One of my most fond memories of my semester in Rome was from our trip to Northern Italy. We visited quite a few museums and beautiful churches, yet one moment that stuck with me was our visit in Florence. After a long and beautiful Tuscan day, several of us went to a bar. Nights like […]
Sunday Mass Readings for the Ministry of Parents and Godparents The Church professes Christian parents to be the “first” teachers of the faith and calls them to be the “best” teachers of the faith (The Rite of Infant Baptism). Godparents agree to assist in this ministry of parents. This resource from Catholic Lane is to […]
When I was a kid, preparation for Lent meant Mardi Gras. My mother was so good she always looked for fun things to do, also instructional things at the same time, which would help us both to learn and enjoy. So, at St. Anne’s we would sometimes have candies or cupcakes on Mardi Gras. Sometimes […]
What would you say if someone asked you, “What religion are you?” I bet you’d reply, “I’m Catholic.” But what would you respond if that same person then asked, “What kind of Catholic?” Perhaps you’d respond “Roman Catholic.” Perhaps you’d respond, “A practicing Catholic.” Perhaps you’d be stuck, as I was when I recently asked […]
The spiritual life has ups and downs. It is during the down times that we especially need help. Using beauty is a way that is less about your efforts and more about the outside making its way to your inside. God gave us our five senses to absorb his beauty so that it can become […]
Not a resolution was in my mind as I hopped on a plane in late December in anticipation of our newest grandson’s arrival. This was number four for mom, and she usually comes early. I wanted to give her plenty of extra buffer room so she could rest easier. Soon the evening came when I […]
Dreams for your Grandchild by Allen Hunt is both a lovely book and a practical book. Subtitled, The Hidden Power of a Catholic Grandparent, the book is a mixture of exhortation, relevant suggestions, and inspiring stories. Writing a book about the relationship between Catholic grandparents and their grandchildren is as challenging as writing about […]
Last Sunday we began the holy season of Advent. Today I’ll offer a few thoughts and ideas on what works for our family to keep this season holy and prayerful. Our family begins this season with Confession and Adoration. While we never quit going to Confession throughout the year, our family has taken a three-month […]
The holidays are upon us and the scramble to get ready for Christmas has officially begun. There’s so much to do but preparing for Christmas is about getting ready for the birth of Jesus. No one prepared for that moment more in union with God than the Blessed Mother did. So what better way to […]
“It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” 2 Macc. 12:46 “There shall not enter into it anything defiled…” Apoc. 21:27 I lost my Dad in 1999. He was a wonderful father and certainly considered by all to be a good man. He […]
Over the years of my childhood, I experienced a transformation of Halloween. When I was young, we donned costumes and wandered the neighborhood with Dad trick-or-treating, and always had a good time. Mom’s seamstress skills and ninja-mad crafting capabilities helped create some fantastic Halloween-night ensembles. She sewed Dracula capes and fuzzy Daniel Boone coon-skink caps. […]
The Church calls Christian parents to be the “first” teachers of the faith and the “best” teachers of the faith (The Rite of Infant Baptism). Godparents agree to assist in this ministry of parents. This resource from “Catholic Lane” is to assist you, parent or godparent, with using the Sunday Mass readings to teach the […]
Have you ever prayed to St. Thérèse and received roses? I did once. I never asked for a sign of roses before, but one time after finishing a novena, I told St. Thérèse it would mean a lot to me to receive them as a sign that my prayer request would be granted. I was […]
The Church recently celebrated the mysteries of Christ lived out in the person of Saint Monica. I found myself drawn to rereading the beautiful and eloquent Book IX of Saint Augustine’s Confessions that highlights the holiness of Saint Monica as a wife and mother. Saint Augustine’s conversion by the grace of God involved a lifetime […]
O God, who made the Mother of your Son to be our Mother and our Queen, graciously grant that, sustained by her intercession, we may attain in the heavenly Kingdom the glory promised to your children. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy […]
I had one of those terrible moments the other night. You know, the ones where you crush the spirit of your child and know it. It’s awful. I had just sat down with my husband to pray Night Prayer after a long, harrowing day. I was exhausted from the previous night’s insomnia, stressed about our house […]
Praying the Rosary on the way to work, something new regarding the Transfiguration jumped out at me. You remember the event: While Jesus was at prayer on a mountaintop, Peter, James, and John witnessed Him become “more brilliant than the sun.” Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus, and the disciples could hear them discussing His […]
The summer of 2008 was a summer of opportunity for me. I was able to attend the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City, Canada with other young adults from the state of Wisconsin through Catholic Youth Expeditions, a retreat ministry founded by Father Quinn Mann, a priest of the Diocese of Green Bay. As part […]
“We do not have a good rapport,” I was told by the salon owner with short red hair as she took off my plastic cape. “I won’t be able to work with you. You need to leave.” Who gets kicked out of a hair salon? But I had rubbed the hairdresser the wrong way and […]
As Ireland prepares for an August visit by Pope Francis, her people are locked in a life and death struggle with the Catholic Church. In a country that is perhaps the most Catholic of any nation in the world, some estimates show that while well over 90% of Ireland’s citizens identify with the church of […]
This deliberate choice of words is an attempt to express the reality within which so many of us find ourselves in regards to our religion. To say that I belong to a particular religion is by itself an expression of Faith, but it does not define the reality of my relationship with that religion. I […]
As youth, many of us were required to memorize – or at least study – the Declaration of Independence. Although we might not be able to quote it now, we’re probably able to spot it if we hear it read or recited by someone else. At least I hope so. The Declaration of Independence is […]
For St. John the Apostle, the empty tomb was all he needed to experience to believe in the Resurrection. But two who were later to be saints – Mary Magdalene and Thomas – began the first Easter season as nonbelievers. Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb not to assure herself that Christ is risen, but […]
This past Sunday morning on our way to the airport, I was dropping off my husband, a pilot for work. We had just finished saying the Rosary and were rounding the large loop about a mile from the airport, when we noticed a car off to the side of the road. The hood was up […]
