Emotionally exhausted, I let go and made a decision I was hoping would lessen the trauma I was dealing with. I didn't want to think. I didn't want to feel hurt. I shut out all the hurt and decided to focus on happy endings, be witty, and pretend to be dumb just to...
That Little Feeling You Can’t IgnoreHave you ever had one of those moments where you just feel this irresistible pull? Like a tiny “nudge” in your heart that pushes you to act, simply because you know deep down it’s the right thing to do? Have you ever felt that kind...
Several hours before the first pitch is thrown, players slowly trickle into a quiet stadium. As they enter the clubhouse, a few different activities have already begun. The equipment manager, or “clubbie,” is hanging jerseys. The trainer is loading ice into an...
How many of you are still keeping to your New Year's resolutions? Unfortunately, these are, for many, already a distant and slightly embarrassing memory. Some of you may have even already fallen off the wagon for your Lenten practices. If you have, or you didn’t even...
When God is our strength, it is strength indeed; when our strength is our own, it is only weakness.” — St. Augustine. Self-reliance, relying on our own strength, will never give us the outcome or the grace we need along the way—generally speaking, in life or in...
I had no idea what I was getting into when I accepted a co-worker’s challenge to sign up for a Cursillo weekend. I had moved to Pennsylvania just a few months before and was still getting my bearings. I was interested in growing in my faith and meeting people who...
This article was originally published HERE. Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual...
Every so often, someone discovers the word “unicorn” in an old English Bible and instantly assumes Scripture is a Narnia prequel. Or that they got a fanfic Bible or something. And honestly, I get it. The mental image of a lone unicorn trotting through the wilderness...
After several years of wishing for spiritual resources for neurodivergent people from a Catholic perspective, I collaborated with Father Mark P. Nolette, an autistic Catholic priest, to create Autism Consecrated in 2020. Our website aims to be a point of contact for...
Most people do not withdraw from relationships because they are unloving.They withdraw because they are wounded. In families especially, proximity can feel perilous. Wounded history accumulates like unspoken debt. Words linger long after they are spoken. Reactions...
Most of our fears as young kids revolve around nighttime. As we grow up, the tools we're taught stay with us. Whether you've got young ones or older ones (or fears yourself), you can keep it simple with these ways my husband and I fight fears with our kids. What...
Throughout history, Catholics—both religious and lay—have actively engaged in efforts to end war, poverty, hunger, and injustice. From vastly different disciplines and corners of the world, they have placed their lives at the service of peace, following Jesus’...
Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.Jacob’s well was there.Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well.It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water.Jesus said to...
“It all just feels so pointless.” A few days into Lent, a good friend shared these words with me about the practices she decided to adopt for the season. This friend, enduring a time of trial in her life, felt incapable of doing anything grand for the penitential...
Links to purchase: Eternize Crucifix, Family Stations of the Cross, All About Lent, The Days of Lent Coloring & Activity Book, A King Washes Feet, Stations of the Cross More Lent Resources HERE!...
Significant changes mark this season of my life. The biggest being my transition from college to post-college. I like to use the actual seasons to help describe the kind of season I’m in: rest reminds me of lying out and feeling the summer heat. I feel the crisp...
Triumph of the Heart "In the harrowing confines of Auschwitz's starvation cell, Catholic priest St. Maximilian Kolbe volunteers to die in place of another prisoner, joining nine others condemned by the Nazis. As despair and fear grip the group, the pressures of...
It is common to enter dry spells in one’s marriage. Those warm and fuzzy feelings during the honeymoon phase sometimes come and go, affected by hormones, fatigue, and various stages of life. Even still, I know that it can be unsettling. You’ve committed to spending...
When you first meet someone, you’re curious to know them. You want to know how old they are, where they grew up, what they currently do, their best memories, etc. Perhaps, they’ll share with us something very unexpected — their vast knowledge of electric fish in...
When I became Catholic fifteen years ago, I was amazed by all the organizations available to Catholic laypeople. They are the outward, organizational expressions of our “Catholicity”, our call to worship, to serve, to pray, to evangelize. I bet anyone reading this...
Every January, many women enter the new year with sincere intentions and clear goals—only tofeel discouraged when those resolutions fall apart a few weeks later. The problem isn’t a lack ofdiscipline or desire. More often, it’s that we jump straight into what we...
To commemorate the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s death, Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed that from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027, Catholics will celebrate a Franciscan Jubilee Year - a Special Year of St. Francis of Assisi! The faithful have been granted the...
When I was in high school, I was t-boned by a truck. The light had just changed from red to green, and, naively, I hit the gas without checking to the left or right. The truck that struck me, driver-side, right about the front tire, was unforgiving to my parents’...
Holiness often hides in overlooked places. Sometimes it takes the form of a quiet act of service or a simple job no one else notices. Few saints reveal this better than Saint André Bessette, the humble Holy Cross brother whose perseverance transformed not only his own...
Ten seconds. Ten measly seconds. That’s all it takes to ruin your day—and maybe even your life. Your teacher catches you copying off the student next to you. You blow a semester of your kid’s tuition on a bad bet. You take a drink for the first time in four years. Ten...