As I’ve written before, I am not a morning person. I am however a faithful Catholic and sometimes my love for Jesus requires me to do things I don’t want to do. One of these is wake up with enough time to do a morning prayer. It was the First Sunday of Lent and the… [Read More]
The Dedication of Our Lady of Wisdom University Parish
Here in the Diocese of Austin we are blessed to have so many prospering and fruitful college campus ministries serving our the Catholic college students in our diocese stretching from Waco to College Station to San Marcos. It is the Catholic campus ministry in San Marcos that recently celebrated a big milestone in their history!… [Read More]
Your New Catholic Toolkit (Review: “The Confirmed Catholic’s Companion”)
“Now, Lindsay,” you might say, “it’s barely Lent! Confirmation season isn’t for months!” Well, you’re right. It’s not Confirmation season, and except in emergencies, no one is going to be confirmed for at least six more weeks. That makes it the perfect time to consider not only what delightful Catholic reference book you’re going to… [Read More]
Trust issues? I got ’em.
Trust. Now there’s a fun buzz word. We hear this all the time: “What? Don’t you trust me?” “Dude, trust me!” “You have some serious trust issues.” But what is that word, really? According to Webster, trust is the “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something,” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trust). Okay, so… [Read More]
Calling all the Single Ladies!
Girls, if you’re not married and between the ages of 16 and 45, let’s have a chat. Have you considered spending the rest of your life with Jesus as your spouse? The King of Heaven on Earth who knows your heart’s every desire and loves you more than you can possibly imagine? (Or did I… [Read More]
Is Facebook Making You Depressed?
Two-thirds of American adults are on Facebook. 69% of adults in this country find themselves updating their statuses, changing their profile pictures and adding photos and videos to share with family and friends. And according to the PEW Research Center, between Feb. 2005 and August 2006 the use of social networking sites among adult internet… [Read More]
Zombie Survival Guide: Phase 2 Fighting Back!
If you haven’t heard the news today, our world is on the verge of becoming a desolate wasteland. We have been steadily losing faith in our ideals, our institutions, and even our loving creator. Our hope for the future has been shaken by too many missteps and false positives. Division and misunderstanding has eroded the… [Read More]
Getting Over Myself: Battling the Ego in Relationships
You know that moment when you realize that you’re wrong? You’re looking at someone, or maybe you’re by yourself in the car or at work, and it hits you: you messed up. You made a mistake. You did or didn’t do something, and as a consequence, you’ve hurt someone else. As the reality hits you,… [Read More]
My Saturday and Sunday (In Pictures)
When I finally got some time to relax on Sunday evening, I realized that the weekend went by in a flash. Friday, I spent some time helping at a dinner for seminarians who were in town for the Texas Rally For Life. On Saturday, I was at the Texas Rally for Life and this Sunday I… [Read More]
What Love Is
Hey. Wanna try a little experiment? Search the Internet for the definition of “love” and see what you get. I tried this just recently and discovered something rather incredible. Specifically, I wanted to know what our society thinks love is. We as Catholics know that society’s understanding of love is pretty screwed-up, but I wanted… [Read More]
The Pro’s and Con of Dating A Catholic Man
Dating in the secular world is interesting, to put it mildly. It also happens to be confusing, messy, disordered and sometimes scary. I say this because I’ve done it. Because I’ve done it, I have had all too much practice having awkward conversations about why I go to mass as much as possible, why I… [Read More]
Four Words I’ll Never Forget
Four years ago, my son Jonathan found me sitting in front of my laptop, tears running down my cheeks. I had read an email and had been stunned to tears and silence. I was in shock with joy. The email was about Abby Johnson, the director of our local Planned Parenthood (the number one abortion… [Read More]
How to Really Fight Evil (Review: “Messenger”)
I am a sucker for a series. I love Harry Potter, and I used to love The Baby-sitters Club, and I’m really only still watching Glee because I have a great gift for the virtue of hope and I hope it will eventually be good again. Somewhere deep down, though, my belief in eternity makes… [Read More]
St Anthony and Catholic Animals
