Advent Overshadowing of the Holy Spirit
The three so-called Advent figures are the Blessed Virgin Mary (of course), John the Baptist (the Lord’s precursor), and the prophet Isaiah (who spoke of the Messiah and God’s kingdom). To my thinking, the predominant Person was omitted from this line up, namely, the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Father sent the Son to save humankind, […]
Inspired, Empowered by the Holy Spirit
Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, was the President of Notre Dame University for 35 years. He was also involved in myriad government, international, and Church projects. One day someone asked him, “So, how’d you do it all?” Fr. Hesburgh replied, “Every morning, I pray, ‘Come, Holy Spirit’ … and away we go.” I love that story. […]
Nuggets from a Retreat on Marian Artwork
My annual retreat this year was via Zoom and presented by Father Terry Grachanin, an artist. The topic was Marian art through the ages. Some concepts were new to me, and I thought they might be new to you too. So in this post I will share a few of them. The retreat was in […]
May and Mary, Our Blessed Mother
A recent post on Facebook read something like this: This month is called May because it may rain, it may snow, it may be 70º, or it may be 20º. No matter what the weather, something that doesn’t change is Mary’s love for us, her God-given children. And the month of May is dedicated to […]
Christmas Musings
Mary Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here is a Christmas gift for you: Two reflections from my book Heart to Heart with Mary: Love Made Flesh December 24 My child, some things are so awesome that words fail us. Imagine what it was like to hold my newborn son in my arms knowing he […]
The Rosary: Prayer Power
My nephew Andy recently brought me a gift from Guatemala: the most beautiful rosary I’ve ever seen, the blue one pictured here. As its name implies, the rosary is a prayer comparable to offering Our Blessed Mother a garland of roses. Since we are in October, the month of the rosary, I offer you some […]
Humility: Realizing the Truth about Oneself
No doubt you remember Uriah Heep, the character in Dickens’s novel David Copperfield who kept referring to his “umbleness.” All the while, Mr. Heep was nothing but a scheming hypocrite. His humility was fake, used as a tool to manipulate others into thinking well of him. People who are truly humble are admired. Those who […]
When in Need Our Mother Mary Can Help
Today I have a special need that is high on my worry list. To my surprise, this morning the page in my book Heart to Heart with Mary spoke to me. (Yes, I’m using my own devotional every day! And I don’t even remember writing the reflections.) In case you are faced with a problem […]
May, Mary, and the Rosary
During the past week on three occasions, people asked me about the rosary. On Saturday I was privileged to be at the Cleveland orchestra’s performance of a modern piece called “Mysteries of Light.” It had five movements, each one based on a luminous mystery of the Rosary. I’m taking these events as signs that my […]
Holy Boldness, a Grace from the Holy Spirit
As I was contemplating making holy boldness the topic of this post, surfing TV channels took me to a preacher who was speaking on— guess what? holy boldness! Talk about affirmation. Perhaps someone (maybe me) needs to be encouraged to practice this virtue. Holy boldness is the courage to do something daring for God’s sake, […]
