Several of you kids have told me, at one time or another “Mom, you should write a book.” Having friends who are authors and seeing the immense amount of work that goes into such an undertaking…no way. Lol  But with all the hospitalizations the past couple years, I did start feeling like I should write some things down, and that “feeling” grew into an unmistakable, persistent nudge, which I recognize from a whole life of listening for it.  I see too many people leaving our beautiful faith because they never fully understood it. There are so many distractions in this world– a game to go to! A movie to watch! Friends to see! With all these distractions, you aren’t necessarily taking to heart what your Momma is trying to teach you about faith. You think “yeah yeah, I’ll get to that later.” When you are young, eternity seems very far away. I don’t think you fully understand yet that this world, everything we see around us, is not what we were made for. When you become adults, espe...

In honor of our Blessed Mother’s Nativity on September 8, I wanted to share why I love Mary.  Because I grew up without motherly love, I had a harder time relating to Mary as an evangelical-turned-Catholic. (I’ll share my conversion story later. I’m trying to write stuff down as it comes up.) Even after I understood why it was right to honor her and ask for her prayers, even as I understood how powerful the rosary is, I never felt gushy about Mary as a lot of Catholics do.  The love has come over time and with personal experiences. Loving Mary is not idolatry.  An idol is something that takes the place of God. Something that has greater importance in someone’s life than God. You can make anything an idol. Sunday sports. Work. Another person. Whatever  gets in the way of worshipping God. We Catholics don’t love Mary instead of Jesus or more than Jesus. If you think we worship Mary, you might be surprised to attend a Catholic Mass (worship service) and hear her mentio...

(OK, spoiler alert...they don't.) I was nondenominational when I first met cradle-Catholic Greg. One of the first things I wanted to know was who do Catholics worship? I saw them wearing crucifixes, I know they have Bibles and say the Lord’s Prayer, but they also had statues of Mary and a bunch of other people they prayed to. It confused me. “You say you believe in the Bible. But why do you pray to and worship Mary and the saints? That goes against the Bible." Catholics DON’T worship saints, Mary, or any other creature. We honor them, but we only worship God.  “Well, why do you pray to them then?” What we actually do is ask those who are in heaven, in God’s presence, to pray with us and for us. The reason we ask the saints to pray for us can be summed up in two sentences:  1. We believe ”The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.” ( James 5:16 ) 2. And we believe in the Communion of Saints. The Church is Christ’s body with Christ as the head ( Eph 5:23 ), an...

It is customary for Catholics to have a small prayer garden or garden devoted to our Blessed Mother. In this quiet little space we can come to sit in peace, to be reminded to pray, and to leave all our cares at the feet of our Lord and our Blessed Mother.   My patio prayer garden is where I enjoy making my rosaries .  Prayer gardens do not have to be elaborate to bring peace and reflection. Here are 4 easy steps to get started. 1. Choose a space outdoors where you naturally gravitate to feel at peace. Is it under a tree in your back yard? On your patio? On your apartment balcony? 2. Intentionally set aside that space for prayer and reflection. 3. Choose plants that will adapt to the amount of sunlight and moisture in your space. You can plant flowers or you can choose and arrange potted plants.  4. Choose an item that reminds you to pray. A cross? A statue? A water fountain? You can buy something, you can browse flea markets, or you can create something yourself. You don’...

 Our family has started the 54 Day Rosary Novena, and I hope you will join us.  Now, more than ever, Christians need to be united, praying for our world, praying for peace.  If you are seeing this "too late", it's OK, start now!  If you can't pray a whole rosary, just pray one decade. If you are "too busy", pray in your car, in the waiting room, at lunch, wherever you are. If you miss a day, pick up where you left off the next day.  Just start praying...and keep going! If you need a rosary, just ask. I have free rosaries available. Or look around in my Etsy shop for the one that draws you.

 Today is the Feast of the Assumption, the day Catholics celebrate Mary being assumed into heaven. There is a lot of misinformation about what Catholics actually believe about Mary. We are regularly accused of being idolaters and Mary-worshippers. If you want to talk to Catholics about our beliefs, you won't get anywhere by accusing us of something we don't believe and don't do. (Here’s what we actually believe and practice .) We regularly hear "but that's not in the Bible!" Maybe not explicitly, but definitely implicitly. (Like the doctrine of the Trinity.) It was St. Augustine who said “The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed." Many of our Catholic beliefs about Mary flow from our understanding that she is the Ark of the New Covenant.  The old Ark of the Covenant contained mere symbols: the Ten Commandments, manna, and Aaron’s staff. Mary contained within her womb the fulfillment of those symbols—the Word Incarnate, the Bread of ...

The Divine Mercy is one of my favorite devotions. The message is simple--Jesus wants us to turn from our sins, ask for His mercy for ourselves and others, be merciful to others, and to trust completely in His mercy. I have found this devotion to be very powerful in my own life, and I try to pause and say the prayers at 3:00pm, the hour of Divine Mercy.  The novena (nine day prayer) traditionally begins on Good Friday and concludes on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter. But of course, you can begin the novena, pray the chaplet, or say the prayers at any time.  The chaplet may be said using regular rosary beads. As with the rosary, you may follow along on a free app.  Amen  is one of my favorites. It also contains the prayers for the novena. Begin my making the Sign of the Cross. "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Next, say the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Apostles' Creed. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, t...

  Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.  God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Formed by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mother, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Substantially united to the Word of God, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Of Infinite Majesty, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Holy Temple of God, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Tabernacle of the Most High, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, House of God and Gate of Heaven, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Burning Furnace of charity, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Vessel of Justice and love, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Full of goodness and love, Have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Abyss of all virtues, ...

If you are new to praying the rosary, it may be helpful to follow along with an app , video or podcast. A search on platforms like YouTube, Spotify, or Apple will yield numerous results! Listen to a couple; you may find you prefer a certain voice or background music over the others. How to Pray a Rosary 1. Hold the crucifix and make the Sign of the cross. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” 2. Still holding the crucifix, say the Apostles' Creed. “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church...