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Afghanistan and Faith: Dealing with Reality Sarah Abraham lived in a small village outside Kabul, Afghanistan with her two young boys, Jeremiah and Amos. She had lost her husband in a gunfire attack two months ago. Now, she was alone, and five months pregnant with a third son. However, the stress of living as a Christian in war-torn Afghanistan weighed heavy on her mind. As a result, while walking to the marketplace one sunny morning, she felt sharp pains and became weak. Sarah lost her child that day due to a miscarriage. The ensuing grief would be nothing compared to... Read more...

Pontius Pīlātus was the fifth prefect of the Roman Province of Judea . That sounds important, but Pilate was one of the Equites : Roman aristocrats, but ranking below Patricians . Think of him as 'middle management.' Judea was a strategically important border province, giving the empire access to Egypt's agricultural resources, and a measure of protection from the Parthian Empire . More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Thanks to an outbreak of the bird flu this summer, grocers across the country are warning of possible turkey shortages – fewer and smaller birds for higher prices. Luckily, the bird flu didn’t affect our region too badly, so I’m pretty sure we’ll manage to get a tasty gobbler on the table, and I’m hoping that, in the end, all of you will too – unless, of course, you opt for ham, salmon or some other palate pleasing delight. Either way, please don’t let a vain bird, or any other main dish, steal the center stage. As Catholic families, one of the best favors we can do for our kids during November is to remind them that Thanksgiving is meant above all to be a feast for the soul. Continue reading at Eyes On Heaven .

Faith: a very personal word stemming from a very personal relationship with God, resulting in an inability to clearly articulate just what it means to you. Sound familiar? Are you like so many people who steer clear from talking about religion, let alone your own personal faith, for fear of rejection, confrontation, or appearing ignorant? Fear no longer! Your faith sharing story is your story. No one else can write it and no one else can articulate it better than you. Easier said than done? I understand. That’s why I am excited to share with you a new DVD by my friend, Nancy Ward, titled, Sharing YOUR Faith Story DVD . In this three part DVD, Nancy tells of her... Read more...

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If you know me in real life, you know that praise and worship music isn’t my thing – unless it’s to get a little entertainment by making fun of it. Don't get me wrong - I know that many people enjoy that type of music, and I have no problem with that - it just isn't my own way of praising God. That “Fill up my cup…” song, though, has a point to it. Half the time, discussing whether the glass is half-full or half-empty is a moot point.  Often enough, by the end of a given day, week or month, there’s no question involved: I’m running on empty. Does that make me a pessimist? I hope not. I prefer to agree with the anonymous genius who said that the most important point isn’t how full your glass is,  but that it’s refillable. So on those days when you’ve run ragged trying to hold yourself together, give your kids the love and care they need, be a good spouse and do everything else we’re expected to do for one reason or another, don’t get discouraged.  Just make a little ti

I rarely repost but this list is a treasure trove of common sense and practical.  32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 33. Believe in miracles. 34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do. 35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now. 36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young. 37. Your children get only one childhood. 38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved. continue

Folks have looked up and been impressed for a long time: " 1 Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. " ( Deuteronomy 10:14 ) " The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft. " ( Psalms 19:2 ) That galaxy is M31, the Andromeda Galaxy . Back when I was in high school, a fair number of books I read called it the "Great Andromeda Nebula." More up-to-date books occasionally called it an "island universe." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Sweet reflection Upon returning home and today too as I write, I can’t stop thinking about those wonderful and insightful women and how their daily activities, their “creations,” honor our beautiful Creator. What do you love to do? Do you see it as a way of honoring your Creator? Continue reading ...

This is my most recent column in The Catholic Free Press : Our son called the other day to share a lovely story about a former student. Until recently Stephen had been a pre-school teacher in Brooklyn, NY. Although he had neither experience nor background in education, he took the job because he was desperate, having been unemployed for months. Even as he fumbled in the dark with no idea as to what he was doing, Stephen managed to touch the life of a then 3-year-old boy. Surprising encounter Stephen knew well the thankless nature of teaching. So imagine his surprise when the now five-year-old boy recognized him on the street and ran up to him, throwing his arms around him. The family followed up with a phone call and Stephen is planning an outing with them as a result. Give what little we have We never know how we will affect other people’s lives. We think we have to be experts; my son’s experience says otherwise. We don’t need to know anything—we just need to be open and v

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:12-13 In this new commandment Jesus took, “Love your neighbor as yourself” several steps further. Now love involves sacrifice. His greatest demonstration of this commandment was his death on the cross. But because he was willing to sacrifice his life, he rose again to new life in a body glorified. Waiting For The Word Resurrection 60, from Flickr Creative Commons This is the love he requires from us. It’s a radical love, a sacrificial love. What does it mean to lay down one’s life? Are we literally to die a martyr’s death? What other ways are there to lay down one’s life? Recently I had a chance to hear fellow Catholicmom columnist Allison Gingras describe a way. from right to left: Allison and Kevin Gingras and their daughter, Faith Click here to continue reading.  

