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I rarely remember even the simplest joke but I have never forgotten this intellectual, theological joke told 30 years ago by a Jesuit priest in front of a U niversity New Testament Class. Jesus was walking alongside of the Sea of Galilee when he turned to Simon Peter and asked him “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Why you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus was pleased with his answer. So, Jesus turns to the modern day theologian and asks, “Who do you say that I am?” The modern day theologian answers, “Why you are the eschatological manifestation in the ground of our being. The kerygma, which finds its fulfillment in interpersonal relationships.” And Jesus says, “What?”

Continuing my reflections on the Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference, I want to share with you some new resources I discovered. They might not all be new to you, but they were to me. God’s Covenant with You: The Bible Tells a Story by Scott Hahn and Stratford Caldecott, with illustrations by David Clayton, was published in 2009, but this is the first time I’ve come across it.  You are no doubt familiar with Bible scholar and convert from Presbyterianism Scott Hahn. This book presents his perspective on the Bible as the story of God’s familial covenants with man in language children can understand. David Clayton is an artist in residence at Thomas More College. He has filled the book with outline drawings that evoke icons and master painters. Your children can color the pictures or, as I prefer, try to copy them. As a fan of both Hahn and Clayton, I snatched this book up. I plan to use it to review the Bible after we finish the New Testament next year.

St Peter Preaching , Masolino da Panicale, 1426-27 [ Web Gallery of Ar t] Readings  (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)                                   Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)       Gospel  Luke 9:18-24  (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) Now it happened that as Jesus was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked them, "Who do the people say that I am?" And they answered, "John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen." And he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered, "The Christ of God."                                          But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be kille

Pregnant with my seventh child, I was bedridden in the high-risk, neo-natal wing of the maternity ward for a week while waiting for a housekeeper to come to run my home and help tend my six children. I faced 6 months of bed rest but that one week gave me perspective and kept me from sinking into self-pity. The other two women in my room were desperate to keep their babies in uteri and finally become mothers. One of the two had suffered five miscarriages. She was stuck in a ward room for months, only going home after the birth of her baby. Secretly we all feared that we would lose our babies. Suddenly our fears materialized as a high-risk woman’s baby died in her womb. That poor woman had to endure an induction and labour for hours, only to push out a dead baby. The pain in that wing of the hospital was tangible. Tears ran down women’s’ faces as they grieved with their neighbour. It did not matter that none of us had even glimpsed her face. Nurses as well as patients mourned for

Meet Amanda Lindley, 26-year-old web content specialist for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. She's been married for two years and fasts every Friday for marriage. Amanda told me about the Archdiocese's viral video campaigns for life, marriage, and religious liberty. The newest video is below, together with my interview of Amanda, to kick off the bishops' Fortnight for Freedom starting on June 21. Check out previous interviews in this series in the  Pray-Cana  section of the blog. Join the Call to Prayer! More...

Do you ever sit up and listen suddenly during the Sunday homily? That happened to me this week. Instead of the post I was planning, I am writing about Sunday’s Gospel, as I believe the Holy Spirit desires. You see, for the past several months, I have pictured myself as the Penitent Woman at least once every day, as I pray or seek to overcome temptation. So when the Gospel is about this moving scene, I pay close attention. I have also lately heard people questioning the need to confess venial sins–both on the internet and in person. The Church only requires us to confess mortal sins, and venial sins can be forgiven in other ways (such as reception of the Eucharist). So why bother to go to Confession for venial sin? (By the way, the Church only requires us to receive the Eucharist once a year too–but would we be satisfied with that bare minimum?) There are many good answers to this question. I’m going to write about one: Confessing venial sins helps us love God

Catholic Mom's Cafe: My recent interview on EWTN's Bookmark show :  Discussing two of my recent books: Catholic Mom's Cafe and Rooted in Love:Our Calling as Catholic Women .  God bless!

