As we sit around our Thanksgiving table this year, for many of us it will be a smaller gathering than what we would have wanted. Many of us will have the opportunity, perhaps for the first time, to relate those who have had empty seats at their holiday table before, to those who have been […]

Memorial of Saint Josaphat Forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us… I think these might be the most challenging words in all of Scripture. We pray them every day, so much so that we often don’t hear them anymore. When someone trespasses against us, hurt and anger swell up like waves; something […]

Our son came home from college one day and shared that he was the only one of his friends whose parents were still married. His world was shifting from a Catholic home-school community, where long-time married parents were the norm, to the “real” world, where we were now the exception. This was ten years ago. […]

Today marks twenty-eight years from the day I gave birth to my firstborn, and the memory is as fresh as ever. I remember grabbing my bag to head on to the hospital, and the mix of thoughts and emotions that flooded my whole being. There was excitement, fear, relief, apprehension, but above all, there was […]

If someone were to write a play setting Herod in today’s world, we might find him scrolling down his Facebook feed, feeling perplexed after reading about all that was happening. I know many people who have decided to disconnect from social media because of the constant chaos that it seems to bring into their lives. […]

Do to others as you would have them do to you. Easier said than done. How quickly we forget our own failings when someone hurts us. It is easy to think, “I would never do that,” or “I would never treat someone like that.” We feel offended and think we are better, but we are […]

Memorial of Saint Monica For thy hands, O my God, in the secret purpose of thy providence, did not forsake my soul; and out of my mother’s heart’s blood, through her tears night and day poured out, was a sacrifice offered for me unto thee; and thou didst deal with me by wondrous ways. (Saint […]

The other day I noticed a charge on my bank statement that shouldn’t have been there and felt annoyed; I had already spent a long time on the phone with the bank the previous week, and now I had to call them again. They couldn’t find my account. I was angry. Not only was I […]

When I think of my first communion, I’m reminded of a time when my faith was simple, when the mystery of transubstantiation was accepted with a heart unencumbered by the desire to understand. I remember the devotion of your youth, how you loved me as a bride (Jeremiah 2:2). As we grow up, in our […]

The gift of self is the only proof of true love. (Saint Peter Julian Eymard) When a priest for whom singing is not a gift, sings during the Liturgy, my heart is deeply moved. It feels as though I am witnessing a very intimate moment between Jesus and his priest, a moment of pure love. […]