What happens when you begin to fear doing something you've done for much of your life? How to cope? This scenario has been playing out since I received a healing of my singing voice. God was calling me to go public again. I share to show that fear never conquers so long as we are willing to go where God leads and we trust in him. from picturespost.blogspot.com During the fifteen years that I was a professional musician I went out on gigs, holding concerts and sometimes doing some public speaking. When my mother died in 2010, I stopped doing that sort of thing. Now, five years later, I've decided to dive back in. It is not without fear and trepidation for I am rusty! While I had my years of experience to fall back on, I wasn't sure I would remember how to do it. Something once familiar to me had become unknown territory. Was it worth trying? Yes! Click to continue reading.

Posted two days ago at String of Pearls: It's still National Library Week , and I'm still running a giveaway here at the blog.  Leave me a comment anytime before midnight on April 18, and you could win one of two prizes: a signed copy of my first novel, Finding Grace , or a signed copy of my second novel,  Erin's Ring . This is a good day to talk about these two books, because today has actually been dubbed "Celebrate Teen Literature Day," and both of my novels fall into the teen/young adult (YA) category.  (Although don't let the YA tag deter you from reading them if you're a full-blown adult; I tried to write these stories in such a way that they could be enjoyed by readers from middle school to middle age.) When I set out to write Finding Grace , I wasn't even sure it would ever be officially published as a book, with a glossy cover and professionally printed pages.  I thought that when I finished, I might run off copies for my bo

The world's largest and most powerful particle collider , CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC), is back in operation. Scientists will be studying conditions like those just after this universe began: at about twice the energies they used back in 2013. I'm excited at the prospect of learning more about the workings of matter and energy: and news about the LHC is already starting to get goofy. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Lawrence OP St Augustine, Flickr Creative Commons "Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace." from The Confessions of Saint Augustine This prayer of St. Augustine reminded me that it’s not enough to ride on the surface of life. Click here to continue.

I decided this Lent that I would not travel alone. I asked St. Bernadette, the visionary of Our Lady of Lourdes, if she would accompany me. In the course of our walk together I am rediscovering someone I had long forgotten but who has not forgotten me. A classic movie It began on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes with a suggestion from a friend to watch “The Song of Bernadette,” a critically-acclaimed 1943 movie based on the book by Franz Werfel. It was available on YouTube so I could watch it at my leisure. The movie is long so I viewed it on my tablet over the course of three nights. Unexpected emotions That was a good decision. I did not expect to be so moved by the film and was glad I could cry in private. Each time "The Lady" appeared to Bernadette, the tears would flow. I did not know why. Was it the beautiful music? Was it the way Bernadette (played by Oscar winner Jennifer Jones) looked at "The Lady" with such love? Maybe it was b

Have you ever really paid attention to your vocabulary? Does it match your faith life? Or is your faith life a bit stalled and you wonder how to jumpstart it? Your vocabulary is the key to it all and understanding these five simple words can drastically change your life. Word One:  Disordered Our world gets a bit crazier every day. More things take up our time and energy and consequently leave us less time for God. Our dreams, desires and longings get caught up in the ways that we experience the world. So, instead of dreaming God’s dreams for our lives, we live with and pursue disordered dreams and desires. We keep ourselves on Satan’s treadmill where our disordered existence exhausts us and steals our joy. “Lord, remove the disordered desires from my mind and heart so that I may experience your peace and dream your dreams for my life. Do not allow the illusions of the evil one to infiltrate my heart or mind where I unwittingly allow them to undermine or repl

I mentioned yesterday that I have been having some strange dreams lately. I wonder what you'll think of this one. I can't remember why, how or with whom I was having a conversation. I was being told that the lack of sacramental wine offered at parishes of late is causing the faithful to forget that Jesus shed his blood for our sins. How we need to sip and taste the sweet, stinging wine to remember, really remember. I don't dream like this and I am the kind of person that pays close attention to her feelings, the movement of thoughts and their possible origin. I'm always psychoanalyzing myself. To be honest, I think that's how I am able to separate, mentally, the bad from the good in my childhood and early adulthood from how I interact with my children and husband. So why this dream? Why now? What does it mean and where do I go from here? Of course that's rhetorical. Read more at Filling My Prayer Closet

The past eleven days has been a real roller coaster ride! I am not a big fan of roller coasters, either at amusement parks or in real life! They make me nauseous and I'm not a fan of the thrill. Sometimes however the trials of life that feel like roller-coaster rides can help us grow the most in faith. Hopefully the story I am about to tell will produce growth in me. After all, the Lord can use anything (Romans 8:28)! Our children have been begging us for a while for a puppy. My husband and I have been researching what would be a good breed for our family. We have tried big breed dogs and they usually knock the children over and can be pretty destructive so that did not work for our family.    Read more @ Beautifulthorns >

Living an  unequally yoked marriage  is not easy, especially when one person is an atheist and the other decided six years into their marriage to convert to Catholicism. Whatever your faith denomination, or not, as the case may be, here are some quick Do's and Dont's that I've collected that may help you get through some of those tougher moments. Do ask your children to pray for your spouse.  I don't know where I heard this, but  children's prayer's are powerful . Maybe it's that scripture verse  Matthew 19:14 . Simply praying as a family for them to have a good day, or a safe flight is perfect. Don't tell your children to pray for the conversion of their parent's soul.  Don't create a divide in your marriage this way. In essence what you're doing is pitting your spouse against the rest of the family and if what you want is peace in your marriage, do your best to eliminate unnecessary us vs them scenarios. Do participate in church