In the United States, we often celebrate St Francis of Assisi as the great friend of animals in october. There are ever many parishes that even have pet blessings, but many other cultures do this in January. January 17th was the feast of St Anthony the Abbot, and many places, even the Vatican, held their… [Read More]
My Top 5 Reasons to be Married
No One Wants to Get Married Anymore. Look at what our culture sees as entertaining. I know for women, it seems fun to buy clothes from certain stores, not being anchored down by a man, and having the freedom to see whoever you would like. Being independent and successful are also factors that rate a… [Read More]
Youth Ministry Lasts a Lifetime
I’m pretty sure the youth ministry small groups I lead are sick of hearing it, but if it weren’t for kids like them, I wouldn’t be Catholic today. I didn’t grow up in a practicing Catholic family, although I was baptised as an infant. Growing up, material things were all that mattered to me. Especially in high school… [Read More]
The ACTUAL Reason Contraception is Wrong
Lately, I’ve been on the Internet. Depressing, I know. But I have. And in particular, I’ve noticed a widespread rash of anger directed at that crotchety old institution full of crotchety old men with crotchety old ideas: the Catholic Church. Seems there’s this thing happening out there in the “real world” (a phrase whose quotation… [Read More]
Batman vs The Savior We Need
As a newly converted Catholic, I get asked some pesky questions. Cradle Catholics seem to expect me to have taken the time to have a defense for everything or at least some insight into the differences in theology. Once a deacon asked me how I had made it over the ‘Marian Bridge’. The truth is… [Read More]
Connecting 2012’s Dots
I have this favorite quote from Steve Jobs. Now, before you accuse me of fangirling, just know that I try not to be one of those Apple users (you know, the ones that just won’t stop talking about the newest i-whatever) but this particular quote from his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford seems fitting for… [Read More]
A Morning Opposing the Abortion Giant – Reflections From the Sidewalk
It was only 9:37 a.m. on a muggy summer morning in June 2011 and I’d already had one of those mornings that forces you to stop and think about who you are and the world around you. It started off as a photojournalism project. Just a simple photostory. Snap a couple of pictures, record an… [Read More]
Why I Believe in Gay Equality
First things first: I apologize for my extended hiatus from posting blogs. Let’s just say a lot of very significant and life-changing things happened to me one after another. Second things second: I’d like to return to my regularly scheduled programming by speaking about a rather snaggly issue in our state/country/world at the moment: gay… [Read More]
Keeping Advent Holy
Ahhhh, it’s almost December! What a wonderful time of year! We have SO many plans to make it an amazing time for our family! And we have so much to do! We get down décor from the attic. We put together a tree. We start making Christmas lists. The office Christmas party is marked the… [Read More]
What’s Wrong with the Year of Faith?
Sometimes I think in memes. I catch myself thinking “McKayla is not impressed” (disapproval) or of the fist pump baby (approval) in various situations throughout the day. (See Rita’s previous post for some ideas on where to find some funny Catholic ones.) I’m so not sure what that says about me, but that’s okay. The… [Read More]
The House That Grace Builds
In the third grade, my English teacher asked us to write a paper defining love in 500 words. I put all of my third grade wisdom and discipline into the task. I dug down deep to find profound truths and carefully crafted them into intricate yet elementary sentences. When I at last I presented my… [Read More]
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES; or. . Happy Halloween; no just. . RUN FOR YOUR LIVES
Welcome class. My name is professor Taran Heindrich. I am founder of the Austin Institute for the study of the dark forces. This semester I will be teaching you my own patented techniques for aggressive spiritual combat. I would like to begin my classes by saying …RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! Evil is coming for you!… [Read More]
Authenticity & the Year of Faith
I have to be honest. When I heard that the Catholic Church had declared this year the “Year of Faith”, I wasn’t quite sure what to think. Maybe it’s my ‘convert’ status rising up again, but while those around me were excited about the upcoming Year of Faith, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed… [Read More]
A Proposal to the Youth (Review: “YOUCAT, the Youth Catechism”)
