Stained Glass - El Salvador Mission Book

My eldest son Nick just started driving.  At first I was petrified to be in the car with him since he was so inexperienced, but after a few times out I realized that Nick is really a very good driver.  One day as I was taking him out for a lesson I noticed that I had stopped concentrating on how he was driving.  It was as though I had been with an experienced driver for a moment. That experience made me take note of who is really in control over my life?  Who is in my driver's seat?  So many times we want to grab the wheel and step on the break of life, but God has it all under control....or does He?  I was sitting here thinking about all the things I would be doing differently if I were God.  First, I would give all the power, grace, and pleasure to those people who make a conscious decision to do what is good, and decent, and loving.  Then I would make all the people who are self-centered, mean, or jealous suffer!  Next, I would only open...

   I have two teenage boys.  They are at that age where I hope they start thinking about their faith.  When I was their age I used to really question my faith.  I remember thinking that God did not really exist, that He was just a made up fairy tale that my parents told me about in order to try and control me (I was pretty wild).   I had a girlfriend, she is still my girlfriend actually, whose mother was very Catholic.  They were Philippine and they had 8 kids in their family just like we did.  I used to go over to her house and have these long battles with her mother, who no matter how worked up I got, used to always respond confidently and calmly to me.  I look back on those days and I am ever so grateful for the time she took with me to help me understand God and my faith a little better.    Recently, when my husband and my eldest son were not home, my 14 year old son decided to take me on....spiritually I mean.  It was ...

OK, I know a lot of people are going to cringe at what I am about to say but here it goes....it's time for positive and peaceful changes in our Catholic Church!  There it is.  Over the past several weeks we have been hearing gospel stories which involve Mary Magdalene.  Here is what we know about Mary in a brief synopsis.  First, she was a follower of Christ, she was one of only 3 people who stood at the foot of the cross during Jesus' crucifixion, she was the first person to arrive at the tomb on Easter Sunday, she was the first person whom Jesus appeared to after the resurrection, and she was commissioned to "go and tell" her brothers what she has seen after her encounter with the risen Christ.   We can not over look her importance in the life of the church.  She was the first person chosen to bare witness to the resurrection and the first evangelist.  WOW.  It's amazing since you must also consider the position women held (or didn't hold) in...

He is risen!  Happy Easter Everyone, may you experience the joy and hope of a brand new day!  One of the best things about Easter is the time in which we celebrate it; at the beginning of Spring.  It is the perfect time to rise above the darkness of a long a dreary winter; it is the perfect time to reflect on where we are going, both as Christians and as humans.  Like spring, Easter is a time for new beginnings!   For my readers who are not in Cleveland, you will be happy to know that we have been blessed this past week with some absolutely beautiful weather.  The temps have been in the 70's and 80's and Easter Sunday, although they are calling for a little rain shower, should be another glorious day.  But Easter is more than just a season, it is a challenge and a special calling for each of us.  What are we being called to do?  Rise!  How can a mortal body rise, you ask?  Simple, we rise above.   Have you ever heard or used...

With Holy Week fast approaching, I thought I would give my readers something to think about. I am actually stealing some of my own material which I wrote several months ago but felt it was even more appropriate for our upcoming Holy Week.  I have taken my original article and enhanced it for this special edition.   I'm sure every Christian understands the commandment "love thy neighbor" and all that that entails, but the question is, how?  The Bible tells us that it is easy to love those who are good to us, aka our friends, but if we love only those who love us, what merit is there in that for us?  Jesus had good friends, they were his closest followers.  He traveled from town to town giving people a new way to live. Many people loved to listen to him preach and they loved his message even more.  It is safe to say that he enjoyed great popularity (by our standards) for some time.  His 12 closest friends loved Jesus so much that they were even willin...

Immaculee's Journey of Faith Last week our St. Rita 8th grade students were invited to attend a talk at nearby St. Barnabas Church.  Since I have an eighth grader at St. Rita I decided to be one of the chaperones.  The talk was given by the beautiful woman from Rwanda pictured in the front row in the above picture.  Her name is Immaculee.  Her story was so moving that you could hear a pin drop in the church when she spoke. She spoke about her horrible experience of having to hide for her life during the Rwandan genocide.  She told the kids a story about how she was forced to have to live in a tiny bathroom with 7 other people in order to try and stay alive.  But her story really began when she enthusiastically described in detail what happened when they (the enemy) finally came to search the house where she was hiding.  I of course can not do her story justice, but I hope to highlight for you the miracle she encountered. Immaculee described the day...

Well, here in Cleveland we have been practically buried in snow and darkness for the past 4 months.  Every now and then we are blessed with a glimpse of sunlight shining through our dirty winter windows.  Along with shadowy days comes cloudy emotions.  For many of us who live in the northeast or anywhere snow covered, it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This week, for 3 days in a row now, we have been blessed with bright sunshine!  It really lifted my spirits and put a spring back in my step.  It has motivated me to look forward to my workouts and even inspired me to take a long hike in the park.  That was a great day!  I feel reenergized, rejuvenated, and reinspired.  Easter is still a month away but I am looking forward to having my family here for Easter dinner.  My husband is Greek Orthodox and almost ever year they celebrate Easter on a different Sunday than Traditional/American Easter, but this year it happens to fall...