The joy of conversion, Christian community, and the Catholic faith
St. Mark’s Moms love Mary and opened their April 24 meeting with prayers honoring her. They had selected my presentation, “How Mary Helps Us Evangelize.” Although a small group, almost every member attended, plus several new smiling faces, including my granddaughter, Charlotte Cantrell. Most of the babies were in the nursery, with a few lap-sitters...
Mother Knows Best Day 8: Wednesday—First Week of Lent (On February 27, in Introducing Give Up Worry Wednesdays we announced our Lenten series, which takes a weekly reflection from a transforming new book by Gary Zimak, Give Up Worry for Lent: 40 Days to Finding Peace in Christ .) When the wine failed, the mother of...
Thanksgiving Blessings: Edelweiss and the Doxology Our family tradition for Thanksgiving grace is sung to the tune of “Edelweiss” from the Sound of Music. The Von Trapp family at the festival performed the forbidden national anthem, Edelweiss, as they prepared to escape the country. Our family sings the Edelweiss blessing at Thanksgiving. https://joyalive.net/thanksgiving-blessings-eidelweissdoxology//11/the-surprising-holy-spirit.html/ ...
Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalms 146:7-10; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37 We shift gears again this week. Last week for me was difficult. Our brain is wired at conception as male or female. Yet there are influences that also come from our parental ancestral lines. The brain has not developed yet from that first cell. It continues to...
At the Catholic Men’s Conference in Boston in 2010, Andy LaVallee met Jim Caviezel, not knowing he portrayed Jesus in The Passion of Christ. Jim dared Andy to go with him to Medjugorje, an obscure, poor village in Croatia. For more than thirty years, it has been alleged that the Virgin Mary has been appearing...
Isaiah 49:1-6; Psalms 139:1b-3, 13-15; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 157-66, 80 You may ask, “Why is the church celebrating the birth of John the Baptist and not the twelfth Sunday of ordinary time?” Because St. John the Baptist was such an important person in the salvation of humanity. This solemn feast dates back to the fourth...
