NunEssential

Happy Sunday, y'all! Several of you have asked me when I will be leading another Mother/Daughter retreat and I am happy to announce that the next one will be April 29th-May 1st at our lovely retreat center in Corpus Christi, TX. For more information, see the flyer below. To register for the retreat, click here

Friends- Here is Part 2 of my little Lenten Journey series! Hope it blesses you-

I love this tweet posted yesterday by Pope Francis.  I think one of our greatest fears and sorrows is the belief that we will be forever marked by our past- by what we have done or what has been done to us. Perhaps we fear that "victim", "loser" or "rejected" is our deepest identity. We spend so much of our lives coping and trying to compensate for what we fear might be true.  Lent reveals the truth. And in this Jubilee Year of Mercy, we find that our deepest identity, our deepest calling and yearning, is actually one of relationship- being sons and daughters of God. When we embrace the courage to face our sin and brokenness and receive ongoing mercy, our lives are transformed.  This is the Good News- that Jesus became man; that God took on flesh. He assumed all to redeem all.  His life, death and resurrection changes everything.  We need not remain prisoners of the past.  We rise to our true identity in the glorious freedom of the...

Every driver knows that one of the worst places you can find yourself is in the "blindspot" of another driver. You know, that little space in the line of sight between the coverage of the rear view or side mirror and the actual car next to us. I think we've all had the experience of checking our mirrors and then changing lanes, only to hear the mad blast of a horn as a car speeds by that was previously unseen to us. As our heart races over the near collision, we practically break our necks double checking the next 12 lane changes. And then sometimes the collision does happen. We "could have sworn there was no car next to us" but the accident happens and the problems and trauma ensue.  One of my friends noted that this is true in our personal lives as well. How many times have we "run into or over" others simply because we didn't "see them." It's the boss who regularly becomes angry and screams at his employees because "that...

If you've ever been to a 12-Step meeting, you know that at some point the group or someone in the group will usually pray or reference the "Serenity Prayer."  That well-known prayer is found on wall hangings, plaques, dishes, prayer cards, etc. and the text usually reads, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."  Would that we all lived that short prayer! Imagine how different our daily lives would be?  And yet, there is more.  That short excerpt is actually part of a longer prayer which continues: Living one day at a time;   enjoying one moment at a time;  accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;  taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;  trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;  that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever i...

I posted this on Twitter yesterday and couldn't help but post it here as well! Bringing a little mercy for all the coffee lovers during this Year of Mercy! God bless you :)

Wishing all of you readers a blessed and hope-filled New Year. We may deeply encounter Jesus in a new way this year. He is "the face of the Father's mercy" as Pope Francis so aptly wrote in his letter of introduction to the Year of Mercy. This is not merely a warm sentiment or personal feeling. Jesus pierces time and space to become one of us, to assume our sin and brokenness and set us free. This is Good News, indeed. Christ is our strong foundation and the Light of the World. He is our hope, our shield, our refuge.  May this Year of Mercy be one of tenderness, truth and deep encounter with Christ and others. If we want the world to change, we must be willing to continually encounter Christ and bring Him to others. We must willing to release our "grasp" on the offenses of the past; the hatred, resentment and indifference. It takes a lot of energy to carry resentment and close our hearts to God and others. We must lay down our sin and choo...

A power blogpost featured below written by Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT Facing Our Immortality in Light of Christmas Anyone who has ever received an unexpected diagnosis of cancer or some other serious disease knows the power of the experience to suddenly and radically change the inner world in which we normally live. Anyone who has lost a loved one especially without warning, experiences the same thing. Perception, understanding, the hierarchy of what we have up to then considered important suffers a seismic shock and shifts the plates of our current existence into a completely changed landscape which can seem foreign and strange and certainly frightening in many ways. Having been through this myself several times, and watching those around me, I've come to realize that the shock comes not so much from facing our own mortality as it does from not having faced our immortality. That's the real problem. To say we now are brought to a place where we have to face our own mortalit...

