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This whole winter it feels as if I have been stalled. In our small town, there is a seemingly never series of water main breaks, which means we can't use our tap water. A pipe burst under the river, which meant the air was filled with the smell of gas. There have been blackout after blackout in many neighborhoods because of our ailing electrical system. And despite all the efforts of so many, our public schools appear to be breaking and our elected officials indifferent. One of our sons is struggling in school. And the older child is still waiting to hear back from the many colleges to which he has applied. No word from any of them yet. Oh and then there is the snow, inch after inch of snow, day after day, delaying the start of so many school days. It feels as if my family will never unfreeze, never move forward from our permafrosted positions. Keep Reading...

I wrote this post last year.  I didn't do so well during Lent.  This year I hope to do much better! What happened?  I don't know.  Bad habits die hard and they die even harder when fighting the forces of evil.  My tights and cape have lost their super powers and all those bracelets I own that begin with  "T"  and  "P"  don't work like Wonder Woman's bracelets!  I've become a mere mortal Catholic.  Who knew? To read last year's post about my failing miserably at Lent, click here .

We all know that I am married to an atheist. Who gasped? Really, it's something that we work on in our marriage like anything else. Granted it was hard and there was arguing in the beginning. I even  ruined some tongs over it . A lot of it is a delicate balance of respect and a whole lot of  Holy Spirit intervention and trust! What does this have to to with Ash Wednesday ? It's a perfect example of that balance I wrote of earlier. We always try to compromise on the little stuff so it's easier to when the big stuff comes. Usually, when he compromises, I can tell, because he says funny things like "I accept you, and I love you", with a grin, especially when I come downstairs in the morning looking particularly groggy, or scratch my very dry legs while watching a basketball game, and even...burp! That last one doesn't happen often anymore. See, (tangent coming) I thought when you didn't let the burp out, no one could hear it. My husband finally fill

Catholic tradition holds us to three Lenten observances: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.     For most people though, it’s all about the fasting and the sacrifice. “What will I be giving up this lent.”   A new trend  that is gaining popularity is to give up Social Media, such as Facebook, for Lent.   This can seem like a worthwhile sacrifice, if we were to approach social media as if it were just technology and devices.     But the truth is social media is relationships.   I would no more give up my relationships for six weeks than I would give up church.     I do recognize that the problem for some is that they have gone to the extreme and thus neglect their face-to-face relationships.   For those folks it would be time to implement a Lenten Fast or a scaling back.   Just like our rules of fasting for Ash Wednesday or Good Friday We cut back to one main meal and the rest light meals.    Perhaps the same principal could apply. . To find out more click here         

How is your Lent going? Did you accidentally eat meat today? Did you give in and eat chocolate, drink coffee, or indulge in whatever else you promised to give up? Have you missed your prayer time, slept through daily Mass, or skipped your spiritual reading? Don't despair. This could still be your best Lent yet. Continue reading.

I'm going to go ahead and review Mary DeTourris Poust's latest book, Cravings: A Catholic Wrestles with Food, Self-Image and God, without having finished it. This is a wonderful book. This a book on the relationship of spirituality to food and the first, its publishers say, written from a Catholic perspective. Keep Reading...

I gave up processed food for Lent. If I want to eat bread before Easter, I have to bake it. Except, of course, on Sundays, which being Sundays, do not count as part of Lent. After 11 a.m. Mass with my son we headed next door to the Barnes and Noble because he said he needed a new sweatshirt. As I was walking over I thought: Oh! It's Sunday! I can have something sweet with my iced soy latte. The Rutgers B&N has a Starbucks inside. In line at the cafe, I spied blueberry scones. And ordered one. And sat down to sip my latte and eat my Sunday scone. It looked nothing like the scone depicted on the corporate website. Keep Reading...

My friend Melissa drove me to Staten Island tonight so we could attend an inspiring talk about St. Rita of Cascia at a parish called Saint Rita Church.  Call it food for our Lenten journeys. The speaker was Father Michael Di Gregorio, O.S.A., who grew up in the parish and graduated from its grammar school. He is an Augustinian priest who now serves as vicar general of the Augustinian order in Rome. He also is the author of a biography of Saint Rita called The Precious Pearl: The Story of Saint Rita of Cascia.  "We think of a saint as someone who is out of this world." he told the audience of about 70 in the church sanctuary. "But a saint is someone who is attuned to the Voice that speaks within and who tries to respond openly and honestly. " Saint Rita, he said. "had her feet on the ground." Keep Reading...

Over the years I have collected links to Lenten readings and activities for young and old over on my blog.  I'll be adding to it this year as I find more goodies around the web!  Here is an excerpt with a link to the links at the end! The penitential season of Lent is the period of forty week-days beginning on Ash Wednesday. It is a season of the Church year that commemorates the forty days Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness before He began His public ministry of preaching for repentance. Six Sundays are within the season; the last, Passion Sunday, marks the beginning of Holy Week. Holy Thursday begins the Triduum (three days) before Easter day, which includes Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The Church has devoted a period of time to prayer and fasting as a preparation for the liturgical commemoration of the Passion of Christ and the celebrations of the feast of the Resurrection, Easter Day, since very early times. In 604 Pope Gregory I defined Lent as "The spir

D id you choose a specific virtue to cultivate for a New Years' resolution? Try making a concrete step in that direction a focus for Lent, which starts tomorrow. In January, I wrote how I was working on trust this year. I've been practicing trusting God when I sin , following the example of St. Therese. It's becoming routine. I can't tell you how much freer I feel. When I have a bad day of yelling at my kids or otherwise being selfish, I no longer beat myself (figuratively speaking) over it.  I trust God to take care of it, and even to bless me (not because of my sin, but because of my trust).  My faith is stronger as well. Continue reading.

