The Blessed Virgin is like a good mother who, not content with looking after all her children in general, watches over each one separately. —St. John Vianney I have written about Mary, Jesus’ mother, a lot. If you type “Mary” into the search engine on the right sidebar, you will find an array of blog posts about her. If you click on “31 Days” at the top of my website, you will find a 31-day series I wrote on her….
“We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor his Mother, and we honor her simply and solely to honor him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek—Jesus, her Son.” (St. Louis de Montfort) The seeds of my devotion to the Blessed Mother were planted years and years ago. I can look back on my 40+ years of life and see significant moments when those seeds were…
Growing up, I heard all sorts of things about women and the church. Much of it was not positive. And I honestly did not understand why. As a cradle Catholic, I always felt well loved and well respected within the Catholic Church. Even before I learned the Church’s exact teaching on the dignity of women, I intuitively knew that God loved me. And as a little girl, I knew that if God loved me, than I was important. There was…
I love being Catholic, and the Holy Mass is one of the main reasons why. It is the most miraculous events of the week. To meditate on what is actually happening at every Mass could leave my head spinning for days. Think about it: God Himself enters our space and time. He comes to dwell among us—and within us. He becomes just as present to us on the altar in the form of bread and wine as He was in…
Less than one month after I was born, my parents brought me to our local parish and asked the Catholic Church for a gift on my behalf. They asked that I receive the sacramental grace of Baptism, to become a daughter of God and a member of the Catholic family. Growing up, I loved Jesus. I was one of those kids who enjoyed Mass and Sunday school. Church was a familiar, comfortable place. Looking back, I didn’t attend a particularly…
Last Sunday’s Gospel about the Woman at the Well (John 4:5-42) is very common during the season of Lent, and over the years, it has become one of my favorites. Several years ago, I attended a women’s retreat, and an image of the Woman at the Well was the focal point. A small holy card was taped onto our retreat journals. Large posters with the image on it surrounded our meeting room. And every time I gazed upon it, I saw myself….
The swirl of thoughts left me weary. What should my focus be? What should my days look like? What is my purpose? The lack of answers, or my fear of failure, left me paralyzed. My present brokenness was all I seemed to know, and despite the pain, it was surprisingly comfortable. And yet, the small flicker of hope deep within my heart convinced me there is a better way. “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall…