. It got me thinking, on this Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, about just how real angels are for me. As I... Read more

Why am I Catholic? As my litany of posts attests, I am Catholic because of saints, my father and mother, my pastor, books, movies, other Catholics . . . But until I attended a baptism on Sunday, I never asked why in a different way. I never asked what I am Catholic for. Look at it this way: My blog has explained that I am a Catholic thanks to many blessed influences in my life—from Ammie to Cesareo, from Reverend... Read more

With the pope in the Czech Republic and with today’s memorial on the horizon, I got thinking yesterday about Good King Wenceslas, patron saint of the Czech people, wondering why he matters. I love the Christmas carol and only yesterday understood the logic: GKW went out / on the feast of Stephen. Of course, first martyr! Never thought of Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia as a martyr, or one who made a difference in my life. This led to a broader... Read more

I was in turmoil all day, thinking about comments on recent posts. Two were from hostile on-line “advisors,” a third from someone dear to me. All three led me to question whether I have lost my direction; instead of offering the “good news” of Catholicism, have I strayed into haughty, uncharitable criticism of those who don’t agree with the Church? Has the monster taken control from Dr. Frankenstein? Then I entered church for a 5:00 p.m. baptism, picked up the... Read more

I had dinner last night with a cradle Catholic who holds a long-standing grudge against the Church. Years ago, she said, she heard a priest lecture his flock on dressing properly for Mass. “But the altar servers were wearing sneakers and jeans under their cassocks!” she exclaimed. “What a hypocrite!” While it was hard to follow her logic, I gather that she no longer attends Mass and that this is one of her reasons. No doubt, every Catholic who has... Read more

Another lonely day carrying a torch for a TV melodrama that was canceled five years ago after two seasons and that the rest of the world seems to have forgotten. Sorry, “Joan of Arcadia” remains one of the reasons YIM Catholic. When we left Joan at the end of the pilot, she had heeded God’s voice and landed a job at a local bookstore, a move with consequences for her wheelchair-bound brother Kevin, who was inspired to shake off his... Read more