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In Greenbush, the snow is falling straight down in huge flakes, coating each branch and twig with a thick coating  of snow. The snow literally absorbs sound waves and the effect is a quiet, peaceful, pure white oasis. In the middle of this deep silence, the thought popped into my mind that it is also the second week of Advent,  a time of silent waiting. Let these prayers and painting of a pregnant Mary inspire you as you wait with her for the birth of Jesus.    ADVENT PRAYERS: To Prepare your heart for the birth of Christ  God of power and mercy,  open our hearts  in welcome. Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy, so that we may share his wisdom and become one with him when he comes in glory, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen   continue

You prayed for a job promotion and didn’t get it; then you found a leak in the roof of your home. You prayed for a cure for your toothache and instead found out that your hours at work were cut. You prayed for a way to pay for new tires on your car yet nothing materialized; but you did find out your sister is getting divorced. It seems as though God wasn’t just saying “no” to your prayers but was kicking it up a notch as well. Confused, you go back to Scripture with all its rich promises and try to find answers to your frustrating prayer life. read more here

I have been working on a series every day, all month (except Sundays) where I blog my way through the Catholic faith, by way of the alphabet. Today, I wrote about N ovenas and thought I would share the midpoint of what has become a wonderful, ongoing conversation with atheists, Protestants and cradle Catholics, people from the United States, India and the UK to name a few. I extend the invitation to you, to share your voice and add to the whole of our Catholic faith. Read more at Filling my Prayer Closet...  

I'm not sure where I got the idea that if my husband and I did all the "right" things parenting, our boys would glide through childhood and adolescence and smoothly into adulthood. I'm not sure where that idea came from, or how it is I came to believe that watching them glide is preferably to the reality of watching them experiences the ups and downs of growing up and learning, often the hard way, how to make mistakes. Keep Reading...

While thousands of faithful   gather in St. Peter's Square  this Saturday at 7 p.m., I'd like to host a virtual prayer for peace in Syria. That will be at 1 p.m. New York time. I'm not sure where I will be since I am still sorting out my Saturday plans, which include a cyclocross race in Trexlertown, Pa.. But I plan to participate in the fast from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and to pray for peace at 1 p.m.  Will you join me? Keep Reading...

Connor James Eberhard  (1 December 1994 - 23 April 2013) Yesterday I asked you to pray for Connor Eberhard, whose life was drawing to a close. Now I ask you to pray for the soul of Connor who died peacefully at 10:30pm, Tuesday 23 April, at his home in Smithville, Ontario, Canada. Shortly before his 18th birthday he learned that he had cancer. The doctors gave him six months to live.  Connor lived the last few months of his life to the full, with courage, cheerfulness and faith. His maternal grandmother Maeve Devlin, with whom I spoke on the phone this morning, Wednesday, Philippine time, and she told me that Connor had received the last rites from his parish priest last week. Maeve and her husband Doug, who with their four children, Peter, Jacqueline, Cathy (Connor's mother) and Glenn have been close friends of mine since 1968, live next door to the Eberhards. Maeve, an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, brought Connor Holy Communion each day unti...

Last December, shortly before his 18 th birthday, Connor Eberhard (in photo), who lives in Smithville, Ontario, Canada, not too very far from Niagara Falls, got word that he had a rare form of cancer and that he had only six months to live. Connor is the only child of his parents Martin and Cathy. I’ve known Cathy and her family, the Devlins, since she was only five. Connor has been fighting bravely and was on special treatment that might have prolonged his life by up to 18 months. However, I had an email from Maeve Devlin, Cathy’s mother and Connor’s grandmother, this morning in which she said, ‘Connor has slipped into a coma and is not expected to last much longer’. Please remember Connor and his family in your prayers at this very difficult but blessed and precious time for all of them.

Last night - Good Friday -  felt like the right time to download on my brand new Kindle a book - really more like a 50-plus page essay, by L.A.-based writer Heather King called "Poor Baby," a raw meditation on her three abortions. No matter one's personal history, or one's political views on whether abortion should be legal, or one's moral belief as to whether abortion ever can be an ethical choice, this book is worth reading. In fact, I would say anyone with strong views about abortion should read this book with clear eyes and an open heart. We need King's voice in the conversation. Keep Reading....

