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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Holy Women's History Month | Lenten Reflections | catholic mom | women's history month
I first met Elisabeth Leseur on the pages of the Catholic monthly publication Magnificat, which published one of her writings as a daily meditation. When I learned about The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur, I knew I had to buy it. As a lifelong journal-keeper, I felt an immediate kinship with her. The more I learned about Elisabeth, the more humbled I was by her life. This upper-class Frenchwoman who died at 48 from cancer counted among her sufferings the atheism of her beloved husband, Felix. Although she grew in holiness and piety during their marriage, she maintained a gracious quiet about her convictions when interacting with her husband or his like-minded friends. She kept her own counsel and wrote in her private journal about her developing faith life — a life she could not share with the one she loved the most. Her spiritual isolation brought great suffering, which she offered for her husband. When Felix discovered the journals after her death, he was moved to revisit the Catholic faith he had abandoned so many years before. He returned to the Church and later became a priest. He also published her beautiful writings and reflections on faith. By 1930, the book had sold 100,000 copies and had been translated into every major European language. Prefer to Listen—Audio version available!
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Holy Women's History Month | Lenten Reflections | catholic mom | women's history month
My small group of seventh graders never stopped talking as they clustered over the posterboard, hands scrabbling for a specific color marker for the lesson activity. As they began drawing or writing about the people or resources they rely on in their daily life that helps them stay focused on God and honoring His Commandments, I stood back a bit noticing the framed icon of our parish patron saint behind them on the wall watching over us. Saint Angela Merici. Before arriving at this parish over a decade ago, I knew nothing about Saint Angela, so it surprised me that when asked about a Holy Woman who inspired me in some way, hers was the first name to come to mind. Upon reflection, I recognized how this Holy Woman revealed herself to me quietly, behind the scenes, piece by piece over time, becoming an impressive influence on my spiritual growth. Prefer to Listen—Audio version available!
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Blessed Basil Moreau | Book Review | Living the Faith
Moreau: Portrait of a Founder paints a vivid image of the life, times, and struggles of Blessed Basil Moreau and his efforts to form the Congregation of Holy Cross. The merits of this biography lie in the extensive use of primary sources from the time, in particular Blessed Moreau’s own writings, whether letters, published articles, homilies, or other such sources. The use of these sources provides a rich look into the mind of Moreau and his development spiritually. The adept narration of Fr. Barrosse, C.S.C. provides the necessary context, both historically and culturally, to better understand Blessed Moreau, while also letting Moreau speak for himself.
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Learn more about our faith | Seasonal Reflections
We’ve probably all had times when we’ve been trying to tell a story or explain something that it goes off the rails…we might even classify it as babbling. In Jesus teaching the disciples about prayer, He makes several points. The first is don’t pray to God the way that the pagans pray by babbling on…. more words don’t equal better results. Jesus isn’t telling them or us not to pray persistently throughout the day but rather to avoid what the pagans did in praying to their gods, invoking names and formulas…trying to get the attention of the pagan gods; in a sense trying to rouse the attention of those whose attention is elsewhere.
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Holy Women's History Month | Lenten Reflections | catholic mom | women's history month
It seemed like the thing a good Catholic would do, and I was nothing if not a new, enthusiastic, join-everything-do-all-the-things Catholic. Eucharistic Adoration. An hour! In silence! In the church! Wait. What?!? Over the course of my early years in Adoration, I learned to sit in the silence. I learned to have a conversation of sorts with God. I learned to accept the discomfort and peace and weirdness of it all. And I read. Boy, did I read. (Though not nearly as much as I thought I would.) One of the books I discovered during Adoration was Divine Mercy in My Soul, the diary of Maria Faustina Kowalska, who would, in 2000, be canonized. The red tome was tucked among the small collection of books the Adoration organizers had put in the back of the church. My husband — who was then just a guy I was dating and probably going to marry — started reading it during his Adoration hour. He who does NOT read for fun reads Faustina’s diary cover to cover. All five million pages of it. And … he casually mentioned that I should check it out. Prefer to Listen—Audio version available!
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Learn more about our faith | Seasonal Reflections
A few years ago, a bus driver in Seattle named Marcus made headlines—not for any heroics, but for noticing people. Every day, he would watch passengers board his bus, many were his regular passengers, and most of them eyes glued to phones, avoided an older woman who was also his regular passenger in a frayed coat muttering to herself. One icy morning, Marcus saw this elderly woman shivering and he handed her his own thermos of coffee. She stared at him, then whispered, “You’re the first person who has looked at me in weeks.” Turns out, she wasn’t “crazy”—just a widow grieving her son, quietly unraveling. Marcus didn’t fix her life. He just saw her. And in that moment, he glimpsed eternity. That’s the scandal of today’s Gospel. Jesus says the final exam of faith isn’t theology or piety—it’s whether we recognize Him hiding in plain sight, disguised as the people we have trained ourselves not to see.
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