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...
Divine Mercy and the "Spark" of the Sacred Heart
It has been just over six years since I made a pilgrimage to Krakow, Poland to visit the Shrine of the Divine Mercy. I was able to pray in the...
The Life After: A Poem for Holy Saturday
I speak now of the Life After, which I can imagine, and not the AfterLife, which I cannot, although He spoke of it many times. I look up at Him...
Fasting and the Gift of Good Friday
For many of us, Good Friday is a day to get through. No meat, plus fasting, plus something about two small meals and one larger meal, usually equals low energy,...
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...
Ideas for Displaying Palm Sunday Palms Around Your Home
Sisters, please tell me I am not the only one who has, admittedly more than once in my life, lost a palm from Palm Sunday. Some time in between folding...
Making Holy Week New
Tomorrow, we enter into the holiest week of the Church’s year. If you experienced God’s love and mercy in a new and powerful way this Lent, Holy Week may be...
Giving Our Lives to Jesus: Lessons from St. Joseph
A poor but noble man was once betrothed to a beautiful, virtuous young woman. Before the wedding, his fiancé became pregnant. But she was—and would remain—a virgin the entirety of...
Renewal and Encouragement for Lent
Like a new year, Ash Wednesday can come with excitement, plans, and goals. We are determined that this Lent will be the best Lent ever! Perhaps you had at the...
How to Go to Confession (and a Printable Examination of Conscience for Women)
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a great gift to Catholics. But sometimes we don't avail ourselves of this grace as much as we should. Sometimes fear or uncertainty keep us...
3 Ways to Have a Fruitful Lent
As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus’ thirst…He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you. -Saint Teresa of...
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...
