Mother + Child
Mother, Your voice learning to soothe Your new child Was the first home-sound We hear before we could see. Your young eyes Gazing on us Was the first mirror Where...
The Annunciation: One "Yes" at a Time
The Annunciation is a marvel to me. As it should be, I suppose. You see, unlike so many women who hoot and holler with joy at the news of a...
Lodgepoles: On Holy Thursday
In another lifetime, I spent a summer working in Yellowstone National Park. I lived with a park ranger, wore a wide-brimmed hat, a khaki button-up shirt with green forest service-issued...
Held Captive: St. Josephine Bakhita + Human Trafficking
In my former job, I accompanied groups of young adults to the U.S./Mexico border each year. The point of the trip was to serve as a pilgrimage to learn what...
Growing + Changing
Another morning and I wake with thirst for the goodness I do not have. I walk out to the pond and all the way God has given us such beautiful...
Unlikely Blessings: Looking for the Holy Family Today
The first Christmas I remember receiving Christmas cards addressed to me personally was the year I moved to Denver. Delighted by this very adult practice of sending and receiving Christmas...
Born + Transformed
She was five, sure of the facts, and recited them with slow solemnity convinced every word was revelation. She said they were so poor they had only peanut butter and...
Worth Celebrating: St. Elizabeth of Hungary
I've met my own modern-day St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Mary Jo Copeland is the founder of Sharing and Caring Hands, based in the Twin Cities. Mary Jo began serving the...
Enjoyment + Poverty
Just these two words He spoke changed my life, “Enjoy Me.” What a burden I thought I was to carry – a crucifix, as did He. Love once said to...
How "This is Us" is Making Me More Attentive to the Domestic Church
As a Catholic woman in modern society, I'm always on the lookout for art forms that demonstrate the realities of our fallen world and the redemption that can be experienced...
My Greatest Education: A Year in Service
The bus doors opened. An impatient, tired, overnight bus driver sat behind the wheel and looked me over as I stood on the corner like a kid on the first...
Tender October
There is something about the long, slow pace of a fall unfolding with unhurried grandeur that softens my defenses against the coming of colder days. Hot afternoons, crisp nights, crickets...
