Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.
December 2013 "Christ is there whether we’re preoccupied or not." When I was little and attended Mass, I dreaded the homily every week—and the Eucharistic Prayer, and usually the readings. In fact, I think I dreaded all of Mass except the songs. Because at least during those, I knew what...
November 2013 "The lives of those we encounter offer a potent example for us to live by." Shortly after the birth of my second child, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome in the delivery room, my husband and I received a letter. It was written by a man from our...
October 2013 "We live in a messy world in which clear-cut answers are hard to come by." I don’t know about you, but I find the word discernment a little intimidating. It’s my responsibility as a Christian to do God’s will, but figuring out what that means in every situation...
September 2013 "Conversion doesn’t happen according to a schedule." Occasions like New Year’s, Ash Wednesday, and birthdays seem custom-made for adopting new life goals. It’s neat and tidy to say, “As of January 1, I will no longer lose my temper with my children.” “Beginning Ash Wednesday, I will stop...
July-August 2013 One ordinary afternoon, I pulled up to a stoplight—an ordinary mom driving an ordinary minivan with three small children chattering unintelligibly in the back. Beside our minivan stood a man in a camouflage jacket holding a cardboard sign that read, HOMELESS—HUNGRY—ANYTHING HELPS. At moments like these, the wisdom...
May-June 2013 "We never know when a choice that’s unimportant to us may be the catalyst for someone else’s really big choice." I sat down to write this column thirty-six hours after the horrific massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Months later, this tragic episode has taken its place among myriad...
April 2013 "Doing one thing every day may not change the world, but will change us." On Easter Sunday, anything seems possible. The triumph of life over death and heaven over hell seems to resound throughout a world poised on the cusp of spring. But it’s hard to hold on...
March 2013 In the absence of clarity, the only way to hold the course is to stay in touch with the One who sees the big picture. Prayer is the foundation of a lived faith. Sometimes I think past generations had an easier time following God. The Israelites had the...
December 2012 I often wonder what Jesus was like in person. The Gospels, compiled decades after his death and resurrection from oral traditions filtered through hundreds of retellings, only give us a sketchy (and often—let’s face it—pretty dry) picture. We can guess with what awe the people who witnessed his miracles...
Silly me, I thought I was going to have to cook right after my first child was born. I didn’t know about the Postpartum Food Network. You know, the parade of adorers bringing buckets of pasta and trays of brownies—meals dripping with caloric goodness accompanied by miniature outfits in baby...
From the day the priest poured water over our babies’ heads and anointed them with chrism, my husband and I knew it was our responsibility to train them in the practice of the faith. The rite of baptism told us so. But it didn’t seem like big a deal. What’s...
I don’t know about you, but I find my nightly TV-viewing options rather uninspiring. It seems basic cable offers little more than crude sitcoms, so-called reality TV, and gruesome crime dramas. If an alien race tapped into our video streams to find out what sort of people inhabit Earth, they’d turn...
May-June 2012 On Judgment Day, you will answer to FATHER GOD, not mother earth.” I saw this on a bumper sticker and was struck by the implication that we must choose between God and the environment. In our polarized political climate, encouraged by a sensationalist news ethos and a sound-bite culture,...
March 2012 Every year the story of the transfiguration comes around on the second Sunday of Lent. It’s a familiar tale: Jesus and the disciples climb to a high place, and Jesus goes walking in the clouds with Moses and Elijah, his face so bright the disciples can’t even look...
February 2012 Conversion in a perfect world would be as easy as grabbing one sublime moment of divine insight and riding it all the way to heaven. But we don’t live in a fairy tale. Life in God cannot be static. No matter how long or how hard we try,...
January 2012 I come from a long line of storytellers—an uncle who can turn a nugget of memory into a family legend, a dad who wants everyone to understand “the rest of the story,” and a father-in-law whose favorite saying is “let me teach you something.” It’s a trait that has...