making sense of life in the details
Hi friends, I'm five short episodes into the Raised Catholic podcast and I was hoping to get your feedback so I can see if I'm on the right track so far. With the podcast, I am hoping to build a space for cradle Catholics (and others - all are welcome!) who might be struggling with... Continue Reading →
If you dropped onto this planet somewhere in America in the past few years and learned about what it means to be Christian or Catholic-Christian strictly from what you saw from vocal national church leaders and from church-aligned media, you might draw some conclusions about the nature and purpose of Christianity and the Church. You... Continue Reading →
I was listening to a podcast which addressed the huge drop in church attendance in America this year. There was a pastor on who explained some of the statistics and the reasons why people aren’t returning to church: fear of getting sick during a pandemic, a break in spiritual habits and patterns, anger at the losses... 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 →
Last week I was on my way to an outdoor mass when the skies began to look threatening. Sure enough, as I pulled up, people were headed inside due to impending rain, and I found myself in overflow, socially distant seating downstairs in a church basement. Happy that the parish took such care to keep... Continue Reading →
I was walking in one of my favorite places just now when I saw this wooden chapel birdhouse. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed it. In fact, I’ve taken hundreds of pictures of it over the years, in every time and season. Sometimes the leaves are green and full as they are today. Sometimes... Continue Reading →
I spent the afternoon away from home, walking and praying and asking God to speak into my next steps. There is so much up in the air. I’m a preschool music teacher who doesn’t yet know if the schools will open in the fall, or whether there will be funding for my programs, or whether singing... 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 →
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 →
I remember one morning from a few years ago. It was very early, before the sun was even up, and I was driving my high school daughter to a waiting bus for her Washington DC class trip. I hugged her and watched the bus pull away, and on the way home, saw the sun was... Continue Reading →
