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For a long time I would wake up in the middle of the night with situations or conversations from a decade or more ago, replaying in my mind.  The anger and hurt would bubble up and my soul would mourn that time of darkness all over again.  I found it so hard to move past the slights, bullying, and unchristian behavior of others.  However, by reliving it over and over again, and renewing my anger over it, I wasn't being Christian either.  Forgiving ALL transgressions is the key.  We all sin, and sin is dark and ugly no matter how big or small.  We must forgive them all, because through Christ we are released from all of our debts of sin, we simply need to prayerfully ask forgiveness in Confession. In this Year of Mercy, let us see Christ in all we encounter and pray often, "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do!" Read more on  Veils and Vocations.

Pope Francis described the Jubilee Year of Mercy back in April 2015 in his official document,  Misericordiae Vultus . The final paragraph of that document knocks my socks off. Here's my favorite part: “In this Jubilee Year, let us allow God to surprise us. He never tires of casting open the doors of his heart and of repeating that he loves us and wants to share his love with us.” — Misericordiae Vultus, ¶25 Let us allow God to surprise us! Amen! I'm excited to journey intentionally through this Year of Mercy. On this December 8th morning, though, as we begin the jubilee, I am thinking less about what   I  plan on doing and more on what God can do. Truly, I am overwhelmed at what the Lord wants to offer us. “From the heart of the Trinity, from the depths of the mystery of God, the great river of mercy wells up and overflows unceasingly. It is a spring that will never run dry, no matter how many people draw from it. Every time someone is in need, he or she

Thus says the Lord GOD: But a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest! On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. auntjojo Surely..., Flickr Creative Common Click here to continue.

NIELSON CARLIN November 23rd was the anniversary of the death of Fr. Miguel Pro, SJ. He died a martyr for Christ during the persecution of Catholics following the Mexican Revolution which erupted in 1910. Dear Michael, We shared your story at dinner last night. It was the 88th anniversary of your execution, and my husband and I wanted to honor your memory, passing on your story to our children. Some people may think it’s strange for me to write you a letter, I know. Obviously, I will never find a mailbox capable of getting this letter to you, but I know we’re connected. As Jesus reminds us in Mark 22:32, the Lord proclaims he is “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Even when we die, we live in God who has no beginning and no end. Disciples of Christ needn’t bother about space and time. You’ll get this. I wanted to write to you because I am so grateful for your life—and your death. While you were still a young man you chose to become a Jesuit, a pri

(From BBC News, used w/o permission.) (" The names of victims have started to emerge. Top left to right: Nohemi Gonzalez, Marie Mosser, Djamila Houd. Middle left to right: Juan Alberto Gonzalez, Guillaume Decherf, Nick Alexander. Bottom left to right: Mathieu Hoche, Thomas Ayed, Valentin Ribet " (BBC News)).... ...Another article tells about efforts to find folks who are still missing: either dead, or hospitalized and not able to say who they are. I'll get back to that.... ...A few names from that BBC News article — "Dado," the nickname of a man killed at the Bataclan. Hugo Sarrade, Cedric Mauduit, Mathieu Hoche, Quentin Boulanger, Guillaume B Decherf, Marie Lausch, Mathias Dymarski, and Lola Salines, had been at the Bataclan, too. No pressure, and this is just a suggestion: but praying for everyone involved couldn't hurt.... More, at A Catholic Citizen in America .

We're celebrating  100   Praying with Grace  posts! I began this blog for the  Apostleship of Prayer  in October 2013. Through it, I have encountered many gracious, thoughtful, and prayerful people. I take a month off from the blog each summer, but otherwise here we have been together, every Tuesday morning, for two years. I am grateful. Thank you for praying with me. ©2015  Mark Frohna Photography Please join me at Praying with Grace for today's unique prayer experience.

I was reminded recently that prayers are very often answered in the most unexpected ways.

©Studio-Annika/Getty Images Prayer works. But how? When? To what extent?  These are the questions parents and teachers ask me at every talk I give for the Apostleship of Prayer. And so I tell a story. Join me at Praying with Grace , please!

On Sunday, October 4, the Synod on the Family convened in Rome. As we pray, with trust in the Lord, for real help for the family from the Fathers of our Church, we should do something else as well. The strengthening of the Catholic family must come not just from new directives from Rome, but also from families themselves. You and I, together with our families, can help change the outlook of the Catholic family for centuries to come. Today I issue a call that is the call of Pope John Paul II, “Family, become what you are!” ( Familiaris consortio no. 17). I issue a call for contemplative families. God has been putting this on my heart more and more. I hear from mothers who want to teach their children to pray, but don’t know how. From women whose husbands have abandoned the family and who are trying to raise godly children on their own. From grandparents who grieve that their grandchildren are not being raised in the faith. I do not need to tell you the challenges tha