I’m a little late in the game, but I’m also right on time for the Year of Faith: I finally took a deeper look into the YOUCAT*. Released to coincide with the last World Youth Day (WYD) and distributed to all official pilgrims, the YOUCAT was written to transmit content based from the Catechism of… [Read More]
Religious and Happy About It (Review: “OyMG”)
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, ends tonight at sundown. That might not be terribly significant to readers of a Catholic blog like ACNM, but it is to me. Not only do my work responsibilities include frequent, delightful interaction with non-Catholic religious professionals, but I like knowing that other religions have non-secularized holidays, too. The… [Read More]
The Divine Eccentric: Caryll Houselander
A while back, I changed the name of my personal blog to ‘The Loveliest Hour‘. I wanted the title to be more specific and meaningful. At the time, I think I envisioned myself writing great commentaries on life and politics and religion and wanted the blog title to be about more than my family. Now,… [Read More]
Unsolicited Advice on Kissing
There’s something to be said for a good kiss. That said, what is to be said cannot be said because it loses something in the saying. So say what you will, but to say that you can say all that needs to be said about a good kiss is to say that you can say… [Read More]
Yeah, I Was SO Drunk. It Was Awesome!
“Yeah, I was so drunk…” I cringe whenever I hear that phrase. Drunkenness. It’s something I’ve never been comfortable hearing about, and definitely don’t like witnessing… Person 1: “So I was at this party, and everyone there was drinking like crazy and by the end of the night I was so drunk… it was awesome.”… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 8
Mission El Salvador Day 8 For our last full day in El Salvador I returned once more to the construction site. There was a foundation still to be dug and I was determined to see it as complete as possible before I left. Others returned to the daycare to get one last day with the… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 7
Mission El Salvador Day 7 Early in the morning of the seventh day of El Salvador I spent delivering supplies to a school in one of the Villages we have worked with here in El Salvador. Meghan delivered supplies to the school and day care in the other. Once again I would like to thank… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 6
Mission El Salvador Day 6 On our sixth morning in El Salvador we made a visit to the grave of former Archbishop of El Salvador Oscar Romero. Romero’s presence is still very much alive in El Salvador today. His grave had been decorated with Balloons and streamers to celebrate his 95 birthday, which is in… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 5
Mission El Salvador Day 5 On our fifth day of the El Salvador mission we acted much more like tourists than missionaries. We drove to Antigua Guatemala, did some quick shopping and then found the Monastery turned hotel turned (five star) restaurant to eat some really good food (and use a good restroom). I’m not… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 4
Mission El Salvador Day 4 For my fourth day in El Salvador, I changed things up yet again and spent most of the day following the project FIAT (Faith In Action Together) nurse as she made her daily rounds. Nurses in El Salvador give a new meaning to the phrase “general specialist.” The Nurse spent… [Read More]
How to Read the Bible
When I was a kid – probably around sixth grade or so – I decided that I wanted to read the Bible. I’d heard a lot about this Jesus fellow at church and in Sunday school, but I’d never actually just sat down and read the book He wrote. So I did. Or at least… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 3
Mission El Salvador Day 3: For the third day I changed villages and jobs. Instead of working construction I worked with the kids at one of the day cares that Sister Gloria started. Like all good students of Catholic Social Teaching Sister Gloria didn’t simply decide she wanted to build a day care and then… [Read More]
Good Where We’ve Been Good Where We’re Going To
When you say yes to something you say no to something else. I learn this adage at a “Protecting Your Goals” class I had the honor of participating in last year. Whether you are addicted to volunteering or superbly balanced in your calendar-planning, this phrase is worth reflecting on. How do your time commitments reflect… [Read More]
Mission El Salvador Day 2
Mission El Salvador Day 2: The missioners in El Salvador truly run the gamut of ages, sexes, professions and experience with mission work. Every night Sister Gloria makes a list of the sites that need workers and what roles (construction or child play) each site needs. She then allows the missioners to assign themselves to… [Read More]
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