Lent is approaching. Many of us, including yours truly, have food-related Lenten penances, good habits we want to develop and continue after this season of preparation. So one day after Ash Wednesday this year comes the Feast of Saint Valentine but better known as a secular day designed for indulgence in everything sugary. Keep Reading...

Oftentimes the seasons of Lent and Advent are filled with our good intentions about what we will do, what we will read, and the changes we will make in our daily lives. The weeks stretch out ahead of us and we begin with great plans and an eagerness to experience the holy season in a new way. Then reality sets in and our original plans for a “different” experience evaporate. I can’t tell you how many Lenten books sit on my shelf partially read and how many Advent wreaths are in the closet, half finished. That all changed last year when I purchased  The Sacred Heart for Lent by Fr. Thomas Williams  and  33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael Gaitley.   I read  The Sacred Heart for Lent  on my own and cajoled my husband into the Marian Consecration by Gaitley. It was all such a blessing that this Lent I wanted to share those resources with others. Last Lent it quickly became obvious to me that a priest brings something very unique to a book: a priest brings to his work

Tonight I had the beautiful experience of visiting St. Rita's Parish on Staten Island with two girlfriends to attend a Lenten talk on St. Pio of Pietrelcina, ( Padre Pio).  The evening was a remarkable reminder of the reasonableness and the universality of our faith. read more here...

Prayer Card from Catholic Icing Today, more than ever before, children need comfort and security in their lives, nothing -- no thing -- is more important than to have our youngsters engage in prayer. All children, even the youngest child, can learn God is always there for them–at any time–from the moment they wake up in the morning, throughout the day as they play, as they share meals, right up until they are tucked in bed to fall asleep at night. Lent is a special time to offer praise and thanks. Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life, rooted in our baptism. In our busy world, Lent provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our patterns, and to pray more deeply. Lent is also a good time to join with others in prayer. On Sunday, we come together in our parish. We praise and thank God together. We especially give thanks to Jesus.  Activities: Pretzel for God: Lent and the Pretzel The

I have never given a Marian focus to Lent before, but this seems to be the year for it. The picture that keeps coming to mind for me is of a young Mary packing up her infant child, all the earthly goods of her small family, and following where her husband leads her in the hope of escaping the wrath of Herod. What a lot of trust was required of her in unknown circumstances. We don’t know much of her life after that, until she appears in some of the gospel stories, most notably the wedding at Cana when she quite memorably advizes: Do as He tells you. The most striking image of all is that of Our Lady, standing at the foot of the Cross of her son, her Saviour. Everyone else has left Him, but her love of Him keeps her there. I am going to ponder those three points over the next six weeks: trust, obedience, love. Blessed Mother,grant me some measure of the faith you exhibited, so that I, too, may trust in God, be obedient to His Holy Will, and know His great Love for all. Help me to enter

On this sunny, blustery February day, we have just returned, our little family of four, from a standing-room-only Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, where the celebrant was the newly minted Timothy Cardinal Dolan. Given the politics of these days, I expected he might preach about the intrusions that politicians are making into Catholics' lives of faith. But he didn't, at least not overtly. Instead, the joyful man in the red hat preached the Gospel, reminding us that, just as Jesus learned during his 40 days in the desert, during Lent we need to realize that our lives must be lived with God's will, not our will, for God's kingdom, not our kingdom, for God's values and not the passing values of the world we live in. (Thanks to my CL friend Dan Finaldi for sharing the photo he took after Mass)    Read more here...

Think about spring. Remember how plants push their way up through the earth. Trees sprout leaves and buds. Birds sing their best songs. In spring we plant new seeds. We cut away dead twigs and stems. We prepare for a new life. Jesus talked about death and new life. He held up a seed and said, “I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” John 12:24 During lent we clear a place to plant seeds of faith and love. We work and pray. We grow in faith and love. Stations of the Cross for Children and Families Jelly Bean Prayer Activity  Source: Faith First, Catechist Guide

The Temptation of Christ,   Tintoretto, painted 1579-81 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Mark 1:12-15   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him. After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. 'The time has come' he said 'and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.' An Soiscéal   Marcas 1:12-15 (Gaeilge, Irish) Chuir an Spiorad Íosa amach faoin bhfásach é agus bhí sé daichead lá san fhásach á phromhadh ag Sátan. Agus bhí sé in éineacht leis na beithígh allta; agus bhí na haingil ag freastal air. Tar éis Eoin a bheith tugtha ar láimh, tháinig Íosa go dtí an Ghailíl ag fógairt soiscéal Dé agus ag rá: “Tá an t