Ways to Learn/Teach about Mary
After months of preparing for my talk at the NCEA convention, it’s all over! I will give it a longer life by sharing part of it with you. May, the month dedicated to Mary, is right around the corner. You may wish to adopt any of the following ideas for yourself, your family, or your […]
Mary on My Mind
These days I am preparing for three events about Mary: a day of recollection, a two-day retreat, and a presentation Why and How to Teach about Mary: Fifty Nifty Ideas (At Least) at the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) convention in Dallas. That talk draws on activities in my latest book, Leading Young People to […]
Mary, a Sorrowful Mother
On September 15, we celebrated the feast of Mary, the Sorrowful Mother. We tend to associate this title with Mary’s appearance at the foot of the cross where her son was executed. There are many other reasons for calling her “sorrowful.” In fact, there is a devotion named Seven Sorrows of Mary. We might expect […]
When in Need Our Mother Mary Can Help
Today I have a special need that is high on my worry list. To my surprise, this morning the page in my book Heart to Heart with Mary spoke to me. (Yes, I’m using my own devotional every day! And I don’t even remember writing the reflections.) In case you are faced with a problem […]
Blessed Virgin Mary: A Mother in Time of Need
This month someone asked me, “Why do you Catholics pray to Mary?” I explained why we regard Mary as a mother and why the National Geographic once called her “the most powerful woman on earth.” At the Annunciation, when Mary conceived Jesus, she also conceived us in a sense. Jesus became our brother and his […]
Mary Calls Us to Lent
These days I am busy preparing to give a three-day parish mission on our Blessed Mother entitled “Mary Calls Us to Lent.” My aim is twofold: 1) to convince the parishioners to pray to Mary as their God-given loving mother and powerful intercessor and 2) to inspire them to imitate her as the first and […]
A Polish Saint, Maximilian Kolbe
I’m working on a project for an amateur radio operator who discovered that his hobby had a patron saint. In the process, I realized that this saint would also make a good patron saint for me: St. Maximilian Kolbe. For one thing he is Polish, and so was my mother. Second, he had a profound […]
Mary, Our Blessed Mother, Unties Knots
Coming across a knot when you are doing needlework is aggravating. The Mother of Jesus must have experienced knots, maybe as she sewed the swaddling clothes or the seamless garment that the soldiers gambled for at the cross. An unusual devotion is to Mary as the Untier of Knots—not the knots in thread or yarn […]
