Mary on My Mind

These days I am preparing for three events about Mary: a day of recollection, a two-day retreat, and a presentation Why and How to Teach about Mary: Fifty Nifty Ideas (At Least) at the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) convention in Dallas. That talk draws on activities in my latest book, Leading Young People to […]

Why Mary Is the Seat of Wisdom

Today, June 8, is the feast day of Mary, Seat of Wisdom. She was known by this title since the 11th century. In the Litany of Loreto we invoke Our Lady by this name. Images of Mary, Seat of Wisdom, depict her holding Jesus on her lap and sometimes she is seated on a throne. […]

Blessed Virgin Mary: A Mother in Time of Need

This month someone asked me, “Why do you Catholics pray to Mary?” I explained why we regard Mary as a mother and why the National Geographic once called her “the most powerful woman on earth.”  At the Annunciation, when Mary conceived Jesus, she also conceived us in a sense. Jesus became our brother and his […]

A Polish Saint, Maximilian Kolbe

I’m working on a project for an amateur radio operator who discovered that his hobby had a patron saint. In the process, I realized that this saint would also make a good patron saint for me:  St. Maximilian Kolbe. For one thing he is Polish, and so was my mother. Second, he had a profound […]