Devotions
Whys and Hows of Living Out Our Faith
My earliest memories of faith playing a role in my life harken back to being tucked into bed as a toddler, hearing my dad sing me another verse of "Jesus...
An Impossible Standard?
The world feels so loud lately. If we can’t prove someone else wrong through superior reasoning, can we do it through superior volume or more exclamation points? Even Christians are...
You Matter Here
I felt it tear. As my feet met the hardwood floor, the pain reverberated throughout my body like a tidal wave. But the crowd! The crowd was watching. They were...
Healing in the Eucharist
In today’s Gospel, we hear the words we repeat at every Mass just before receiving Communion. “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only...
The Lord is My Help!
Recently, someone I know surprisingly and suddenly offloaded her anger onto me with a whole host of hurtful and unwarranted attacks. Out of nowhere, and for no understandable reason, I...
The Comfort of a Mother
I have never seen a person die. The closest I have come was seeing my Grandpa Breen in hospice care the night before he died. He was semi-unconscious as I...
The Cross Doesn't End with Death, but Leads to New Life
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. With these words, we trace the shape of the cross over our bodies. The Father...
Ask and Then Listen Closely
In today's psalm, we pray that God will guide us, and in the Gospel, Jesus pretty much does exactly that: He lays out the law of Love for how we...
Saint Paul TRIED to Warn You, But You Got Married Anyway
Oh, Saint Paul, you crack me up. Always truthful, never one to mince words. I like to imagine him patting a distraught young wife on the hand as she tearfully...
A Little Sin Grows like Yeast in Dough
We have a tradition in our house that Friday night is pizza night. My toddler and I make the crust from scratch each Friday afternoon after he wakes from his...
Be Strong and Fear Not!
“Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!” (Isaiah 35:4) The moment I read those words, tears began to fall. I needed to...
What Do You Give the Woman with Nothing?
I may have let out a little squeal of delight when I saw the date I'd been assigned—the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I haven't always...
