This is the Way

Jesus said to him [Thomas], “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”

John 14:6

These words from John’s Gospel couldn’t be simpler. the way, the truth, and the life.

Seven simple words.

Despite the many distractions created by my children, these words and their implications burrowed into my mind and heart at Adoration last month.

During the same hour, they stared up at me from the pages of St. Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle. Then again in a scripture quote in Totus Tuus.

I’m accustomed to not hearing from God very often, whether due to His taciturn way of dealing with me or my own failure to listen, I can’t say. I suspect it’s a bit of both. Either way, I’m quite accustomed to it. That this little verse could move me so deeply, nearly to tears, was highly unordinary and remarkable.

For several minutes, I felt a tiny, infintessimally small fraction of Jesus’s sorrow. His sorrow at our rejection of those words:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

We’ve replaced those words with something more akin to:

The My Way, the My Truth, and the My Life

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Seeing Peace: A Stay Connected Journal for Catholic Women

What a perfectly timed resource! Show of hands: Who’s feeling a little anxious? Who’s struggling to hand it all over to God, multiple times a day? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Worries about health, family, education, the economy, our world, and on and on. THIS journal is a prescription for finding peace.

Allison Gingras shares her personal lifelong struggle with worry and anxiety, helping you to journey to a place of peace and trust. This journal uses Scripture, the saints, devotions, and more to guide you with plenty of space for you to reflect. (And you can make it pretty with some colored pencils too!)

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Uplanned, The Passion, & Hidden Blind Spots

Like many who watched the recent Abby Johnson bio-pic Unplanned (based on Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey across the Life Line), I was startled by the utter contradiction of a joy-filled baby shower being held in the same site where dozens of babies lives were lost that very day, dismembered and discarded as biological waste. Not only did Abby and her friends and co-workers fail to recognize the humanity of every child in the womb, but they condemned each to death according to the mother’s wishes.

At the same time, in the midst of a Lenten Bible study (No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk through Christ’s Passion by Edward Sri), I struggled to comprehend the failure of the Jewish people (especially the Sandhedrin) to recognize the Messiah they’d long awaited standing before them. Not only did they not recognize Him, but they condemned Him to death.

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Holding on to Hope

Hope Faith Love

Last month, I had the privilege of serving as a judge for a national writing contest for teens. I was randomly assigned to the poetry category, which left me somewhat anxious. Other than pages of song lyrics I composed in high school, I’ve not written poetry. I’ve read some, but not a lot.

I asked for prayers and the guidance of the Holy Spirit as I read entries and did my very best at evaluating the poems entrusted to me. Writing, and poetry in particular, can be very personal. And subjective.

The selection of poems impressed me, mainly because of the heartfelt emotions the students bared. And while some poems were a bit clumsy or poorly written, many demonstrated great skill.

What struck me most about the poems, however, was not their level of quality, but the hopelessness that marked many of the entries. Continue reading

Guest Post: Online Writers Conference to Coach Catholic Writers to Succeed

Online–September 14-16, 2018, the Catholic Writers Guild will host, via webinar, an online writers conference focused on helping Catholic writers succeed in their craft. The Catholic Writers Conference Online provides Catholic writers with a prime opportunity to meet and share their faith with editors, publishers, and fellow writers from across the globe. Speakers will discuss writing as a calling, literature as evangelization, and even how genre fiction like horror and science fiction can still reflect Catholic values.

Presenters include Joseph Pearce (Further Up & Further In), Michelle Buckman (Turning in Circles), Karen Ullo (Jennifer the Damned) and many others. Recordings and reference materials from all presentations will be available free to all conference attendees. Continue reading

Catholic Writers Conference Live 2018 Coming to Lancaster, PA

Catholic Writers Conference LiveThe Catholic Writers Guild (CWG) is hosting Catholic Writers Conference Live (CWCL) July 31 – August 2, 2018 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN) Tradeshow. The CWCL, celebrating its 10th anniversary, provides writers, artists, editors, and illustrators opportunities for networking; workshops on writing, publishing, and marketing; pitch sessions; critique sessions; and more. Continue reading

When You Fast: Jesus Has Provided the Solution Blog Tour

With Lent about to begin, I can’t think of a better time to read this short book and to  implement it in your life.

When You Fast

About the Book:

There are many references to fasting in Scripture. In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 5, Jesus puts the solution in front of us when he says, “When you fast.” He doesn’t say “If you fast,” but “When you fast.” As Christians, we’re supposed to imitate Jesus. Jesus fasted before every major event in His life. Continue reading