“If you want more of something, then give away what you have,” Fr. Nick Schneider preached on a recent Sunday at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. “If you want more joy, then give joy to others. If you want…
Give Away The Things You Want
Confidence in the Faith, our Youth Ministry Retreat, and Xtreme Discipleship
This past weekend I served and assisted in a Youth Ministry themed: “Confidence in the Faith.” Appropriate for the Year of Faith and the Holy Father’s call for the New Evangelization, it was also appropriate for what we discerned from…
The Lighthouse
For millennia, sailors have ventured out to open treacherous seas. Some go for adventure, some go for profit, and others go for battle. Once they have set sail, they expose themselves to the unforgiving elements of which they have little…
10 Tips for Teaching Your Children to Pray
As the mother of five children, finding time to pray can be a distinct challenge. Another daunting task on my plate? Teaching my children how to pray. 1. Start simple. Set a small goal — in our house, we started…
10 Ways to Support Evangelization Even When Your Parish Is Falling Apart
Last month I opened a thorny topic that had been posed to me by a fellow Catholic: How do I evangelize when my local parish is mired in dissent or disorder? My answer was built around how to think about…
Why are we still waiting?
In the old version of the mass, the priest would invite us to proclaim the mystery of faith, and we would sing: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. The first sentence is in the past tense. …
Endings
On the last day of 2012 the readings of the Church gave us an odd juxtaposition. The first reading from the first letter of John (2:18-19) continues the “preparation” warnings of Advent. We are cautioned, “it is the last hour.”…
The “gift” of a mother’s tears
It seems odd that shortly after celebrating our Lord’s birth, we are thrown into Lent commemorating His passion, death, and resurrection. I remember our late pastor saying that sometimes your Lent comes after a loved one dies. Sometimes your Lent…
Until God Opens the Next Door, Praise Him in the Hallway
I remember watching The Sound of Music as a little girl on television right around Easter. Yep, that was back in the pre-historic days, the days before DVDs or even VHS. The one line that always stuck with me was…
A Little Epiphany
Over the years as I’ve studied the Bible, I–along with others in my Bible Study group–have wondered, “Why didn’t the Israelites of the Old Testament get it? And if they had where would be be today?” Recently I had an…