We are in the midst of Advent, which looks like lighting a candle each night before dinner and reading a short devotion from a kid-friendly book. Our oldest is now able to do the bulk of the reading which has added an incredible element to our evenings. Because she gets the spotlight for the reading, […]
Nativity
by on December 23, 2018 Leave a Comment
Last night I stepped outside into the bracing cold to let the dog out one last time before bed. Already, the ground glinted with heavy frost. I breathed in sharply. My nostrils burned. Instinctively, I shoved my hands deeper into my coat pockets. I looked up and waited for my eyes to adjust to the […]
Glory is a Woman Fully Alive
by on December 18, 2018 Leave a Comment
St. Irenaeus of Lyon is known for the quote, “Glory is man fully alive.” The true quote from his work, Against Heresies, is this: “Life in man is the glory of God; the life of man is the vision of God.” Growing up, I got to witness firsthand what it means for glory to be a woman […]
Labor of Pain, Labor of Love
by on December 16, 2018 1 Comment
I grew up Catholic. Not an Easter-and-Christmas Catholic. But an every-week-we-went-to-mass-and-my-great-grandmother-taught-us-the-rosary Catholic. We were Irish, loud, played bingo, had the priest over for dinner and I just assumed that everyone else lived the same way we did. I went to Catholic schools, wore the plaid skirts and knew the Stations of the Cross before I […]
The Hope for Which We Now Labor
by on December 12, 2018 1 Comment
It’s true what mothers say about forgetting the pain of childbirth. My births are now seven and nine-and-a-half years ago and I have to strain to remember the details. Giving birth is a moment we spend countless hours preparing for. It is the culmination of reading and birthing classes, showers, reordering our lives and homes, […]