I’ve always watched I Love Lucy . Lately, though, I notice that there is something about it that speaks to me in a very personal way. It sort of tugs at me. I can’t say that the show takes me back to anything in particular because it isn’t from a time in my personal life; but, rather, it seems to address a desire for simplicity that lives at the center of my heart. Despite the fact that in real life the marriage of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz did not survive, I have found in talking with friends that the show really taps into something that exists at the core of many women. We love the quaint Ricardo apartment. There isn’t a lot of furniture or tons of space. It is as neat as a pin and we can totally imagine living in that space. When Lucy and Ricky host a card game they need to move the couch out of the way to bring in the folding table and chairs. And yet the card games are always fun despite the tight space. The sparse kitchen is behind a swinging door and, upon close inspection,

My kids and I all heave sighs of relief when summer vacation comes. No more homework, no more extracurriculars, just fun. But in case we might want more ideas for summer fun (and what parent wouldn't?), Sarah Reinhard rides to the rescue with her book  Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless. Catholic Family Fun  is packed with detailed instructions for nearly 50 fun activities, starting with the silliest ones. Some of the ideas cost nothing and take barely any time, but there are far more elaborate suggestions for the truly adventurous. Helpful sections like "Faith Angle" and "Wider Angle" show you how to add faith to fun activities or add fun to faith activities. Indexes at the back of the book organize activities by how much they cost and how long they last, so you can easily find an idea that appeals to you without searching through the whole book. If you don't know what to try first, Sarah has a whole websi

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Feast in the House of Simon (detail) , Paolo Veronese, 1556-60 [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)                                   Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  Luke 7:36 – 8:3 [Shorter form, Lk 7:36 – 50]  (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house, and took his place at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a pro

And he just happens to be my husband!  Manny  and I started teaching pre-Cana classes for Fr. George Rutler's parish in New York City back in 2003. Manny's training as a psychiatrist always provided valuable insight into the challenges couples faced before and after marriage. So, I'm thrilled that he is joining me as a co-author on my book, now our book, explaining the Catholic Church's beautiful teachings on marriage and family. More...

Father was a no show at the 8 a.m. Holy Mass today.  The old man stood at the back door waiting for him, he said he had talked to Father and that he had said he would be there.  At 8:02, we decided to have a communion service.  Jim, wonderful servant of God, did the service for us.  One of the men came up to me and a woman that I was speaking to after the service.  You never saw this man without his rosary in his hand.  It gave me such hope to see one so faithful every day to the Rosary of our Blessed Mother.  He came over and speaking to the woman spewed a derogatory comment about Father.  My heart dropped.  The woman agreed and joined in the bashing.  This isn't the first I had heard of this, and every time I hear it, it broke my heart.   They invited me to McDonald's for breakfast, I declined and said I would stay and pray.  The woman said to me, "Well he needs it!" (Meaning Father.)  What she didn't know was that most of my prayers would be in suppl

Catholic Mom's Cafe: Coming up this week end on EWTN's Bookmark show! : From the EWTN's "Wings" newsletter:                                 BOOKMARK CATHOLIC MOM'S CAFE AND ROOTED IN LO...

Someone just called my name. I think it was God!" It was early evening. We often played musical beds at bedtime because the younger children liked the security of a sibling or two falling asleep with them, especially when older brothers and sisters were still up and having fun. So it happened that I was laying down on Emily's bed nursing an infant while she played with my hair and sucked her thumb. Five-year-old David was almost asleep across the room. His breathing was slow and deep. The only other sound in the peaceful room came from a fan that created just enough white noise to drown out the other kid's voices. David suddenly sat straight up in bed, popped his eyes open and yelled excitedly, "Someone just called my name. I think it was God!" Emily took her thumb out of her mouth and lisped, "Who is God?" I turned my head to look at her and smiled, "You know, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." Emily was stil

It’s finally here–my first e-book! I hope you’re as excited as I am. I wrote this e-book for you, to aid you in your spiritual life. And today I’m going to ask you to do something for me. But first, I want to tell you how you can receive a free copy of Five Lessons from the Carmelite Saints That Will Change Your Life. It’s easy. All you have to do is sign up to receive my blog posts by email, using the form at the top of the sidebar on my blog. At the end of the process, you will receive an email containing a link to download the e-book. What if you are already following my blog by email? No problem. I have set up a new account at MailChimp to handle my emails to subscribers. I have also removed the old WordPress widget for email signup from my sidebar. All new subscribers will go onto the MailChimp list. If you are on the old list, simply sign up for the new list and download the e-book. Then you can click on “unsubscribe” in the email you got today for this

                                        "What does it cost us to say:                                         'My God, help me!  Have mercy on me!'                                             Is there anything easier than this?                                          And this little will suffice to save us                                        if we be diligent in doing it."                                                                                St. Alphonsus Liguori

  Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath , Bernardo Strozzi, 1630s [ Web Gallery of Art] (First Reading, 1 Kings: 17:17-24) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  Luke 7:11 - 17  (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.  Fear seized them al