Story by Michelle DiFranco I’ve always equated my research to digging for buried treasure. I get to rediscover captivating traditions of our faith and trace back the layers of history from which they were formed. Recently, I unearthed one I had heard of but knew nothing about: Ember Days. I would conjecture that most [...]
By Nancy Rosebush Schertzing The details of Kishore Jayabalan’s life read like a novel. A Chicago-born son of Indian immigrants attends Catholic schools in Flint. While doing graduate work in Canada, he is baptized by a sainted pope and ends up working in the Vatican and living in Rome for 20 years. While there, he [...]
Story by Mary Gates Elaine Kutas credits her parents with helping her see the connection between faith and service: “We always went to church every Sunday, we went to Catholic grade school and now I’m in Catholic high school.” Beyond the schools and sacraments that helped form Elaine in the faith, there have been invaluable [...]
Archbishop Leonard P. Blair In late June, I published a letter about the Supreme Court decision overturning abortion on demand as a constitutional right in the United States. In that letter, I referred to a great champion of life, Pope St. John Paul the Great, and cited his words: “No absolution offered [...]
By Nancy Rosebush Schertzing Sometimes in the thick of living, we lose track of that truth. But for Kathy and Andrew Rademacher, life and death, tears and laughter, searching and finding have been powerfully present throughout their journey. “We met on a Saturday night,” Andrew thinks back to when he was 25 and Kathy 21. [...]
By Sheri Wohlfert When I was a little girl, a new school year came with some guarantees: a new dress, new shoes, new pencils and some excited sleepless nights. This new school year is teeming with uncertainty instead of familiar guarantees and expectations. In the face of this uncertainty, here are some strategies to help [...]
By Dr. Cathleen McGreal Children do get exposed to violence. How many murders do you think children will observe on television by the time they complete elementary school? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children who are daily viewers of four hours of TV (non-educational programming) will see about 8,000 murders! Video games become more [...]
Story by Sheri Wohlfert As Catholic parents, we have the privilege of leading our children to Jesus. We get to share the story of his love, mercy, redemption and salvation. Our children are a gift, and it’s our job to set them on the path toward heaven. God uses us as instruments of his grace, [...]
By Cynthia Kaan Many families experience divisions at one time or another — disagreements about holidays, inheritance, perceived parental favoritism and more can lead to periods where someone in the family is not speaking to someone else. Especially as we approach the holidays, how can we move beyond those divides and press the reset button? [...]
Story by Joe Pisani Every morning, I start my day by praying the daily offering and the Liturgy of the Hours, but then I make a major miscalculation. I leave behind the spiritual realm and jump right into the morning news … and my inner peace is disrupted. It’s the same old stuff, which is [...]