My first granddaughter, Arelani, at this writing, is six months old today. I just got a happy text from my daughter to remind me. My daughter’s was a “crisis teen pregnancy,” and it happened at what seemed like the worst time. After a series of recent tragic deaths in my family, the last thing we needed… [Read More]
“My heart will triumph! And yours will, too.”
This is Our Lady’s birthday week. (September 8, is the Nativity of Mary.) I have been thinking about her a lot, and wondering what I could give her for her birthday. While I have been thinking about her, it seems she has been thinking about me, and giving me gifts for her birthday. One who… [Read More]
Recovering from family suicide: a year later
This month, it has been a year since my brother’s suicide. I am a woman much acquainted with grief. But this has been a different kind of grief than I’ve ever experienced before. The shock and constant sense of horror didn’t start to wear off until recently and much of it is still in place…. [Read More]
Embrace the world: How to love in troubled times
Today is the feast day of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, or Edith Stein. She was born into a Jewish family, but became a decided atheist in her youth. She grew into a brilliant intellectual, writer, and philosopher. Her search for truth lead her into the Catholic Church, and into religious life as a… [Read More]
Seven Minute Break With the Holy Spirit
Take a 7 minute break to join me in prayer with the Holy Spirit in this guided meditation. Finding a still, quiet place for your prayer time is recommended. It seems that with all the tumult in the world, and all the urgent prayer requests I have been receiving lately, we could all use… [Read More]
God is here.
God is here. In the middle of the traumatic events of the last several days, in the midst of the anger and grief we are experiencing as a country right now, the Spirit of God moves among us in blossoming uprisings of love, unity, and understanding that surprise and open hearts. You may not have heard… [Read More]
Five minute mystic part II: deeper prayer as a couple
First try I set the timer for an non-intimidating five minutes. We decided to begin with the Our Father, and at the end of the five minutes of silence, to pray the Glory Be. He said he was a little nervous. I agreed that it felt funny. Inner prayer, or “mental prayer,” as St. Teresa… [Read More]
A Commemoration of Bishop-Elect “Fr. David” Konderla
“With great joy, St. Mary’s Catholic Center At Texas A & M announces: “Fr. David” Konderla beloved pastor and director of campus ministry, will be ordained and installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa On June 29, 2016” I remember Fr. David as a grinning, ramrod straight young priest who laughed at… [Read More]
The Hail Mary, the Visitation: a reflection
Mary… the name of that beautiful flower which I always invoke morning and evening.” ~ Dante I remember learning the Hail Mary when I was 20. I was dating the Catholic boy who I would one day marry. I was curious about the Hail Mary, never having heard more than the first line of… [Read More]
Mary teaches Lumen Gentium Chapter VIII
What I want to do is fall to my knees at her feet, to take hold of, and touch to my face, the hem of her long blue skirt. But I can tell she doesn’t want me to do this. What she really wants is some help in the kitchen. She motions to me to… [Read More]
A Mother’s letter to her daughter for her Confirmation
“Mary treasured all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) Dear Roise, Treasuring the life of her child is what a mother does. At this culminating moment in our lives, as you prepare for your Confirmation, this letter is a reflection, a letter of love, encouragement and appreciation, and it is a… [Read More]
Selah: pause, lift up, praise
I was a young widow running through the house kicking toys out of my way, spilling my coffee, responding to a loud crash at the other end of the house. I had been cooking, having invited somebody over for dinner, (what was I thinking,) my toddler was running from the scene of the crime, my… [Read More]
Carmel-covered: My life as a Carmelite
During my years of Carmelite formation, and through my time since I made my final promise as a Discalced Carmelite Secular, my spiritual life has changed immeasurably. I feel I could say, as Alice did to the caterpillar, “I really don’t know, Sir! I’ve changed so many times since this morning, you see.” I sometimes… [Read More]
Stabat Mater: the strength to be still
