Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament
We are in the midst of a three-year National Eucharist Revival. A parish has asked me to speak about the relationship of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Eucharist. Today I share some thoughts with you. At the Eucharist the priest declares over the bread and wine, “This is my Body” and “This is my […]
Flowers for Mary, Legends and Gardens
Last week I planted seeds for flowers in pots on my balcony. If they were not too old and if the soil wasn’t too bad, the result should be a beautiful sight for people passing by. Sadly, I have more of a black thumb than a green thumb! In the northern hemisphere, May is the […]
Ways to Learn/Teach about Mary
After months of preparing for my talk at the NCEA convention, it’s all over! I will give it a longer life by sharing part of it with you. May, the month dedicated to Mary, is right around the corner. You may wish to adopt any of the following ideas for yourself, your family, or your […]
Mary, God’s Mother and Mine
It’s May, Mary’s month, and the month we celebrate Mother’s Day. The other day I was thinking about my relationship with our Blessed Mother. She has been woven all through the tapestry of my life. So this week’s blog is rather like a memoir. I remember as a child I drew Mary over and over, […]
Hands of Blessed Mother Mary
Last week I wrote about the hands of Jesus. This week I’m giving a talk about his mother, Mary, at a local parish, and this prompted me to write about her hands now. Mary did not have the soft, pampered hands of a queen, but the strong, capable hands of a working woman. As a […]
Words from our Blessed Mother Mary from My Devotional
I don’t know about you, but during these past weeks several of my friends have been undergoing severe trials: cancer, car accidents, death of loved ones. Such ordeals shake our faith and we wonder, Why do we suffer? and even, Is there a good God? At our chicken barbecue last month, during a random reading […]
For Christmas: Heart to Heart with Mary
Do you like the popular book “Jesus Calling” in which Jesus speaks to you every day? My newest book, “Heart to Heart with Mary,” contains Mary’s words for each day of the year. She speaks as our mother who loves and cares for us. Each entry ends with a suggestion for continuing the conversation with […]
Roses, Mystical Rose, Rosary
My mother was very proud of her roses. She knew them by name: the American Beauty rose, the John F. Kennedy rose, and so on. When roses were in season, her kitchen table was never without at least one gorgeous rose from her garden gracing it. Roses are the most popular flower. We present them […]
In Honor of the Assumption of Mary
Because this week we celebrate Mary’s Assumption into heaven, I thought it fitting that this blog be the introduction from my book The Catholic Companion to Mary. Hope you enjoy it! . . . In Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club, four young women, who are estranged from their mothers to varying degrees, come […]
