Through a challenging cross-country move, Maria Riley reflects on Jesus’ presence regardless of where she lives.
Menagerie of Hidden Influences
My synaptic mailbox is full. Sitting in a relatively quiet room—the birds are chirping outside, the downstairs refrigerator is rattling, and the drier is whirling about—I alternate my gaze from myriad unfinished projects to pictures and paintings covering the walls to the well-tended jungle growing just beyond my porch. In […]
Where Life United
Your eyes record a different world than mine, Without my music, books, or time. Declining years loom ahead, Your face lights with futuristic hope instead. Joking, you say, go back to days long past, But no return would I gladly clasp. Childhood bittersweet, Adolescence confusion reaped. Love and marriage replaced […]
There Stands Lent
I’m not overly fond of Lent. The whole discipline aspect sets my teeth on edge. Isn’t life hard enough? What good is it to offer up a bit of sugar in my morning coffee? Or stifling honest irritation over vexing situations? Strangely enough though, by the end of the second […]
Mercy’s Sake
Deception makes fools of us all. Yet sometimes the truth hurts so much that we hold back for mercy’s sake. Our human journey can be a treacherous one to be sure. It’s snowing now, very cold, and more snow and lower temperatures are on the way. Our woodstove pipe slipped a […]
So Loved the World
Christmas—the birth of God as human being. What a concept! For my kids’ generation, I have to translate it in terms of an alien coming to Earth, revealing Himself as the seed of human origin. We are more likely to believe in aliens than angels these days. But, be that […]
CWG Book Blast! “Fatima: The Apparition That Changed the World,” by Jean M. Heimann
This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Jean M. Heimann’s book, “Fatima: The Apparition That Changed the World.” It is a CWG Seal of Approval winner! Few place-names in the Christian world conjure up such powerful images and associations than this humble town in Portugal. For it was there […]
Pentecost Just Passed and I’m Burning to Death: Is It Possible To Do Purgatory On Earth?
Have you ever had a magnanimous moment where you begged for the fire of God’s love to consume you, only to find in short order that it’s burning the hell out of you? Literally. Somehow, I’m always surprised when I pray for holy fire to fall, and its flames begin […]