I’ve been thinking about life-changing moments. Those moments that profoundly change your world and your perspective, and how some happen when you are young, like taking your first step, or driving alone for the first time. One of my early life-changing moments had a profound impact on why I still care so much about the church and its changing landscape. I grew up in the pre-Vatican II church, and I took to church like a fish to water. Being a girl, I also knew my place. I

Last week it became public knowledge that Fr. Frank, the Vice President of the Paulist Fathers, had been suspended from his priestly duties after admitting, with great remorse, to having made unwelcome sexual advances towards an adult woman. A spiritual leader had fallen and when that happens, the debris field is scattered far and wide. When the news broke at my Paulist parish, a friend asked me if I had heard. Once she was aware that I had, her body language changed. This

We are often told that one of the most important ways to stay healthy is to keep moving - not to become sedentary. But human nature is forever tempting us to do just the opposite. We might prefer to order in, and vicariously enjoy adventures like Survivor or Lord of the Rings, rather than make the effort to explore for ourselves. The need to keep moving applies to our spiritual well-being as well as our physical well-being. God has been nudging us to move, to wander, to grow,

If you are like me, you may be emotionally and spiritually exhausted from the animosity and polarization that exists in our society and Church today. I want to tell you the story of a time I went from prejudice to admiration – a time when the hospitality and giving of the other, not only changed me, but produced something innovative and Spirit-filled in the Church. Facebook brought this to mind when it reminded me that my friend, Linda, was having a birthday. As I went to wri

Abortion is the loudest, most contentious topic in American politics and culture today. For the American Catholic Church, abortion has become the one topic that is indisputable - that brooks no conversation. The magnitude of this issue, the deep emotions, anger, and righteousness that swirls around abortion seems to have created a hopeless divide between the “pro-choice” and the “pro-life” movements. But, as Dr. Tricia Bruce of Notre Dame University’s McGrath Institute for C

Last week the CDC announced that the U.S. is out of the pandemic stage of the coronavirus. We are beginning to stick our heads outside of the cave and wonder, as the New Yorker cartoon puts it, “Who even are we?” Perhaps a good place to start figuring that out is to ask ourselves this question: What pre-pandemic habits do we want to leave behind? I’ll get the ball rolling with this thought. I think we Catholics need to leave behind our tendency not to speak up about our f

The older I get, the more violence disturbs me. Every weeknight, I take my psychic temperature to see if I can tolerate watching the violence that will appear on the national news that evening. I drum up the courage to “stay informed” about twice a week. This weekend is Palm Sunday and many Christian churches will be hearing the Passion of Jesus read aloud. Once again, we come face-to-face with the crucifixion – an act of violence which, like the Ukraine War, the January 6th

Civil Administration Building, Vatican City For many Catholics, when we think of the Vatican, we imagine St. Peter’s Basilica with its giant plaza out front, or we think of the Pope, or perhaps the Sistine Chapel. We seldom think of the Curia - the warren of offices and departments, and the 5,000 people who make up the administrative arm of the church universal. If we think about it at all, the Curia seems far away and out of touch, and has little to do with us. Currently, s

The universal Catholic Church is currently engaged in a massive world-wide undertaking. Pope Francis has called for a synod, which is a church gathering that goes back to biblical times (Acts 1:12-17). It usually consists of bishops who gather under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to discuss and decide on matters of Church life and mission. This synod is quite different. It will eventually end up in the hands of the bishops, but Pope Francis is reaching out to every Catholic

In his Wednesday general audience a few weeks ago, Pope Francis talked about declining fertility rates, especially in developing countries, and the growing tendency for couples to choose to remain childless. He asked that couples be open to the gift of life and to the future of the human family. I'm on Team Francis. I applaud these remarks, but I wish he had left it at that. In off-the-cuff comments, the Pope then lamented that some couples prefer pets to children, calling th

I have never been attracted to saying the rosary. That said, I love rosary beads. There are five sets in my nightstand that I have acquired over the years. I appreciate the various stones and crosses used to produce these little works of art. Sometimes at night when I find it hard to sleep I’ll hold a rosary in my hand. The tactile experience of holding a rosary - feeling the stones warm as I grasp them, comforts me and helps me get back to sleep. So in some respects you mi

Our parish grammar school had a long-time first grade teacher who developed a method of classroom management that bordered on genius. Ms. Kasel “caught students being good.” She became so associated with this phrase that when she retired, a sign was hung over her classroom door that still reads “Caught Being Good.” I saw first-hand the magic in this method when I was chaplain to the first grade. Each year when she introduced me for the first time, she told the class that I t

I’ve had the pleasure of co-leading two retreats recently: one for women and the other for men. When I introduced myself, I mentioned that my Catholic husband and I raised four children Catholic and that only one remains Catholic. At both retreats this statement triggered intense emotions in mothers and fathers whose children no longer practice the Catholic religion. No words adequately describe the jumble of emotions a parent experiences when an adult child does not follow

Emerson said that life is a succession of lessons that must be lived in order to be understood. Religion is the same way. Here are 5 experiences I’ve had with Catholicism and the lessons I’ve learned from them. Lesson One: Never Discount Mystery As my grandmother lay unconscious and dying in a hospital, my mother kept vigil at her bedside. Although grandma had been unconscious for a number of days, unable to communicate, she suddenly sat up in bed, opened her eyes, and wit

Today I want to highlight three practical aspects of Catholicism that mean the world to me. Retreat Houses Dotted across this country and throughout the world - in cities and remote locations alike, you will find Catholic retreat houses. These are not the places with rope courses, baseball games or bar-b-ques where office mates can go to bond and strategize. These are houses of prayer and tranquility. Nature is often a focal point, and your spiritual renewal is their objecti

When my daughters were little, we stayed away from Barbie dolls. They were too sexualized for my taste. The girls grew up with lots of stuffed animals, and a stable full of My Little Ponies. They played team sports and read The Giving Tree and Shel Silverstein poems. When I reentered toy world as a grandmother, I discovered that Barbie had rebranded herself. Although she is still quite fashion-minded, there are now role model Barbies that are dressed for various careers. Ther

Not long ago, I spent a weekend with my son and daughter-in-law in Concord, Massachusetts. We visited Walden Pond, a national historical landmark that pays tribute to the pond’s famous lodger, Henry David Thoreau. For two years, Thoreau lived in a cabin on the shore of Walden Pond, and the writing he did there became the foundation for Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Near the site of Thoreau’s cabin, we watched as visitor after visitor picked up a stone and added it to a seri

When I was a young girl there was an old upright piano in our garage. Only the top third of the keys worked, but I took to that piano like a duck to water. When my father came home in the evenings from working in the oil fields, he’d clean up in the garage before coming into the house for dinner. I would serenade him with a very high-pitched version of “Silent Night,” whether or not it was the Christmas season. I thought about that old piano after an experience I had one Sun

I’m told that an identity crisis isn’t a diagnosable condition (except for dissociative identity disorder), so there aren’t any typical “symptoms,” like those of a cold or flu. But I believe the following three signs indicate that we, the Body of Christ, are smack in the middle of one: 1. We’re questioning who we are. The ground is shifting under our collective church feet, and we are trying to figure out what being “Catholic” means. Some of us question how Catholic you are

Let’s face facts. We Catholics have never been truly faithful to Jesus. In the end, none of us have followed those teachings that most characterize Jesus: we haven’t turned the other cheek, we haven’t forgiven our enemies, we haven’t seen God in the poor, and we haven’t kept our hearts free from the illusions of this world. But we have been faithful to one very important thing: we have kept the Eucharist going. The last thing Jesus asked of his disciples before he died was