Category: Spotlight 1
When Quantity Trumps
The Mister and I just had a romantic dinner in the basement, served by two little girls. The main course was Fisher Price peas and pizza, real water from a sturdy, plastic teapot and Cheez-Its. We were entertained by music playing on daddy’s cell phone and the evening ended with a rousing rendition of The [...]
The Holy Spirit – The Principle of Unity throughout Scripture
by Sister Benedicta Marie, O.C.D. Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles The principle of unity throughout scripture is the Holy Spirit. The Pentecost Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus, describes this sanctifying – and therefore unifying – role of the Spirit of Father and Son: Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the [...]
Book Review: “Dear God, I Don’t Get It”
They say that the measure of a good children’s book—or a young reader’s chapter book, as the case may be—is that both children and adults find the story compelling, that it stirs within them a desire to be something more than what they already are. Patti Maguire Armstrong’s new book, Dear God, I Don’t Get [...]
Hope and Promise
When I first found it, I wasn’t even sure what it was. I was going through a trunk of personal items that had belonged to my dad when I ran across a little brown jewelry box. Dad passed away when I was just fifteen; I’d gathered an array of his possessions and kept them tucked [...]
The Nest Begins to Empty
As I was addressing my daughter’s high school graduation invitations last night, I began to reminisce about the journey my daughter has taken in life. I find it difficult to put into words how proud I am of her: knowing her struggles, knowing her convictions, knowing her faith, knowing her success despite it all. My [...]
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 [...]
The Church: Unlocking the Secrets to the Places Catholics Call Home
“If we help you to read a church, we do it with the hope that you’ll be better able to pray a church. If you want to understand a church, you need to read it as a prayer book and not as an architecture textbook.” –Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Mike Aquilina, authors of The Church: [...]
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 [...]
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