Lent
Spiritual Connections
I had very strong unexpected spiritual connections today. First, I met a friend for lunch. She is a caregiver also and a very faithful woman. We prayed together at the restaurant and had beautiful conversation as we usually do. She noted that the relationship with another faithful person is something special – that you understand […]
Resisting Temptation
This morning I listened to Fr. Mike Schmitz’s homily for today’s Mass readings. It included the account of when Jesus went into the wilderness, fasted for 40 days and was then tempted by the devil. From Jesus’ example, Fr. Mike gave realistic, sound advice for all of us when we find ourselves being tempted. He […]
Fighting Temptations
I met with my prayer group tonight and we talked about the scripture reading from Matthew when Jesus was tempted. There is much to gleen from this passage. But one thing that we really discussed was the difference between temptation and sin. Jesus was tempted, but he didn’t sin. So, when I am tempted to […]
Blessed For Lent
Our new caregiver came over this morning and stayed with mom while I took my sister to a doctor’s appointment. We were gone for a short 3 hours. When we arrived back home, the caregiver had given my mom breakfast, gave her a shower and fixed her hair, did the dishes, washed and dried my […]
Washing Jesus’ Feet
After I shared my story about cleaning the Last Supper wall hanging, I heard from a friend today. She said she thought it was awesome that I was washing Jesus’ and His Apostles’ feet at this time. Honestly, I hadn’t even thought of it like that! The comment did send a little Holy Spirit chill […]
The Ball Game
Yesterday my sister came for the weekend while I had a fun day with my family at a baseball game. In afternoon my son and his girlfriend picked me up and we headed to the big city. There we met my other son and family. We found a place to park not too far away […]
Suffering is not Inconsequential
I started this Palm Sunday with a visit from my son. He went to church and brought some palms for me and my parents. That really helped us to feel part of the Mass as we participated online. As every Palm Sunday, we read the Passion of Jesus. It is always bewildering for me to […]
Finishing Lent
As we watched the Easter Sunday Mass this morning, I thought about how we had celebrated Holy Week. I think that praying with Pope Francis last week really set the tone. We watched Masses celebrated with the Pope, our own pastor at our parish, and from my previous parish where I used to live. Each […]
Grinch Returned Easter
A friend shared a reflection with me that was written by a retired Christian pastor. It really touched my heart, so am sharing it here. THE GRINCH THAT RETURNED EASTER Sometime in the last 2000 years—Resurrection Sunday got hijacked. It got commercialized into bunnies and eggs, chocolate rabbits and “tip of the hat” church attendance. […]
Good Friday Prisoners
On this Good Friday, at 3:00 my parents and I searched for a Stations of the Cross that we could pray. We came across the recording of Pope Francis and started watching. He was once again in a mostly empty St. Peter’s Square, with a handful of people who would be processing with the cross. […]
Still Finding God 