I have always loved the writings of our Holy Father. In fact, I just bought his I nfancy Narratives as an audiobook. I wish that those who criticize the man  - within our Church as well as outside the Church - would read his words without preconception. Keep Reading...

Our gracious heavenly Father, in Jesus' name I ask you to bless this food that by its nourishment I may better serve you. That it will fill me up without filling me out. I thank you for being a guest at our table. Amen. My dear friend offers this prayer before meals and when she recently said it while we were at a restaurant, I asked her for a copy so that I could share with others. Cheryl Dickow www.BezalelBooks.com

Maybe it was transitioning back to our work and home routines after a three-day getaway with my family, but this morning felt as gray as the skies. It snowed as I drove to work and then it rained while I was teaching classes. I teach struggling learners and I like to think I make a difference. But today was a day when I felt discouraged. What am I doing wrong? What can I do differently? How can I help each and every student want to learn and succeed at learning? Keep Reading...

The murder of 26 innocents in a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school and the suicide of the shooting suspect are evils I am unable to absorb. I struggle to even pray about this. Words feel inadequate. Instead, yesterday and today, I have tried to make my actions my prayers, focusing on the children put in front of me: my own children, their friends, and the dozens of students I teach. Is this self-absorption?  Keep Reading...

Advent is its own season; a time to prepare for Christmas day. This year, I realized I need to prepare for the preparation; otherwise it is far too easy to let the season pass in a blur of Christmas shopping and Christmas baking and Christmas decorating. I want to give this season four weeks all its own for our family and for our home. What about you? What plans do you have to mark this holy season of waiting? read  more here...

Yesterday while driving out of the Home Depot parking lot,  I began to tear up. Our 16 year old son's words kept me going. See, I had checked my facebook before heading into the store. I discovered two CL friends are homeless. The boiler in their apartment building in Manhattan's financial district blew up as Hurricane Sandy plowed through. They are scrambling for a warm place to sleep. (They have temporary lodging in New Jersey). Then, as we walked into the store, I was puzzled by rows of people sitting in cloth folding chairs by the customer service counter. Some were reading books; one woman was asleep. Why were they sitting there? And then it struck me: they have no heat in their homes thanks to Hurricane Sandy. Keep Reading....

This week, my dear friend Jane congratulated me on turning fifty. "I didn't do anything," I told her. "I just kept breathing." At the small Italian restaurant Greg took me to tonight to celebrate my turning 50 tomorrow, a man was playing the piano and singing. Among his tunes was "Happy Birthday." I knew he wasn't playing it for me. It would have embarrassed me and my husband, who knows me well, would not have requested the song. Still, it was sweet to hear as I sipped red Merlot beside my still-48-year-old husband. Keep Reading...

My girlfriend K., like me, was raised Catholic and like me, did not receive a full grounding in the faith.  She asked me yesterday how best to show her gratitude to God for answered prayers. "Prayer works!" she told me yesterday. "It really really works!" I'd like to ask you, dear readers, what your suggestions might be. Read more here...

Hundreds of teenagers sat in hushed silence this morning as the high school football coach shared  about how 20 years ago his brother, then 29, was airlifted to a trauma center after being hit by a drunken driver one Friday night. The brother had not been out drinking; he was returning home with friends after time spent at a batting cage.  Read more here...

My dad has Alzheimer's. We don't talk about it much if for no reason other than, it hurts. He is still Dad. He will always be Dad; but the shell of him is being slowly stripped away. Word loss creep first led to fewer letters. I've saved them all. When he visits, we get to eat together, to share the chaos that is my life and laugh a bit, sometimes it overwhelms him --which is reasonable; they overwhelm me sometimes too. Alzheimer's is brutal and it's ongoing and it makes my heart howl sometimes when I know he's fishing for the next word, the next thought and they all get away. When my grandmother had it, I remember I did what I could to joke it away whenever possible, and I could usually make her laugh. "You always get to go new places. You always meet new people. You can claim you met anyone you want to and impress because we'll never be certain and neither will you." We had a good laugh about that as I helped her get her "doll face...