Breaking the Binge
I recently got a Netflix account. I know, it’s been around a while. But I have been trying to avoid it, as I have heard so many people talk about...
How to Set Spiritual Resolutions for the New Year
For many years, “grow in my relationship with God” was the first resolution I set after ringing in a new year. Want to hear a little confession? I don’t make...
Are We Really Special?
We toured colleges with our son last spring. In every tour, in every talk, we heard a similar spiel: “We want to get to know you—get a sense of who...
How Counseling Has Transformed My (Spiritual) Life
I slipped into a quiet and empty chapel near my apartment at my absolute wits end. I’ve written about my struggles with severe PMS, endometriosis, and NFP before. But at...
St. Perpetua: An Early Model for Modern Women
The first time I heard her story, I had to lift my jaw from the floor. I had asked for an example of a holy woman of God who was...
Love of Poverty and Love of the Poor
It is not filth and hunger that make saints, nor even poverty itself, but love of poverty and love of the poor. -Thomas Merton It is really possible to...
The Practice of Counting Daily Gratefuls
I was driving home from Mass one Sunday this summer. A friend suddenly was unable to attend our plans for a concert at a local church. She had double booked...
Charity is Theology
During a conversation with a soon-to-be ordained priest, he told me that he looks forward to writing homilies now that he will no longer be giving reflections in class but...
Spiritual Amnesia: The Problem of Forgetting What God Has Done
“I feel so far from Jesus.” Sigh. “If only He would make Himself known to me,” I lamented to my husband as I collapsed in a heap onto our bed....
Longing for Heaven + Living on Earth
I want everything to be perfect. I've always been a perfectionist. Some people see this as a bad thing, and in some ways it can be. Sometimes I obsess over...
How to Start a Rosary Group at Your Child’s School
We’re moms, all of us. That’s what we have in common, along with our Catholic Faith. Every Monday, we drop our big kids at school and meet in the choir...
When You Doubt God's Abundance
Grasping. Clinging. Containing. Owning. Hiding. Hoarding. Defending. These can be our immediate tendencies when something good is within reach. We find ourselves grasping for things and trying to possess them....
