faith

  • Give

    My mother loved to give gifts. She loved hunting for and concocting just the right present, and she loved nothing more than watching me and my sisters open something great on Christmas morning.   As we got older, she would pick up on some small thing we might say during the year, and make it into…

  • Mercy

    Fr. George rushed in to mass late with apologies and then preached on mercy. He had valid excuses for his tardiness (his car was encrusted in ice and he was inspired to write down a future book idea), but we didn’t need them. His presence and the message were most welcome. The word ‘mercy’ has…

  • Hero’s Journey

    This fall, my daughter took a half-year course called “A Hero’s Journey”, which delved into the theory of Joseph Campbell that all of our favorite stories resonate with us because they follow the same narrative pattern. A hero is separated from what she knows, is tested, receives help, battles and wins, and returns home, not…

  • Communion

    I went to four daily masses this vacation week. I didn’t plan on it, not at first, but it just kind of happened. Pre-breakfast mass with Dad, one with a friend, one for a church event, one a funeral, none in my own parish. The wisdom that poured out of good priests during their homilies…

  • Homily

    I heard the best homily today. It wasn’t a traditional homily, and it wasn’t given by a priest, but there it was at mass, plain enough for anyone to see and hear. And thank God, because on a day like this, when mass was filled with a laborious money ask, the chaos and joy of…

  • Good

    A deacon friend of mine asked me a question after mass, very much out of the blue. He asked, if I could choose one word by which I hoped people would describe me, would I want to be known as ‘holy’ or ‘good’? As a person who thinks frequently about legacy, the question intrigued me,…

  • Go

    Being a mother to children ages nineteen and almost seventeen can be a bewildering, conflicting business. They’re not children, for one. They are somewhere very close to adulthood, and it’s no longer my job to drive them places, or pack snacks or enforce some of the smaller rules I hoped would give structure to their…

  • Long Run

    It’s no new revelation that running mirrors life, but I am learning that long-distance running mirrors it even more clearly. Here are some reasons why. You can’t do it alone. There is just no way I could finish my weekly long run without support. Friends and family who leave and bring water, friends who advise…

  • Settled

    I was sitting on a bench trying to make out a song I heard coming from a truck across a parking lot. I was waiting on a message. As I walked the dog today, I asked God to open the door to my heart and come in for a while and speak. It had been…

  • Word

    Dear God, I’ve been reading about people who are praying, journaling, and thinking all in a quest to find One Word that might give shape and focus to their lives in the new year. And since you made me you know, that kind of thing is totally my jam.   So, I thought I’d go to…