Saint Catherine of Siena
SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA Originally published by Blessed Is She 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 Japanese art of bowl-mending. Artisans reassemble broken ceramic bowls and costly gold is set into the […]
Reclaiming Sabbath Rest
RECLAIMING SABBATH REST Originally published by Blessed Is She “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 schedules toppled over juggling health challenges. Somewhere along the way, lines between ministry and family time […]
Saint Teresa of Calcutta: A Saint in the Darkness
SAINT TERESA OF CALCUTTA: A SAINT IN THE DARKNESS Originally published by Blessed Is She 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 the “Home for the Dying” but were disappointed to encounter a […]
Navigating Unmet Expectations In Motherhood
NAVIGATING UNMET EXPECTATIONS IN MOTHERHOOD Originally published by Blessed Is She 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 and composure. She explained that she was expected to work hard and give it […]
Saint Paul’s Missing Pieces
SAINT PAUL’S MISSING PIECES Originally published by Blessed Is She We visited our new neighbors recently. Among other things that adorned their living room, a large card table filled with tiny puzzle pieces occupying a dainty corner as children beamed with ecstatic eagerness. Apparently assembling complicated jigsaw puzzles was winter tradition. As candid conversations waltzed […]
Peter + Paul: Saintly Polar Opposites
PETER + PAUL: SAINTLY POLAR OPPOSITES Originally published by Blessed Is She A few years ago, a colleague at work asked, “Why does the Catholic Church spend so much money on expensive cathedrals when half of the world suffers in poverty?” I wasn’t surprised. As an atheist turned Catholic, I have been there and wonder […]
The Heart Of Modesty
THE HEART OF MODESTY Originally published by Blessed Is She My initial reaction to Matthew West’s latest single “Modest is Hottest” was amusement. Although I love his music, I didn’t quite understand why the lyrics needed to carry a legalistic grip to convey the message on modesty. Besides, the word “hot” is burdened with sexual […]
Friendship On The Feast Of The Visitation
FRIENDSHIP ON THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION Originally published by Blessed Is She We were on our usual weekend double date when Angie told us she was pregnant, her first. I was pregnant too, four months, my second. Our husbands beamed as we chatted about symptoms and cravings, hopes and dreams as preparations made their […]
Setting A Prisoner Free
SETTING A PRISONER FREE If you’ve experienced the bitter sting of unforgiveness at some point in your life, you are not alone. Betrayal, harsh words and failed promises leave painful cavernous aches and indelible footprints on our soul. Even at our best attempts to forgive, past emotions trigger, causing us to squirm all over again, […]
Something About Mary
SOMETHING ABOUT MARY There’s something about Mary! I’d be lying if I say I knew exactly what this meant, following my conversion in 2004. My journey to Catholicism has been long and wrecked with confusion. Among many things, Mary was a big deal. I struggled with Our Lady’s place in the life of the […]
