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Spirituality
How I got saved
by Daria Sockey Protestant friends sometimes ask me when I got saved, was born again, or accepted Jesus as my personal savior. This starts a discussion where we define terms, parse Scripture, and make theological distinctions. But I think…
Five steps toward spiritual healing
We all carry both psychological and spiritual wounds that affect our motives, our reactions to other people’s behavior, and the deeper reasons we fear or avoid certain things. When I was in junior high, I dabbled in the occult. My parents…
August: Will the real Hippolytus please stand up?
Remember the 1990s when Ashley, Ashleigh, and Ashlee all ended up in the same kindergarten? That’s what it was like to research St. Hippolytus. I found two different Hippolytuses who claim the feast day, Aug. 13 and a third thrown in on…
Five facts about St. Kateri Tekakwitha
St. Kateri Tekakwitha’s feast day is July 14. Here are five quick facts about her. St. Kateri, pray for us! 1. St. Kateri Tekakwitha was the first Native American saint in the United States and Canada St. Kateri Tekakwitha was a Mohawk…
Superheroes and saints
Superheroes dominate today’s culture. We need only look at the blockbuster films featuring compelling characters with superpowers to know that Hollywood has found a lucrative formula. The enormous success of Marvel and DC films create an…
What my first fishing trip taught me about the Gospels, evangelization, and the spiritual life
The parishes I serve in southern Door and Kewaunee counties in Wisconsin are surrounded by bodies of water. One is close to the Bay of Green Bay, off which, many of my parishioners live. The other is situated closer to Lake Michigan. In my…
Sacred Heart Enthronement
One evening I called down the basement stairs for my eighth grader to come up for dinner. He had gone down to run on our treadmill, but when I opened the door, I didn’t hear the familiar whirring noise, so I went to investigate. I found…
Mother of the Church
Everyone has a mother. Yes, the mother who gave them birth in the physical order of life. But Christian believers have another mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the spiritual order of grace. Jesus willed to give Mary as a mother to the…
June: Weirdos welcome
The feast of All Saints is exactly the same in the East as it is in the West; it’s just on the other side of the year. It always falls on the Sunday following Pentecost, which this year is June 16. On this day, the Eastern Church…
Way of Beauty: Blessed is She
by Gina Loehr Elizabeth filled with the holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41). So Luke tells us in his Gospel account of the Visitation. As her cousin Mary greets her, the elderly woman, who is nonetheless great with child, speaks through the power of…