By Father Dwight Ezop   It usually happens sometime during the first week of June each year. I find myself excitedly thinking that summer is finally here and that things will slow down just a little bit around the parish. After all, by then, most of the major parish events of the spring have been [...]

By Michelle DiFranco I love summer, but in Michigan, by mid-August, I’m over the humidity and ready to embrace autumn. That’s right, goodbye air conditioning and hello colorful foliage, pumpkin spice lattes and apple-picking. There is absolutely no reason not to love the fall season! Well, except for one thing … the nights gradually get [...]

Story by Joe Pisani It rarely snows in Rome, and certainly never in August, the hottest month of the year … except once. According to a pious legend, which inspired one of the oldest devotions to Our Lady, a patrician Roman couple had no heirs so they prayed to the Blessed Mother and designated her [...]

By Dr. Cathleen McGreal Q: It’s summer and my kids are out of school. I remember the lazy days of summer in my childhood, but these days, it seems as if everyone’s kids are at camps or summer enrichment opportunities. Should I be structuring my kids’ vacation more? How much is too much? A: As summer [...]

By Sheri Wohlfert Hooray for summer! Ice cream, swimming pools and bike rides are familiar things on the summer to-do list, but a few things will look a little different this summer. And since there may be no Vacation Bible School (VBS) at your parish, why not try an at-home VBS with your children on the [...]

By Sister Ann Shield This month, we are going to do a bit of a different reflection. June is so rich with tremendous feasts: Feast of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ) on June 19; the Feast of the Sacred Heart (June 24); and the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (June [...]

By Sister Ann Shields Everyone asks themselves: What do I do with my life? We are free to choose whatever we wish, but, first, we should take time to ask the Lord in prayer: What do you will for me? How can I best use the gifts you have given me? Posing these questions to [...]

By Sheri Wohlfert Helping teens plan for life after high school is a mighty task. It’s mighty because it’s emotional for parents to think about their kids growing up and taking on the world. It’s mighty because society has given teens a pretty tilted view of what success and future success look like. I’d like [...]

By Douglas Culp Our God is a Trinitarian communion: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Wondrously, the Father created us to share in this eternal communion. We know this as the plan of salvation. Of course, it might be better termed the drama of salvation. The two paths In the story of the Garden of Eden, [...]

Feast Day: June 24 Saint Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, known as Mother Lupita, embraced a life of poverty while serving the poor and sick during a dangerous time in Mexico’s history. Born in Mexico in 1878 into a family that ran a religious goods shop, Maria frequently visited the basilica next door to the shop, [...]