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By Allison Salerno If you want to experience the vibrancy of the Christian faith, I encourage you to head to Manhattan on Martin Luther King weekend in January.  Hey - if enough of you decide to show up, perhaps we can make plans to meet for espresso. Let me know! The New York Encounter, which begins on Friday, January 13,  is an annual three-day cultural festival sponsored by the ecclesiastical group Communion and Liberation and Crossroads Cultural Center. It is free and family friendly, with plenty of kids and babies and teens and grandparents. The setting is near Penn Station, at  he Manhattan Center. Last year, I was deeply moved by the young adults I met who are the next generation of faith-filled Catholics. I spent hours attending beautiful artistic presentations and stimulating talks. I also volunteered with my teenaged son at the espresso bar, which gave me the opportunity to meet young Catholics from across the United States and the rest of the globe. Thi

Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins , Hieronymus Francken II, c.1616 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel Matthew 25:1-13 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Jesus told this parable to his disciples: 'The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, "The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him." At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, "Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out". But they replied, "There may not be enough for us an

Last weekend I gave a retreat on "Mary and the Gift of Motherhood". We had up to 21 people, most of them women. The talks I gave were based around the meaning of motherhood - going beyond, but not ever departing from, actual motherhood - the motherhood of Our Lady, and the way motherhood is misunderstood and downgraded in modern society. I even made reference to the motherhood of priests. I was thinking that I might put edited versions of the talks on my blog or in some other place (avoiding the bin). If anyone is interested I may be able to send them by email, but I need to edit them because of references to books, quotations etc.

My husband and I are by no means economically poor. We own a home. We both are professionals employed full time. We are not worried about being laid off. We have health insurance. We do not use credit cards. We do not worry about making our mortgage payments or paying for groceries. And yet, like so many Americans, we are pinched. Right now, we need to replace our oven, our washing machine and, we just found out today, the engine on our used minivan. (That will cost us $2,100. Yikes.) It's easy for both of us to feel burdened by the bills, to focus on how we are getting by instead of ahead financially. It can feel suffocating when I start to define myself by the bills we owe. Thank God for the gift of literature. My high school juniors are reading Geoffrey Chaucer's  Canterbury Tales , the medieval story about 29 pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. He paints a portrait of life in 14th century England and dir

In Motherhood Matters , Canadian author Dorothy Pilarski writes with profundity and wit about matters practical and divine. Full of anecdotes and humor, this book makes us take an honest look at the lives of women today, and helps us to focus on what matters most. Has "liberation" truly led to greater happiness for women? Are children to be viewed as commodities, to be acquired just as we acquire a house or car? Or should children be seen as the gifts from God that they are, given to our stewardship? Dorothy makes it clear that until we rectify our confusion about such basic questions then peace of heart will elude us. To quote: We will find happiness in living out God's purpose for our lives, not our own. The culture of the early twenty-first century makes it easy to follow mistaken paths. The media bombards us with the temptation to fulfill ourselves, to find ourselves, to meet our own needs. It is a message of selfishness. And it is spread constantly. M

Image from fellow homeschool mom  Josette A quote from this article on  Halloween's Catholic Origins  probably sums up what I have been thinking and "talking" about lately on social networks and with people I know, (and just yesterday on  Radyo Veritas , when I was interviewed because of  this article on CBCP News  about  our homeschool group's All Saints' Day celebration on November 4 ): "Let's not focus on werewolves, witches, goblins or other evil characters but maybe other virtuous people or heroes," he said. "If not saints, then have them dress up as a fireman or football player or G.I. Joe. There are a lot of good figures in our secular culture worth emulating." In fact, I highly recommend all Catholic parents to read the complete article  here , along with the other thought-provoking, inspiring articles about Catholics and Halloween below: Should Catholics celebrate Halloween? Christians and Halloween: Should Christians c

All of my previous posts and pictures about All Saints Day/Halloween can be found via my del.icio.us links here. Some Christian blogs and even some Catholic forums have been vacillating about whether or not it is right to celebrate Halloween. My answer to that is absolutely it's okay to celebrate! as long as you understand exactly what it is that you are celebrating! There is really no historical connection between the setting of this feast to November 1 (naturally placing the Eve to October 31), and the Pagan Celebration of Samhain other than Pope Boniface moved the feast to the same time of year when Samhain is celebrated. But I like to look at it another way. The change of seasons and the harvest are gifts from God, even if the ancient Celts didn't quite see it that way, and as the scriptures say, " Test everything. Hold on to the good, " and Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, wh

An Israeli soldier wearing phylacteries (tefillin), on his forehead and on his left arm, while praying . Readings  Gospel Matthew 23:1-12 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said, 'The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi. 'You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since

It's been quite a week. Nothing is wrong. It's just been a week filled with work and more work, then parenting and housekeeping and hardly anytime to sleep or to think. And so by the time today rolled in, I was bone tired. My high school juniors, who take a yearlong course in British Literature, have moved on from the Anglo-Saxon Era into the Middle Ages. We're reading Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. So, given the week and the subject matter, don't you think it makes sense during the last class on the last day of a long week to dance? Read more here...