Envisioning Mary In the past, I had a hard time connecting with Mary in prayer. She seemed distant, too pure and holy to approach. As a child, I already had a mother who loved me and prayed for me. Why would I ask for Mary’s intercession? Even petitions were difficult...
Internet search the word “myth” and you’ll find its secondary definition: “a widely held but false belief or idea.” While Greek and Roman creation stories usually come to mind as examples, mythology doesn’t end there. Many of us are responsible for unwittingly...
Does your house have dirty corners? In my apartment, there are certain places I just can’t bring myself to clean. The baseboards, for example. Or the muddy entrance hall. Or the awkward section of floor behind the toilet. Because I don’t want to touch these spaces,...
When I was engaged, I had plenty of questions, hopes, and doubts about my upcoming marriage. Was I marrying the right person? How could I be sure? How would my future husband and I overcome the unforeseen difficulties that we were told would arise later? What could we...
Approximately one in three American Catholics believes in the real presence. This surprising demographic prompted U.S. bishops to launch an initiative to renew their flock’s devotion to the Eucharist. The Catechism states that the Eucharist is “the source and summit...
Jane Austen’s character Fanny Price models the phrase “nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” I remember a time in college when I called my dad for advice about managing anxiety. I felt overwhelmed by the social pressure of school and...
Here’s a hot take: maybe death is like a tooth extraction. Okay, maybe not that hot. C.S. Lewis pioneered this analogy in The Screwtape Letters. But it’s a statement I’ve been meditating on recently because last week I underwent a wisdom tooth extraction at the...
“No duty is so underrated as the duty to be happy.” -my mom’s fridge Can you imagine waking up every morning happy? I will tell you, the only mornings I wake up happy are Saturdays. These are the only days that I wake up to a pure, unadulterated weekend, full...
Tonight, I’m having a drink. It matters because after much anxiety, I know that I’m not pregnant. But for a week, I lived in a fog of uncertainty. Would my period arrive this month? Days slipped by. As Tuesday gave way to Friday, I tried to resign myself to the idea...
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of interviewing Brie Sanford, an alumna of Catholic Marriage Prep. We discussed baseball, high school, and avoidable wedding mistakes, but even more importantly I heard the story of her faith journey, long-distance engagement, and...