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Spirituality
Healing begins with forgiveness
Having a melancholic temperament makes forgiving others quite a feat. As a child, I was sensitive to jesting, even if it was done in a lighthearted and impersonal matter. Because of my insecurities and bottled up shame, I internalized…
God can’t give you what he doesn’t have
I served for a year as a volunteer chaplain in a hospital in Colorado. As I went from room to room to offer conversation, prayer, and the Blessed Sacrament, I met people from all kinds of backgrounds, from a Hollywood set designer and a…
St. Joseph, and love in steel-toe boots
One shivery November night in northern Indiana we went to my brother’s house for a family celebration. My brother worked construction and was still on the job when my sisters, parents, and I arrived. While my brother worked late we and his…
10 simple spiritual resolutions for the new year
Losing weight, eating healthier, exercising more regularly, getting more sleep, or quitting a bad habit probably top your New Year’s resolution list for 2019. Have you thought about making a spiritual resolution for 2019? It’s great to…
December: Old Testament saints?
Sunday of the Holy Forefathers and Feast of the Holy Fathers (Dec.16, 23 this year) If you ever wondered whether the holy men and women of the Old Testament are considered saints by the Church, December has your answer. It contains the…
November: St. Matrona, cross dresser
St. Matrona (fifth century) Feast day: Nov. 9 Here we have a saint who left her husband and daughter to become a monk. Nope. Not a typo. Matrona is complicated. So much so that you might reasonably wonder: Why is this person a saint? Let us…
Let’s talk turkey … and temperance!
The Great Thanksgiving Weigh-In was a short-lived tradition in my extended family. Upon arrival at Grandma’s house, the competing cousins would trek to the bathroom scale and record their weight before eating a morsel. Then they would…
What Halloween, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day teach us about life
Secular culture has brought with it a heap of advantages. For instance, it’s pushed hard for the tolerance of every sort of difference, especially religious differences, for which in an earlier times people were willing to fight and die.…
October: No spell too small
St. Cyprian the Sorcerer (died 304) Feast day: Oct. 2 Just in time for Halloween, this month’s saint was a real charmer. Literally. Don’t get him mixed up with the other, famous, respectable Cyprian who was once bishop of Carthage and is…
The feast of St. Margaret Mary: The apostle of the Sacred Heart
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (feast day Oct. 16) was born in the Diocese of Autun (France) on July 22, 1647, the fifth of seven children. Even as a child she had a deep love for the Lord and always wanted to please him. She was also deeply…
