Today is Good Friday. Now I know that I ought to be focused on the passion and death of Jesus Christ, and I am, but I am also a mother. Therefore, I must plan ahead for my family accordingly. And this entails preparing any necessary music that my family will want to sing and listen […]
These days of the Paschal Triduum are a very special time. For me, they are not an easy time, but they are a wondrous time. They are full of traditions…traditions common to the Church throughout the world, traditions I brought from home, and traditions I have developed personally during my time here at St. Anne’s. […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43 2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-4 Responsorial: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Gospel: John 20:1-9 Receiving the Good News of Jesus Christ and Sharing It with Others Not to all the people, but to us. (Acts 10:41) Happy Easter! On behalf of everyone […]
“You’d better take down your article,” I was advised in an email. “The Blessed Mother has warned that anyone who interferes with her message will suffer consequences.” Ah the joy of writing about condemned apparitions. The article being referred to was five years old. The odds of me taking down an article I had carefully […]
Welcome back to “A Day in the Life of a Crazy Fool.” Today we pick up with Dinner Time. 5:15pm: Dinner Time After I’ve greeted my husband, we sit down for dinner together as a family. Fortunately, our schedule allows this to happen almost every single night. If it’s at all possible, I encourage all […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: Procession Gospel: Mark 11:1-10 1st Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7 2nd Reading Philippians 2:6-11 Responsorial: Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24 Gospel: Mark 14:1-15:47 Palm Sunday, A Day to Fix our Eyes on Jesus and His Death on the Cross Not . . . something to be grasped. (Philippians […]
I wish you could have been at Bethlehem. You could have held Me and kept Me warm. And I would have smiled at you. You probably would not have wanted to hand Me back to My mother. I wish you could have been with us at Cana. My mother was there. I made some really […]
Meeting a Future Saint In the 80s, my husband Cliff, a news photographer and reporter, accompanied Bismarck, ND Catholic Bishop John Kinney to Rome to record his five-year Ad-Limina visit, which is an obligation of church hierarchy to visit the tombs of the apostles, and to meet with the pope, in this case, Pope John […]
I could have been talking to the devil rather than a man ordained as a Catholic priest. He clings to the title “Father” while operating far outside the Church. During an interview with him for another article, at one point he yelled, “Screw the Catholic Church!” He said that he hates JPII and that, “Pope […]
ST. JOSEPH was by birth of the royal family of David, but was living in humble obscurity as a carpenter when God raised him to the highest sanctity, and fitted him to be the spouse of His Virgin Mother, and foster-father and guardian of the Incarnate Word. Joseph was, says the Holy Scripture, a just […]
There’s some crazy stuff in the Old Calendar that is just interesting to learn about. My husband is forever telling me this. (By Old Calendar I mean those things connected to the Traditional Latin Mass.) For example, this Sunday is called Passion Sunday. It always falls on the Sunday immediately before Palm Sunday and serves […]
I rise today with the strength of the sky, with the light of the sun, with the splendor of the moon, with the brilliance of fire, with the blaze of lightening, with the swiftness of wind, with the depth of the ocean, with the firmness of earth, with the firmness of rock. — From the […]
In 2004, I was making my way through the canned goods aisle at my local supermarket when I heard the opening chords of MercyMe’s hit song “I Can Only Imagine” being broadcast over the store’s sound system. I had two conflicting responses: 1) this song doesn’t belong in a grocery store, and 2) I think […]
Welcome back to “A Day in the Life of a Crazy Fool.” In Part 2, I ended with Quiet Time, which is usually over around 1pm, as the children begin sneaking upstairs to see what I’m doing. At this time a couple of things happen: Outdoor Recess and Afternoon School. As the four middle children […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34 2nd Reading Hebrews 5:7-9 Responsorial: Psalm 51:3-4, 12-15 Gospel: John 12:20-33 Experiencing God’s Mercy and Love, and Sharing it with Others Create a clean heart in me, O God. (Psalm Response) Today’s Responsorial Psalm portrays King David’s response to God after […]
Pain is powerful when it’s transformed by redemption, hope, faith, and God. It is the story that inspired the song, I Can Only Imagine the best-selling Christian single of all time, selling 2.5 million copies. The touching ballad which considers what heaven and meeting God will be like, is the only song ever to go […]
There’s a famous story in St. Augustine’s Confessions in which he and a group of youngsters looking for mischief steal pears, just for the thrill of the theft: We carried off a huge load of pears, not to eat ourselves, but to dump out to the hogs, after barely tasting some of them ourselves. Doing this […]
Welcome back to a day in my life, which can be a bit crazy, being the mother of now 7 little children, all under the age of 12. In Part 1, I ended by mentioning Mid-Morning Prayer Time, which is where I’ll pick up today. 10am Mid-Morning Prayer At around 10am, when the children are […]
My husband is hard to shop for. He has simple tastes and knows what he likes. Over the years I have tried and tried to find the perfect gift he would really love and use. I’ve attempted to be clever, tapping into his interests, hoping to come up with something he would enjoy. I have […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23 2nd Reading Ephesians 2:4-10 Responsorial: Psalm 137:1-6 Gospel: John 3:14-21 Responding to God’s Gracious Gift of Salvation This is not from you; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) Paul is emphatic: we have been saved by grace, not […]
There is a sacred space So nurturing and warm There is a sacred space Where Breath gave you your form Within this sacred space Your heart beat strong and true Within this sacred space You ate, and swam, and grew Within this sacred space You sensed, and listen’d, and learned Within this sacred space You […]
The Rev. Billy Graham had a simple message–give your life to Jesus. And that’s exactly what he did. He may have counseled presidents, he may have been the first religious leader to lie in state in the nation’s Capitol, he may have founded a media dynasty, but he always knew who he was. In many […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Exodus 20:1-17 Responsorial: Psalm 19:8-11 2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 Gospel: John 2:13-25 Lent, A Time to Allow the Lord to Set Us Free from Sinful Habits I . . . brought you out of . . . that place of slavery. (Exodus 20:2) Despite […]
I might be a Crazy Fool. After all, I have 6 children under the age of 12, I’m a Catholic, I homeschool, and I’m pregnant. Goodness gracious! To most in our culture, I am a crazy fool. Why would I do such things? The short answer? Because my heart is full of love. The long […]