She remained still, even inside herself. She was still because she was listening for God, and she was occupied with His will, and, because of her love, being completely present as the unthinkable happened to her Son. The Scripture says only that she was there. There was no way her instincts as a mother were… [Read More]
A Message in the Desert
When your heart says to God, “you have cut off my life like a weaver severs the last thread, “ when you’re alone in the desert on a cold night with no fire, and you’ve never known such emptiness or alienation and you say in your alarm, “no man can can be trusted!” When your life is… [Read More]
Let yourself be loved: a challenge for Lent
The sunlight obscures him in its intense brightness on the horizon, but I can still see his figure walking ahead as I follow at a distance. I have to run a little just to keep him in sight. I am wondering if he wanted some desert alone time and whether I should let him… [Read More]
Tending the Souls of Aggie Catholics: an interview with Sister Celestina Menin of the Apostles of the Interior Life
Recently, St. Mary’s held a “School of Prayer.” This was a series of talks on various forms of prayer as a response to popular request from the students. The Busy Student’s Retreat is largely based on daily spiritual direction over a week’s time, and is very successful here. I asked Sister Celestina if that enthusiasm… [Read More]
The Soul Perks of Care- Giving
When I get home from work, my hair is messier than usual, my back might be a little sore, but I am tired in the best way I can think of. Care-giving as an aide is hard physical, emotional and spiritual work. Just try dressing an adult who is a dead weight, bathing a dying… [Read More]
Garden of mercy: a meditation on Misericordiae Vultus (The Face of Mercy by Pope Francis)
In Misericordiae Vultus, (“The Face of Mercy,”) the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy from Pope Francis, he has given us new seeds, a bright and verdant diagram, a vision of joy, a plan of hope for the renewal of the “oasis of mercy” that is the Church, and of the the living… [Read More]
Home for the Holidays: a reflection on the Octave of Christmas
I know you might feel a little wilted, Reader, after all the Christmas presents and family and food (and sugar, etc.) I do too. I kind of like it though. The Octave of Christmas is a peaceful time. I deeply enjoyed Christmas Eve with my daughters and our boyfriends. It went well, and… [Read More]
Sunrise: through the dark faith of Advent to the brightness of Christmas
Traveling through Advent with grief this year has led to me to soul search about what Christmas is, and, in the process, to notice similarities between the journey of Advent into Christmas and the stages of the soul’s progression into the heart of God. According to Carmelite spirituality, the soul first travels through and away… [Read More]
Living and Praying a Novena
A novena can be a special time between God and the praying soul, a pilgrimage of transformation and insight, as well as a way of “storming heaven,” with a petition. A novena prayed with faith is also a time of expectant waiting. Whatever I am praying for, I try to ask with… [Read More]
Parish Spotlight: St. Anthony’s in Bryan
This piece is one of a series in which ACNM is featuring different parishes of the Austin Diocese, so we can all get to know one another better, increase our sense of community, and grow in unity. “It makes you feel so Catholic to come in here!” This is what my youngest daughter, Roise, has said,… [Read More]
Prayer is Love, Love is Prayer: A reflection on praying with and for the dead
November is the month the praying Church dedicates to remembrance of the dead. As one whose life has been especially marked by death and grief, my prayer with and for the dead is an important part of my spiritual life. However, my devotion tends more toward relationship than specific set prayers for them, though I… [Read More]
8 Minute Guided “Prayer of Recollection” of St. Teresa of Avila [Audio Post]
Prayer Break! Take a break in your day and enter into interior prayer in this brief, guided version of the Prayer of Recollection of St. Teresa of Jesus, with Shawn. Whoever has not begun the practice of prayer, I beg for the love of the Lord, not to go without so great a… [Read More]
Friendship with Mary: Teresian Prayer and the Rosary
The rosary has been a part of my spiritual life since I learned it from my first husband, Blaze, during our courtship, years before I was ever Catholic (or Christian at all.) It became a natural part of my daily life over the years and has grown and changed with my prayer life. As… [Read More]
Soul-surviving in the wake of a family suicide
