In January this year I sat in my kitchen early one morning, bleary-eyed after a fractured night’s sleep. (And I’m using the term “sleep” quite loosely.)  The former night’s guilty parties, ages 2 and 5, lounged – in varied stages of consciousness themselves – on the couch, while I clutched a mug of coffee and scrolled through the day’s news stories.  Suddenly I was wide awake, as I came upon the headlines of several Catholic sites: “Pope says Motherhood is Martyrdom.”  Whoa.

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I had the privilege of spending the weekend of February 11 in Appleton, Wisconsin at the The Dignity and Vocation of Women conference held at St. Pius X Church. It was an awesome event! Organized by Jody Lueck, over 100 women gathered together for this inaugural event. The Feminine Genius Women’s Conference is sure to have a long and lasting history if this first gathering is the standard of things to come. For me personally it was yet another reminder of the great work God is about in the hearts and minds of His daughters. He is indeed pouring out graces for restoration, renewal, and revitalization. This was not lost on the women who attended. An attitude of receptivity marked their demeanor as well as that of the women who presented and the special guests who were invited.  I was delighted to see Mercedes Wilson (Families of the Americas) whose work I so greatly admire and whom I hadn’t seen in several years. And I was so pleased to meet Jeannie Hanneman (Elizabeth Ministry International), Judith Leonard (Diocese of Wichita), Vicki Thorn (Project Rachel), Margaret Hartshorn (Hearbeat, International), and Rosemary Sullivan (Exec. Dir. National Conference of  Diocesan Vocation Directors). What powerful women in the Lord! Following is an article written in The Compass News, the diocesan newspaper of Green Bay:

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The countdown to the New Year is fast approaching.  Will you be making resolutions?  For most of us, the answer is yes.   If you are a regular reader of this blog then you know that last year, I wrote a blog using the acronym R-E-S-O-L-V-E-D to help us focus our resolutions on the things that really matter.  The "L" in the acronym stood for "Listening" in which I encouraged the cultivation of a listening spirit so that we could hear the voice of God in our everyday circumstances.  In addition to prayer of the Holy Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, and Lectio Divina, one of my favorite ways to practice "listening" is spiritual reading.  I've compiled the list below which features some of my all time favorite books for spiritual reflection, prayer, meditation and direction.  I hope that you will incorporate one or several of them into your Catholic library because I know that you too will see much fruit in your relationship with God as a result.  They are in no particular order.  

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