making sense of life in the details
Last Sunday, we gathered in the early morning with some friends who have not returned to our Catholic chapel community since March. We brought chairs and spread them out physically distanced across our sweet friends’ big backyard on a beautiful Sunday morning. We sat in masks, made the sign of the cross, sang, practiced Lectio Divina, prayed... Continue Reading →
Have you ever heard someone say they were “raised Catholic?” or were you raised Catholic yourself? Me too. There’s a lot of us, “raised” from birth as “cradle Catholics”. Strangely, you hear these descriptors far less among people of other faiths. I don’t often hear about people who were “raised“ Jewish, or of “cradle” Protestant Christians or Muslims. The idea... Continue Reading →
I woke up this morning really missing my pre-COVID life, specifically teaching early childhood music in person in classrooms with real human kiddos. I’m working hard at making remote classes work in some of my usual settings, but as of now there are three schools plus a children’s museum for which my connection has been totally... Continue Reading →
Hey there, Catholic friend, I see you. You were brought up with CCD and necco wafer communion and mass. You gave up candy for Lent, ate fish sticks on Fridays, and know the meaning of a Holy Day of Obligation (get thyself to church). Your grandmother or some other sweet church lady used to pray the rosary... Continue Reading →
In the past several weeks, it has become clear that American Catholics have both a new opportunity and responsibility to do something with which they may not have a lot of practice: spiritual discernment. In the time since the obligation and practice of mass attendance was suspended in March, individual Catholics have relied on their... Continue Reading →
I was watching this video last night and was about half-way through when I burst into tears. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUtll3mNj5U It’s a collaboration of over 65 churches and Christian movements in the UK, their music ministers calling down blessings over their country. And if you watch their faces, you see their connection to the Holy Spirit,... Continue Reading →
I’m a Catholic and my heart is broken, again. An audio recording of a meeting between Catholic bishops and President Trump reveals a modern-day exchange of silver. Catholic school funding + defense of the pro-life cause = political support and Catholic votes. Never mind this administration’s horrific, bungling, and careless late response to the pandemic,... Continue Reading →
It’s Good Friday, and in this coronavirus time, we’re not gathering in our churches for the Stations of the Cross or for the services we’re used to. We’re not venerating the Cross or singing the solemn songs together. It may be harder for Christians to enter into the Story than it’s been in Holy Weeks... Continue Reading →
I’m a Catholic making beef stew today on a Friday during Lent and I’m not going to eat it. But, Kerry, I hear you saying, didn’t you hear that your local Cardinal Sean O’Malley lifted the obligation to abstain from meat during Lent due to the coronavirus? Yes, friend, I did hear that news, but... Continue Reading →
In this time of crisis, we’re being stripped of quite a lot. Roles, practices, relational habits and interaction, labels, even jobs or our health. In addition, the way we practice our faith has completely changed. Within my own church tradition, Catholics are being told we can confess our sins directly to God without a priest... Continue Reading →
