I write from Madeira, a Portuguese island in the Atlantic Ocean, six hundred miles southwest of the mainland. A beautiful place. It is the peak of an underwater mountain range; the rocky slopes rise at steep angles out of the gunmetal gray sea. Semi tropical in climate, the island is […]
CWG Book Blast! Carmela Martino’s “Playing by Heart”
This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Carmela Martino’s book, “Playing by Heart.” It is a CWG Seal of Approval recipient! When fifteen-year-old Emilia uses her musical talents to help her father win noble status in 18th-century Milan, the repercussions threaten not only her dreams for her future but […]
My Road—Fruit Will Follow
It has been the hot, hard work of many summers that built this house and made it our happy home.
Learning to Just Be
Our lives are often rushed. This summer’s calendar has been packed fuller than any before—trying to get household things done while running children here, there, and everywhere has me feeling rushed and a bit frantic some days. (Leave it to high gas prices to teach me a lesson about […]
CWG Book Blast! “Peace in Pregnancy: Devotions for the Expectant Mother, by Kathryn Anne Casey
This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Kathryn Casey’s book, “Peace in Pregnancy: Devotions for the Expectant Mother.” It has an Imprimatur from Bishop Kevin C. Rhodes and a Nihil Obstat from Msgr. Michael Heintz, Ph.D. Pregnancy is full of challenges, but peace is still possible. Summary: Peace in […]
Motherly Love
“They said to him, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.”‘ – Matthew 14:17-18 (RSVCE) Five small barley loaves which had been baked beforehand. Someone ground the grain and added the yeast, water, and salt before kneading the dough […]
Tending The Garden of Your Heart
Kimberly Novak shares heartfelt lessons she learned through the blooming of a Christmas Cactus. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they must be felt within the heart.” Helen Keller Many instances in our lives make a good argument for Helen Keller’s […]
CWG Book Blast! Ellen Gable’s “Where Angels Pass”
This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Ellen Gable’s book, “Where Angels Pass.” It is a 2022 CWG Seal of Approval recipient! Young boy’s sexual abuse by a priest in the 1950s leads to a crisis of faith and catastrophe consequences when he reached adulthood. #FREE on #KINDLE Summary: […]
My Road—A Storm Is Brewing
A storm was brewing. Though the sun shone from a bright blue sky and warm rays roused the winter landscape, rustling leaves in robust winds warned of lightning, thunderclaps, and pounding rain. It has been a trying winter. Multiple snowstorms, freezing rain, and icy temperatures have made burials challenging at […]
Happy, Holy, and Hopeful Mother’s Day
The beautiful graphic about praying the rosary, attributed to Christ Our Life Catholic Conference, was reposted on their Facebook page by St. Mary’s Church in Humboldt, Iowa, on April 22, 2020. It appeared there at a time when all of us were still reeling from the shocking onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. […]