Saint Catherine of Siena
Unaware of what I was going through, a friend sent me a picture of a kintsugi bowl with the message, “When I see you, I see gold.” Kintsugi is the...
Reclaiming Sabbath Rest
“rest” This word reverberated in my stomach and tied it in knots. I had come to the end of another week, exhausted, once again. Ministry work, household chores and school...
Saint Teresa of Calcutta // A Saint in the Darkness
In Something Beautiful for God, the British Journalist Malcolm Muggeridge wrote about an exhilarating experience while filming a documentary on Mother Teresa in 1967. The film crew had arrived at...
Saint Maximilian Kolbe // A Prophet of Hope
Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, in one of his essays, relays his experience in Auschwitz. A Jew was being executed while the rest of the camp watched aghast....
Saint Joseph the Worker + the Meaningful Mundane
Tolkien’s short but poignant work "Leaf by Niggle" offers fascinating insights into the intersection of our personal and professional lives. Niggle’s vocation involves painting leaves. But he battles against his...
Navigating Unmet Expectations in Motherhood
A few months ago, I overheard my daughter Kristen talking over the phone with her friend. She beamed as she relayed how I had accepted her not-so-good grades with calm...
When You're Dreading Valentine's Day...
If you want to know how Valentine's Day can make single women feel, watch 30 Rock. In the 13th episode of the hit American television series, the unattached Liz Lemon...
They That Hope: The 2022 Prayer Pledge // Day 29
It’s springtime in the Middle East and my 10-year-old recently planted seeds in our garden. He frequents the sun soaked ground for signs of life, but they are nowhere to be seen. We anticipate a bountiful harvest, but for now, the seeds are buried and there is "death."
They That Hope: The 2022 Prayer Pledge // Day 28
I couldn’t stop fidgeting from joint aches as I desperately searched for padded pews at Mass that day. My body needed Him. My body needed His Body.
They That Hope: The 2022 Prayer Pledge // Day 27
What if he can’t fight this...? I wondered.
My closest friend’s six-week-old baby boy was diagnosed with a rare terminal illness and dreams for their long awaited first child were tragically shattered. Our community rallied around them as this tender infant battled surgery, chemotherapy, and blood transfusions, including one week on the ventilator.
But of all things that could have occupied her heart that evening, she was thinking of me.
They That Hope: The 2022 Prayer Pledge // Day 26
"Hoping against hope, Abraham believed, and thus became the father of many nations." // Catechism of the Catholic Church 1819
No statement better summarizes Abraham, the "archetype of hope" unto whom God promised to make a great nation (see Genesis 12:1-4). But ninety-nine years passed and Abraham still had no heirs (see Genesis 17:1-2), yet he continued to "hope against hope" (Romans 4:18).
They That Hope: The 2022 Prayer Pledge // Day 25
It was a busy day at work when the phone rang. The tone of my husband instantly spelled dreadful news. “I’ve been arrested,†he said.
