Every year, as the days grow shorter and the skies grayer, I feel immense gratitude. The crisp autumn air, brilliant leaves rustling on the trees, and gusty winds bringing them swirling down to crunch underfoot – it all makes me immensely happy. It makes me so happy that, during this season, a certain angle of the sun on theContinue reading “Gratitude Attack”
Tag Archives: Catholic
I Choose Love
I was talking with a friend the other day and he was reciting an endless litany of all of the bad things going on in the world right now: terrorism, horrible refugee situations, the plunging stock market, eroding race relations, the selling of baby body parts, unstable international affairs, etc. He concluded, “Things just aren’t lookingContinue reading “I Choose Love”
Really, people?! How do you not recognize Him?
Every year, when I hear the Gospel passages about Mary not recognizing the resurrected Jesus at the tomb and the apostles also not recognizing Jesus when He joins them on the way to Emmaus, I imagine myself saying to them, “Really, people? How do you not recognize Him?! How can it be that you wereContinue reading “Really, people?! How do you not recognize Him?”
I was really not into Lent…
For years, I really was not into Lent. It was a sad time. I really just wanted to fast-forward through those forty days and get on to Easter. A few years ago though, I was on a “purposeful living” kick. I was attempting to be present in each moment. As we entered Lent, I realizedContinue reading “I was really not into Lent…”
God and the VIP Treatment
So I went to my local coffee shop to get a coffee this morning. I paid and my number was immediately called. The funny thing was, there was a line of ten people in front of me waiting for their coffee too. As I came from the back of the line and was handed myContinue reading “God and the VIP Treatment”
Losing the Masks this Lent
I was reading something that Marilyn Monroe wrote and it really resonated with me. Monroe wrote, “I’m finding that sincerity, and to be [as] simple and direct as I’d like, is often taken for sheer stupidity.” There is truth in her words. Sincerity and simplicity are not often-prized in modern times. Rather, from the timeContinue reading “Losing the Masks this Lent”
Impermeable Love and the Call to Relationship
Have you ever seen two young people who are in love? It sometimes appears that they are in their own little world. Absorbed in their love for each other, they seem unaware of what is happening around them. Their focus is solely on one another. They seem, in this state, to be floating through life.Continue reading “Impermeable Love and the Call to Relationship”
New Year, New Beginnings
Everywhere I turn, I see articles about cleaning-out and organizing. It’s “out with the old, in with the new,” as the old adage goes. I recently read a great article by Joshua Becker, an author who promotes “minimalist living” by getting rid of all the “stuff” we don’t really need. In it, he said, “YouContinue reading “New Year, New Beginnings”
Commandments for the New Year
Discipline. Most New Year’s resolutions are all about discipline. We resolve to start working out, to start eating better, to get organized. We are determined to do better, be better. New Year’s resolutions are widely considered to be good, socially-respected forms of self-determination. Contrast the word “resolution” with the word “commandment,” however, and you willContinue reading “Commandments for the New Year”
Sun-baked thoughts of Mermaids and The Magdalen
As I sat by the shore, warm sand underfoot, cool waves misting before me, my mind started to wander to the blue horizon. Perhaps it was a recent game of pirate-themed, mini-golf that led to thoughts of mermaids in the sea…mermaids with long and beautiful hair. Thoughts of long and beautiful hair led to thoughtsContinue reading “Sun-baked thoughts of Mermaids and The Magdalen”
Rebecca C. Ruiz 