Category: Living the Faith
Like Going Up the Down Escalator
I have a few crisp memories of my grandparents on my mother’s side. One of them is a replaying, over-a-decade-old mental video of Grandpa trying to walk up the down escalator, when he realized that Grandma, my sister, and I had—like girls do—changed our mind at the last minute and decided to stay on the [...]
Taking a Vacation WITHOUT Taking a Vacation from the Faith
There are times in my past when a vacation would apply to all areas of my life: leave from work, leave from routine, leave from Sunday Mass. Growing in my faith has taught me a vacation is the perfect opportunity to slow down and keep God at the center of my heart. As a Catholic [...]
Memories of a Misfit
My life has always been weird. As a little girl, I suffered through a series of unfortunate, extremely frizzy permanents, overseen by my older cousin Paulie who was going to beauty school. Yes, that’s me in the family photos with the glum expression and the fuzzy head. To make matters worse, I was overweight. Oh, [...]
Discernment — How can I learn God’s Will for me?
Does God have one right choice for me in each decision I make? When we pray for wisdom to discern God’s will when it comes to choosing a mate, a career, a job change, a move, a home, a school, a friend, a vacation, how to spend money, or any other choice, big or little, [...]
Be the Stranger
“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” (Blanche DeBois, A Streetcar Named Desire) I was quietly praying the Rosary and holding a “Pray to Stop Abortion” sign outside Planned Parenthood when a delivery truck pulled to the curb. The driver jumped out and headed toward me, holding a bottle of water and a [...]
Memoirs of a Nihilist, or What I Learned in College
I had to snicker. There was my college roommate, across the room from me, and she was on her knees by the bedside, saying her nightly prayers. I was over all that. I had attended Catholic schools for 12 years, and had been thoroughly immersed in every nuance of “The Baltimore Catechism.” One of the [...]
Along the Way… for Ordinary People
Lent is over . . . Easter is upon us . . . can Advent and Christmas be far away? These special liturgical seasons of the Church call us to increased holiness and awareness of God and ourselves. They are times for self-reflection, meditation and reconciliation followed by joyful celebration. But what about the other [...]
Making “Sense” of Suffering
A few weeks ago, I attended the funeral of a 2-year-old girl who died tragically in a drowning accident. The funeral was heart-wrenching, particularly when the priest – wiping away tears that he couldn’t manage to stop – said to the family, “I am not about to stand here and give you a reason why [...]
The War Between Doing and Being
Unquestionably, my life is full of continuous, often exasperating battles between doing and being. Culture tells us that we are valuable because of what we do. It speaks to our senses, every moment of every day, telling us we need to do more. Our worth is based on what we accomplish, how we achieve, the [...]
On the Question of Suffering
When my nephew Michael was getting ready for college he told me he was expected to write a paper in his first week entitled, “How do I know I exist?” After discussing the matter for some time he concluded that the best thing to do was to punch his professor in the nose. The resulting [...]
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