Happy Chance Encounters
God sometimes plants a chance encounter along the path of our life that amazes us and makes a big difference. Encounter in Hawaii Every day I post a cartoon on Facebook (except now during Lent). This has become a ministry for me. Many people tell me they enjoy reading the cartoons and ask where I […]
Black Saints, Present and Upcoming
February is Black history month. In its honor, I present a few Black Saints and those on the way to canonization. The Process of Canonization Usually five years after a person’s death, someone petitions a bishop to open a cause for canonization. After approval,the proposed person is called Servant of God. An appointed person gathers […]
Visit to Guatemala
My nephew Andy invited me to visit him in Guatemala so a member of his family could meet his girlfriend, who isn’t able to enter the USA. Last week he treated me to a vacation jam-packed with activities that left me exhausted but full of wonderful memories. Seeing this country firsthand was an eyeopener. I […]
Pier Giorgio Frassati, A New Young Saint
Pier Giorgio is the subject of a book I just read. I’m glad I did because I hadn’t been acquainted with this young man. What an appealing model for young people today! He was born in Turin, Italy, on April 6, 1901. Pier’s mother was a painter and practiced the minimum of faith. His father, […]
Silence Is Precious
Silence is easy to come by for me lately—now that Ohio is wrapped in a thick blanket of snow. The other day I sat mesmerized, watching the large, lacy flakes dance their way down from the sky. Silence, God’s First Language God speaks in silence. Remember how the prophet Elijah waited for the Lord to […]
Saints for Fun
Because joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, naturally saints have a sense of humor. They are not the solemn, dour people as sometimes assumed to be. This quality makes them attractive. Arguably the prime example of a saint who loved to have fun was St. Philip Neri. He walked around in shoes too […]
Children and Prayer Anecdotes
We all have memories of learning how to pray. I remember my mother practicing the Our Father and other prayers with me as I swung in our basement. This was for my Wednesday catechism classes. My friend’s Italian mother used the Hail Mary, which speaks of “fruit of thy womb,” to teach her about the […]
Cheers for a New Year
Every morning one of the first things I do is post a cartoon on Facebook. Surprisingly, I receive more positive feedback from this “ministry” than from books I’ve written! Where is the source of my cartoons? On the first day when my sister Nancy and I were in Hawaii in 2004, we met a Japanese […]
A Snowy Winter
Snow is winter’s inevitable companion for us who live in Northeastern states. My home is in Geauga County, known as Ohio’s snowbelt. Our province center, its highest point, is wittily called its buckle. As I write this, snow blankets the ground, flurries are almost nonstop. Snowplows again woke me up around 3:30 a.m. Thanks to […]
Why Jesus Is Called Lamb of God
ILast week I wrote about shepherds. Now let’s focus on lambs. A nursery rhyme begins, “Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. . . . It’s fleece was white as snow.” Coincidentally, that describes the Blessed Virgin and Baby Jesus! Most Nativity sets include at least one lamb. We think it is sweet […]