Photo: Shuttershock
My next-door neighbor, Karla, recently posted this conversation with her 7-year-old daughter, Ainsley, on social media:
Tag: Vocation
Grandparents, share your stories!
Photo: Shuttershock
What stories did Jesus hear from his grandparents?
Did Joachim and Anna have a way with words, like their daughter Mary? Would Jesus have learned colorful expressions and turns of phrase from them along with knowledge of family history and the history of the people of Israel? We know that family was highly valued in the Jewish culture in which Jesus grew up. Listening to the elders was very important. Jesus would have been raised to soak up their words and stories. He would have heard stories of his ancestors, stories of his people and their journeys, their hope in God. Continue reading “Grandparents, share your stories!”
Speaking at the Faith of Fire Catholic Family Conference at St. Mary in Anacortes this weekend!
I gave two talks this weekend for the awesome Faith on Fire Catholic family conference; for the kids and youth I gave a vocation talk we called “Your Amazing Future: Preparing Yourself for Your Own Happily Ever After.” For the women, I gave a talk called “Women of Mercy: The Dignity and Vocation of Women and the Year of Mercy.”
Saints who were happily married, widowed or divorced
November is the perfect month to call attention to happily married saints, as well as to men and women who stand out as shining examples of holiness after suffering the unhappiness of marriage’s end through death or divorce. The great celebrations of All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day and the solemnity of Christ the King make us mindful of our own deaths and the world’s end. Our hope and fulfillment is in Christ, our ultimate goal, whose mercy embraces and sustains us through the ups and downs of family life. He is near to the widowed and divorced as well.
In keeping with the upcoming Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis, may the mercy manifest in these saints’ lives inspire us to be generously merciful — especially with our spouses, our children and even with ex-husbands and -wives!
Continue reading “Saints who were happily married, widowed or divorced”
The Dignity and Vocation of Women
What a joy to speak on the Feminine Genius with the St. Rita’s Court Catholic Daughters of America! This presentation was given at St. Mary Magdalen parish in Everett, WA on January 31, 2015.
References are included in the Prezi slideshow, here:
Slideshow for Talk on the Dignity and Vocation of Woman
I also spoke about the amazing study group, Endow (click for link), and the stunning Humanum video series (…and that’s also a link).
I recommended the website Culture of Life Africa, where you can find An Open Letter to Melinda Gates, by Obianuju Ekeocha
Preparing to Meet Your Future Husband or Wife
First nurture your relationship with God, and he will take care of the rest
My grandparents recently reminisced about how they first met at an amusement park and dance hall on the bank of the Columbia River in Portland. A mutual friend arranged to set them up. “It was going to be my last blind date,” Grandpa recalled.
“And it was,” Grandma affirmed, “… wasn’t it?” Fortunately for their children and all of us grandchildren, it was. They fell in love, married, and are enjoying a fruitful and faith-filled union now in its seventh decade. Continue reading “Preparing to Meet Your Future Husband or Wife”
Sound Insight: The Domestic Church
I was a guest with Dr. Tom Curran on his radio program, Sound Insight to discuss the Domestic Church.
On the Dignity and Vocation of Woman (Mulieris Dignitatem)
St. John Paul II, On the Dignity and Vocation of Woman (Mulieris Dignitatem), 1988