From Death to Heaven: Preparing Now
Looking down from my balcony, I saw this lovely tree in full bloom. Quite an Easter-y sight! A few days later 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts stripped the tree and carpeted my balcony with its white petals. The shadow on the left side of the photo was like an omen of what would befall the tree. And […]
Dying Words of Saints
Halloween is the Eve before we celebrate the Hallowed (Saints). In honor of this feast, which occurs the day this post appears, I offer you two excerpts from my book I Am Going … : Reflections on the Last Words of the Saints. Originally published by ACTA, the book is now available for $14.95 from […]
Reflecting on Fear
I’m working on my next book, a set of reflections on Scripture verses. Who knows when it will be finished. I keep getting sidetracked by other projects. Today I offer you a pre-publication view of one of its pages. And I ask your prayers for the perseverance and inspiration to see the book to its […]
The Happiest Feast: Easter
Children may assume that Christmas outranks Easter, probably because they receive more gifts on that day. However, on Easter we celebrate the greatest gift of all: immortality and the chance to live in eternal bliss. Jesus’s rising from the dead assures us that someday we will come back to life too. That is why on […]
Afterlife in Purgatory: The Poor Souls
When I was writing a textbook series, one day a Jewish employee of the publisher called with an odd question. He asked, “How do you spell Poor Souls? Is it pour, poor, or pore?” Purgatory is pretty much a Catholic belief. In the Creed, we pray that we believe in the Communion of Saints. This […]
Supernatural Messages from Beyond
Every once in a while, something happens that can’t be explained. In some cases we receive a message concerning a dearly departed one. Here are a few of them that I know about: One day when I visited Sister Mary Agera, an eighty-something Sister in our Health Care, she told me this story. As a […]
Coping with Death
In January it seems we attend more funerals and send more sympathy cards than usual. Whether death comes as a relief after a long illness or as an unexpected shock, dealing with it is difficult. Our faith tells us that death is only the door to new, eternal life where we will be with God […]
Easter and Eternal Life
Time seems to go faster every year. Someone pointed out that on June 21, daylight begins decreasing again! Easter season is already drawing to a close. Here are some parting words for it that may encourage people, in particular anyone who is undergoing a hardship now or suffering the loss of a loved one. Life […]
The Dying Words of Saints
My newest book is out: “I Am Going . . . : Reflections on the Last Words of the Saints” (89 of them!) published by ACTA Publications. It has lovely full-page portraits of 14 of these saints. I thought you might enjoy reading the introduction . . . and be interested enough to purchase the […]
What Is After Death? Heaven? Hell? Oblivion?
Currently I’m working on a chapter about the afterlife. We people engrossed in the demands of this present life don’t tend to think about this topic until we come to a landmark birthday, someone we know dies, or a movie like The Mummy is released. Then we wonder, Is this all there is? We Catholics […]