Below is another guest post by our fabulous SOLT Sister, Sr. Anne Marie Walsh. This post was originally featured on Seton Magazine . Why Catholic Homeschool and Monks Seek the Same Thing It can be challenging to look at the world today and to remember the words of Scripture: “…where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (Rms. 5:20). We know the Gospel’s relevance is timeless. However, understanding the way in which it penetrates a specific period in time requires a creativity found only in the Holy Spirit, Who searches the hearts of men and applies the deep things of God within concrete historical situations. Pope Benedict XVI, meeting with representatives from the world of culture at the Collège des Bernardins, Paris, in 2008, addressed the threats to modern culture by drawing attention to the roots of Western Civilization. In particular, he considered monasticism and its development, noting that, “Amid the confusion of the times, in which nothing seemed permanen...

Below is the latest post by the awesome Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT  Mary, Motherhood and the Family of God Mary's motherhood, like motherhood in general, was lived out quietly behind the scenes. St. Pope John Paul II pointed out that "History is written almost exclusively as the narrative of men's achievements, when in fact its better part is most often molded by women's determined and persevering action for good." (Papal Message On Women's Conference to Mrs. Gertrude Mongella. May, 1995) Mary achieved more than any other human being. This was done in the most intimate way in the context of Her Divine Motherhood, a role which God asked her to live, and which She joyfully assented to! She continues to bring souls to life in grace and to love saints into being, so essential and eternal is Her motherhood to who She is. But just as God took His own flesh from the body of Mary, so every child comes into this world through the body of a woman. Every con...

Great explanation by Fr. Robert Barron of the fairy tale "Cinderella" and why it speaks so powerfully to our hearts.

Below is a powerful and honest piece originally posted on www.joyfulmysteries.me written by my friend @heatherkhym Perhaps we have all felt this way at times and we all long to taste the Resurrection. Great job, Heather. Your Real  I could see it coming from 1000 miles away. The place I could end up if I wasn’t careful. The place so many strong ones have gone before….never to return.  When I suddenly found myself questioning the things I thought I was most certain about, honestly, it freaked me out.  My daily prayer became, “God, please save me…from myself.” I’ve been Catholic my whole life, and at 14 had an encounter with God that was so real and deep it forever changed the course of my life.  I knew He was real, and out of hundreds of people in the room that night, He saw me, chose me, and came for little old me.  Only He knew my story, a shy, broken girl who was paralyzed by fear.  He knew how much I needed Him and He rescued me from the dar...

Love this clever mix of Dr. Peter Kreeft and smooth jazz. Creativity rocks!

Below is a great article by Sr. Anne Marie Walsh as Super Bowl Sunday draws near... A Passing Look At Football  This is a hard article to write because I love football.   I come from a family of nine:  Mom, Dad, 6 brothers and myself.  From late August through January,  the Sunday family ritual always included football.  Packers football. No question.  We all went to Mass together, and when we came home, Dad gave Mom a break by feeding all of us ham and rolls from the local bakery.   Then, we settled in front of the TV for time together, united in one and the same desire for a good game and a win for our team.  It was something we were all a part of.   As a girl, I was not excluded.   A fan is a fan after all!  We loved being able to throw ourselves into the game with Dad.   And he enjoyed teaching us all he knew.  As a result, I can talk football with the best of them.  Every game links ...

Check out this incredible new vocations video produced by Ascension Press! God is still calling heroic men to follow Him to the priesthood. Know of any? Watch it and pass it on!

I am absolutely loving this incredible video series on man, woman and marriage that debuted this week at Humanum, an international colloquium in Rome. This series is visually captivating and deeply substantive. So beautiful! Here is the trailer that introduces the series of six short documentaries. Check out the rest on the Humanum youtube page . Watch, learn and share.

I am delighted to announce the November 3rd release of my first book, Loved As I Am . Read a sample here and buy it at www.avemariapress.com Thank you!

Thought-provoking

Twitter and the blogosphere has been abuzz regarding the report released Monday by the participants of Synod on the Family. It was a gut-check for a lot of Catholics while others hailed the "revolutionary" language of the document regarding marriage, same-sex attraction and birth control. Fr. Robert Barron posted one of the best responses to the document that I have seen . I appreciate his honest, historical perspective on what seems like a daunting synodal direction. Let us continue to pray and fast for all those who are participating in the Synod. Dealing with crises is never easy- where it be the topics of Christology, salvation or what it means to be human. I think we would all like a tidy discussion on these matters with a swift, orthodox consensus. However, even from the beginning of Christianity, it has never been a tidy affair. From the beginning we see things like weakness, betrayal, deceit and cowardice. And I think if we are honest, we see those things in ours...