January 1 is not far off…a good time to purchase my yearly devotional “Heart to Heart with Mary.”
I‘m a city girl. My only experience with lambs was at a retreat house in West Virginia. There baby lambs and goats were running wild and jumping straight up into the air. I didn’t know they did that. (See the video at the end of this post by clicking on the link.) Most Nativity sets […]
Fr. Cedric Pisegna, a Passionist priest, posted the following prayer on Facebook recently. In the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and perhaps as you live through the illness or death of loved ones, you might find the words helpful. “Dear Lord, sometimes I feel like I am imprisoned by my fears. I fear […]
The photo of the sunrise here was one I took from the balcony of my new apartment. The following reflection that came with the Daily Gospel email for Thanksgiving reminded me of it. (I subscribed to dailygospel.org.) May the Saint’s words touch your heart somehow. Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938) Spanish Trappist monk Spiritual writings, […]
Our Blessed Mother is an ideal companion as we live through the days of Advent, which this year begins Sunday, December 2. For four weeks we wait for her Son, but Mary waited for nine months! Imagine what that time must have been like for her. She had never been a mother before, and hers […]
At dinner the other night an elderly friend I’ll call Lucy told us a touching story. A few years ago on her 65th wedding anniversary, she was sorely missing her deceased husband. She lived alone, and there was no one to share her sadness and console her. She figured that her children would not remember […]
Many people worldwide are gripped by fear. Maybe you fear something right now: a doctor visit, an impending hurricane, a performance or talk you must give, or the loss of a loved one. This strong emotion can be an asset when it protects us from danger. “Don’t go near the fire,” moms say. “You might […]
In Stephen Hawking’s last book, which will be published posthumously, he answers questions that he was asked most frequently. Among these is “Do you think God exists?” Hawking’s answer was essentially no, it is impossible that there is a god. This opinion of a renowned scientist contradicts what people of different cultures have believed down […]
In the excitement of creating elaborate Halloween displays, designing costumes, carving pumpkins, and buying enough candy to last the night, the original meaning of Halloween might be forgotten or overlooked—except at schools where children dress up as saints! Halloween is the eve before the feast of All Saints. Hallowed means holy, as in the Our […]
The following prayer is entitled “17th Century Nun’s Prayer” and its source is unknown. Although it seems intended for nuns, the sound advice it gives in the form of a prayer is applicable to anyone on the face of the earth. See what gems you can cull from it for your own life: Lord, Thou […]
The Sisters of Notre Dame of Chardon, Ohio, belong to an international congregation of more than two thousand apostolic women religious. We are one in mind and one in heart for the transformation of the world in Christ. 