Today is the beginning of Advent, the start of a new liturgical year. It is a time of preparation, hope, and joy for the past — as we prepare to remember and celebrate the birth of our Savior on Christmas; for the present — as we learn to receive Jesus who is made known to [...]
If you were to ask me what I associate with the word “thanksgiving,” the first image that would pop into my mind is one that involved a delicious meal, family, pies, a crackling fire, fall leaves and darkening days. If you put “thanksgiving” into Google images or Pinterest, you are greeted with visions of script [...]
For several years, I’d heard friends talk about their devotion to “St. Thérèse,” affectionately known as “The Little Flower.” My heart longed to know this special person, but truthfully, I didn’t go out of my way to encounter her. Then, while taking a theology course a couple years ago, I was assigned her auto-biography, Story [...]
With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death this past Saturday, our country has been asked once again to examine her values regarding truth, justice, charity, freedom and ultimately, peace. On Friday afternoon, I was rereading Pope St. [...]
Henri Nouwen, a Dutch Catholic priest, writer, theologian, and teacher (who taught at esteemed institutions including the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School, and Harvard Divinity School), wrote the following: The word community has many connotations, some positive, some negative. Community can make us think of a safe togetherness, shared meals, common goals, and [...]
In a hurting world, which desperately needs to encounter God’s love and mercy, it can be overwhelming to think of what we can possibly do to make a difference. It may be tempting to become detached to the suffering around us; certainly, it is easier on the heart. Yet, if we are truly seeking to [...]
The other night, my family was sitting on the porch, talking about whether or not we could live in a place where it was summer year round. “But,” my dad contested, “there’s something so peaceful about the world after a snow storm.” Despite it being August, my mind drifted to that scene: Snow falls, encapsulating [...]
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ~ Ezekiel 36:26~ Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, a recognition of the humanity and divinity [...]
There’s a scene from Thorton Wilder’s Our Town in which Emily (a young woman in her early twenties who has just died in childbirth) is given the opportunity to go back and observe one day of her life. She decides to return her twelfth birthday. The agreement is that she cannot alter the day, only experience it [...]
Today’s Psalm, Psalm 23, is a familiar one for many Christians. The refrain, The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want, is one of the Scripture verses I have committed to memory. Perhaps, in its familiarity, I often skim it, or tune it out. But as I reflected on it more carefully, [...]
Caitlin Bean 