My husband are I are raising six lively children; two-thirds of which are boys. (Come March, one will be a man...but let's not think about that just yet. Oy vey.) And the boys are bookends of the bunch.
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Everyday Mercies
"The theme is Mercy," she said. "Our scripture is, 'He crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.' But what you want to talk about is up to you; just keep it to about 25 or 35 minutes."
"The 33": Of Men and Miracles
Last weekend my husband and I sneaked out for a rare evening to ourselves. I had been waiting for "The 33" to come to theaters; it was a familiar storyline to me - and to many - and I was anxious to see it dramatized.
Synod Diary: Denials, Affirmations, and Promises
Originally posted in The Catholic World Report
The circuli minori release their reports, and eyes turn toward the synod’s final document.
Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, Italy, talks with German Cardinal Walter Kasper after an event marking the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Oct. 17. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Vatican journalists were greeted this morning in the Vatican press office with an emphatic denial that Pope Francis has a benign brain tumor. The report, from the Italian national newspaper Quotidiano Nazionale, contained titillating details, such as a hushed helicopter ride from Vatican City to Tuscany where a Japanese surgeon is reported to have met with the Holy Father. A second denial was published on the Vatican website.
Synod Diary: The New Minority
Originally posted in The Catholic World Report
Timothy Cardinal Dolan summed up the Synod’s fuzzy focus on peripheral issues to the point of creating a New Minority—faithful Catholic families who also struggle against the riptide of secularism
Cardinals Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, vice president, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, leave the opening session of the Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 5. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Synod Diary: Three issues, The Letter, and reaction from Cardinal Dolan
Originally posted in The Catholic World Report
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For the Woman Who Wasn't There: To All the Moms who Watched Philly From Afar
When we welcomed Pope Francis into our country, I'm sure many of you moms, like me, dreamt of traveling to be with the crowds who were there to celebrate, listen, and pray with the pontiff. Of course, for most of us, it never got further than a fleeting, wishful thought.
Our Lady of Sorrows is the Cause of Our Joy
This week we’ll celebrate two important feasts: the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, on September 14, and the following day, September 15, we’ll remember Our Lady of Sorrows. Two days linked forever in meaning, inseparable, poignant.
September 15 also happens to be my birthday. And for a long time, as long as I was old enough to realize who I shared the day with, I felt a little – cheated. I mean, it’s a bit of a downer to liturgically “celebrate” all the bitterness in Mary’s life on a day for celebrating your own. Not that I ever thought it should be all about me, but as a child, it just didn’t seem quite fair. To enter the world as Mary grieved at the Cross.
A Pope Nails Parenthood: "The Kingdom of Irrationality"
“Nooooooo!” I couldn’t help but cry out as the three year old began to pour the container of salt – the giant Costco container of salt, moreover – all over the kitchen floor. He smiled gleefully despite my dismay, then scurried off as his older brother and sister chased each other through the kitchen, knocking the four-dollar cup of coffee off the counter to spread its sticky sweetness into the dunes of salt on the tile.
Memoirs of a Happy Failure: A Conversation with Alice von Hildebrand
Last fall I picked up a book in our parish bookstore – and couldn’t put it down. Alice von Hildebrand’s Memoirs of a Happy Failure captured me with it’s title. You see, it promised a glimpse into the life of a woman I had admired since encountering her work as a theology undergrad writing a thesis on spiritual maternity.
