This, Rather, is the Fasting I Wish

Where this idea came from, I don’t know, but somewhere I got it into my head that I could earn God’s love.  Truthfully, I believed that if I worked hard enough I could earn anyone’s love and respect.  That gives you some idea as to why my marriage failed.  Did my ex-husband love me?  Absolutely.  [...]

Choose Life

Yesterday I had a chance encounter with a parishioner that drew me back into a spiral of pain that had its summit in a betrayal that occurred this time last year.  The mother-in-law of a woman I would have called one of my closest friends stopped by the office yesterday to deal with some parish [...]

What I did for Love

In the stage production of A Chorus Line there is a song that I think are pertinent to today.  “What I did for Love”  Let me just remind you of some of the more significant lines in the song: 
Kiss today goodbye,
And point me t’ward tomorrow…
Love is never gone.
As we travel on…
Won’t forget, can’t regret
What I [...]

Lent — Breath of Heaven

  
Lent, in some Christian denominations, is the forty-day-long liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter. The forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert, where according to the Bible he endured temptation by Satan. Different churches calculate the forty days differently.  The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer—through prayer, [...]

Where is Your Faith?

I remember hearing once of a woman commenting to Bishop Fulton Sheen, a radio and TV presenter, that he was “a man of real faith.”  His response was something like what he does as a speaker isn’t necessarily who he is as a person.  It wasn’t meant to cast aspersion on his own personality but [...]

Crash

A part of the life of an involved Catholic minister is that next week (Ash Wednesday) begins one of the most busiest seasons of the year –  Lent which is followed by Easter which is followed by sacraments such as First Communion and Confirmation followed by the end of the year stuff.  Memorial Day weekend [...]

We Choose to be Evil

One of the busiest seasons for me is Lent.  Starting next week Wednesday I can work 16 hour days seven days a week if I choose to.  Who am I kidding?!   I could work 16 hour days seven days a week every week if I wanted to, but because of the nature of Lent and all [...]

Do Not Define Me!

One of the statements that I hate the most is when people tell me that they “know me”.  Well, that’s not true.  I think that we all have the responsibility to learn and appreciate the people who are in our lives.  My ex-husband was a naturalist and would study intently the would outside the walls [...]

Getting Ready to Meet Your Maker

How much time do you think you have to reform your life?  I don’t think there is a single person in the world who believes they are living exactly as God would want.  (And if they do think this then, unless they are Jesus Christ themselves), they would be wrong.  Because we are human, by [...]

Fairness versus Justice

jHow many times have I heard people say to me “It isn’t fair!”  At the parish, on the street, especially my own daughter who is an only child!  “It isn’t fair!”  I hear adults telling their children to grow up and realize that life isn’t fair but then turn around and demand fairness from their [...]