A few months back, I wrote a post entitled  True Belief and True Repentance.   In it, I argued that the holy life must be guarded by the graces of faith and confession. Today I'm going back to the topic of faith, because I think it is so closely tied to this question.  Do we trust blindly?  How do we find direction, what does faith have anything to do with it? It's a heavy one. And so, I want to tag on another essentialism for the life of true faith. And that, friends, would be the importance of  prayer . Can we ever  stop  praying? Let me make a caveat. It is hard to write about stuff like this. What if I put all of these feelings about prayer out there, only to get disappointed or even...gasp....  hurt  by the response? Or, on another hand, what if I stay silent? Silence is-unfortunately- almost always the  thing  to do and the automatic response I see among friends and colleagues on the internet and on places like Facebook and Twitter. It feels awkward at best to

Every day is a day to respect human life. Still, just as months are designated to bring attention to suicide prevention and human trafficking and child abuse prevention, October is  Respect Life month . Coincidentally, this month comprises the bulk of the Fall 2015  40 Days for Life  campaign.   I was invited to speak at the opening of the 40DFL campaign in my area. As a longtime poltiical activist and lobbyist, I wondered what I could offer to a strictly nonpolitical group. Then Pope Francis spoke in Cuba, and something he said helped me sharpen my focus: prayer, not politics. Read more at Leaven for the Loaf . 

Photo ©2015 Grace Mazza Urbanski. All rights reserved. I found her! The only crabby lady in Philadelphia! And Jesus loves her like crazy. Read all about it at Praying with Grace .

My husband and I were watching the investigative reporting program 60 Minutes recently, and one of the segments had to do with Buddhist "mind-emptying" meditation. The reporting journalist told of how he'd decided to try to immerse himself in the practice as part of a week-long journalistic piece he was preparing, but that he'd not ever given it much thought and didn't expect much to come of it. 

For his 100th general audience,Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the family by considering f amily prayer. In his opening statements, the pope pointed out that most people find it difficult to find time to pray. Pope Francis teaches that love of God, not guilt will inspire us to pray. Pope Francis zeroed in on the crux our lives as Catholic families by asking if we actually love God. Although we are called to believe in God, thank Him, turn to Him in difficulty, fulfilling our duties to God is not Christianity. Love is at the core of our relationship to God. continue reading 

(from The Breadbox Letters)

Anyone who practices mental prayer for any length of time will reach a dry period. Why does this happen? What can we do about it? Sometimes prayer is dry because we are sick, depressed, anxious, or over-tired. In such cases, dryness is usually very temporary. A little bit of reflection can point out the reason for it. But other times, life seems to be going fine until we get to prayer. Then everything seems to fall apart. Dryness in prayer can indicate that we’re growing closer to God, or it can indicate the opposite. How do we know if our dryness is related to spiritual growth? St. John of the Cross is the master teacher about darkness in the spiritual life. His classic works, The Ascent of Mt. Carmel and Dark Night of the Soul talk about two periods of darkness in particular. Many souls struggle with darkness or dryness when they are transitioning from the purgative way to the illuminative way–from St. Teresa of Avila’s third to fourth mansions. The second com

Sarah Hart is a prolific songwriter of faith-based songs. She has won a Grammy award for song she co-wrote for Amy Grant and a earned a gold record for a song she co-wrote for the Newsboys. This is her first video for a song called “Praying with a Broken Heart,” from her album, Above Earth’s Lamentation . In this song she describes a common prayer experience of “Where are you, God?” Click here to see the video.

As a Christian, living in the Mystical Body off Christ, I can choose to live in the joy of the Lord or stay in my misery, isolated from the Spirit of God who dwells within. When I live in my head, I live in a prison of whirling thoughts cut off from others and God. If I go deeper into my being and live in my human emotions, in pain or in self-manufactured “happiness”, I end up stuck as a victim of others and in my sinful, independent self. However, if I allow God to draw me even deeper into my core, united to Him, joy springs up automatically.  Now I exist in a state of effortless prayer connected to God. Living in my spirit , as a child of God, I am in my true self.  continue

Prayer is essential. How many times have you heard that, but wondered just how essential is it really? Or, what’s in it for me to pray? How many times have you prayed and heard silence? How many times have you given up on prayer, because your prayers weren’t answered the way you wanted? In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we look to quotations from Saint John Damascene and Psalm 130:1 to define prayer: Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God. But when we pray, do we speak… Read more...

When I was in college I actually spent time discerning the religious life. I visited several convents and even spent 10 days during Lent, leading up to Easter with the  Franciscan Sisters of the Martyr, St. George .  That time with the Franciscan sisters was one of the most powerful spiritual encounters with the Lord I have ever had. The Lord was very tangible there and it seemed like he was physically walking around the convent.  Continue Reading @ Beautifulthorns>