Four weeks ago the person who has been closest to me all my life, my brother, Mark, (I just called him “Brother” and he called me, “Sister,”) who was like my other self, committed suicide. We were scared and worried about him. But we didn’t think this would happen. Then it happened. He was dead…. [Read More]
Chaplet of the Child Mary
The Chaplet of the Child Mary (to be prayed on ordinary rosary beads) written by me in honor of Our Lady’s Birthday Make the sign of the cross and pray the Sh’ma, a prayer the little Mary would have grown up reciting every day with her Jewish family and community. Hear, O Israel: The… [Read More]
Asking Back: Asking Jesus His Own Question
We are sitting in a bar on a hot summer day. I stare at my dejected feet on the bar stool, then out the door at the hot day, the burning sidewalk, the occasional overheated human being passing by. I don’t want to look at him, though I am relieved by his presence. I glance… [Read More]
Clothesline (a Summer Poem)
The hours of this day stretch out before me Like sheets on a clothesline. I know I need to take them And fold them, Arrange them neatly, That they might fulfill their purpose. But I am mesmerized by their gentle movement in the breeze, By the white morning sun’s shimmering glow on them as they… [Read More]
Lectio for Lovers: Praying Lectio Divina as a Couple
In silent open-ness to God, we set aside our own agendas and open ourselves to God’s agenda, which is always love, love, and more love. What could be better than that? Lectio Divina (Holy Reading) is an ancient Christian way to pray the Scriptures. It involves reading a passage of the Bible, listening to God… [Read More]
Mary, Sister of the Carmelite Soul
We are holding hands as we walk together along a rocky path on a hot July evening. We are talking about this and that. She asks me questions, listens thoughtfully as I talk about my life. She has a lot going on too, these days, and she unburdens her heart to me about her work,… [Read More]
The Story of San Salvador Mission
She remembers walking barefoot on pilgrimage up the road to San Salvador Mission as a child, praying the rosary together with her family and friends, each August, lead by her grandmother, Ouida, to commemorate a healing, a vision, and a community coming together in response to a message from Heaven to build a church. She… [Read More]
Easy Green: A Reflection on Ordinary Time
My daughter, Maire, got in trouble at her Catholic middle school for wearing green nail polish, which was against the rules. (Only clear or light pink nail polish allowed, if I remember right.) When asked about her indiscretion, she said, “It’s for Ordinary Time!” I laughed hearing about that. At least she remembered what season… [Read More]
Holy Naps
When I go to sleep, I take time, after I get comfortable, to let myself be loved and to feel that God surrounds and fills me with His loving, protective presence. Early in my young widowhood, I used to make it a habit to say, as I sank into my bed, “Into Your hands, I… [Read More]
Novena to the Holy Spirit for Pentecost (or any time, really)
Special Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 1 Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and kindle in us the Fire of Love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created and You Shall renew the face of the earth. O God who instructs us by the light of the Holy Spirit grant us… [Read More]
No Room at the Inn: an ongoing true story
My youngest daughter begged me to help a friend of hers whose family had no place to live. It was an emergency situation. They had tried everything. Her friend had come to her in tears- a friend who I had only ever seen smile and laugh- a kid I remembered by his radiant smile. This… [Read More]
“God is it!” Facing the fear of loss
Something was wrong that day. I kept thinking maybe it was the pain med I was giving him for his broken ribs making him loopy. But something was wrong and I knew it. With an anguished heart I kept walking out into the back yard and breaking down sobbing, begging God to help us. I… [Read More]
Midwifery and Hospice: Andrea’s Spirituality of Service
Seventeen years ago, my youngest daughter, Roise, (pronounced “Rose,”) was born at home, at sunrise. My dear friend, a nurse and midwife, Andrea, put her on my stomach. My baby looked up at me with frightened eyes, and said “Oh! Oh! Oh!” As her dad, who was in our bed holding me, sobbed with joy,… [Read More]
Luke Interviews Mary: the Annunciation
After the breaking of the Bread and the Prayers in the house of John the Apostle, when all the others had left, Mary sat me down, bringing me water and a plate of olives. She walked quickly through the house, putting things away, straightening mats, stirring a stew she was making for John and me… [Read More]
