Sanctifying Rest: Planning a Holy Vacation Summertime and vacations are nearly synonymous. Many families plan trips around common interests, location or themes. When our family plans a vacation, we found that centering it around our faith has had a wonderful impact on us all. Growing up Catholic meant we had the freedom to explore historical … Continued
Mary, Ever Interceding for Marriage Mother Mary is always happy to help us untie the knots we or others have created in our relationships. All we have to do is be willing to ask her to accompany us. When we pray to her, especially with regards to our relationships, we find a kind, compassionate mother walking … Continued
Sexual Healing in Light of the Resurrection Christos Anesti! (Christ is Risen!) The beauty of Easter rightly fills us with the hope that one day we will leave this world of sin and suffering, enter into the glory of heaven where we will experience the fullness of God’s presence, and be reunited with our loved … Continued
Life Giving Love ~ Overcoming Woundedness How Woundedness Affects Our Relationships We all come from a family. Within our family of origin, our faith, opinions, needs, character, the way we argue and the way we show love, are formed for our future family. Sometimes we may question why God chose this particular family for each … Continued
Of Ukraine, Adoption, and Lent This past week, as the story of the Russian aggression against Ukraine unfolded, I was recalling my father’s story and the Ukrainian woman who saved him and called him her own. I would like to share that story with you, but also share a deeper meditation on our own adoption … Continued
Choosing to Live and to Love in the Day that You are Given Yesterday a dear friend’s husband passed from this life. On Christmas Eve, just over a month ago, my best friend’s husband died suddenly. Just four months ago my dad passed away. The fragility of life has my attention. There are seasons in … Continued
Household Sacramentals, or the Traditions that make Our Home a Domestic Church Memories, the experiences of yesteryears, especially childhood ones of sounds, smells, and customs form a background to our experiences today. Sometimes recalling a simple warmth of a tradition opens a world of deeper meaning, an “a-ha!” moment, which offers a glimpse at … Continued
The Culture of Home In 2020 due to the unprecedented world wide events, many of us were forced to quarantine in our homes. Since then many people have adapted to a new lifestyle of either working from home, going to school from home, eating more homemade meals, or simply spending more time at home with … Continued
Feeling Loved in Marriage Love is Not a Feeling… Or is It? We often hear in Catholic circles that “Love is a choice, not a feeling,” “Love is an act of the will,” and that “To love is to will the good of the other.” And while these popular definitions certainly are true, they … Continued
Passing Down the Faith According to Roman Catholic theology, the entirety of divine revelation and the Deposit of Faith is transmitted to successive generations by way of scripture and sacred tradition. The word “tradition” actually means handing down something to another person. This is the most basic meaning of Catholic tradition: it is the … Continued
A Theology of the Family: The Home as a Missionary Outpost The pandemic has presented both an opportunity and a challenge for evangelization within marriage and family life at the parish level. During 2020 many church parishes were closed and homes became, for a short time, the place where families prayed and sacrificed together. … Continued
The Relational Mission of Small Groups “God did not tell us to follow Him because He needed our help, but because He knew that loving Him would make us whole.” ~St. Irenaeus of Lyons What is Discipleship? A disciple is defined as a personal follower of Jesus during his life, especially one of the … Continued
