I was a postulant with the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity when I learned that there is a difference between being happy and being joyful. Up until then, I had thought the terms were interchangeable. Someone could be happy being able to see their friends. A...
I am, admittedly, a ‘cradle Catholic,’ who has experienced times of great closeness to the faith, and other times when I wandered, like a dog, who suddenly finds itself outside its familiar fence, and is anxious to sniff out what the world outside might be like. ...
How in the world do you help someone get to the point where they can confidently say they know Jesus? Like truly, authentically know Him? All year, I’ve asked the students I walk with in discipleship whether or not they know Jesus. Like truly, on an intimate level....
When the house in which J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit came up for sale, we decided it would be a good adventure to try to buy it with the support of his global fanbase. The aim is to turn it into the first literary centre in honour of the...
Imagine with me for a second: You’re standing on top of a 30-foot cliff, about to jump into a level 3 white-water rapid in Colorado…you hold the instructor’s hand as he attempts to console you...“just walk straight forward, pull your feet together as you fall, just...
St. Therese of Lisieux | Doctor of the Church St. Therese of Lisieux was born on January 2, 1873, and died on September 30, 1897. St. Therese of Lisieux was a French Discalced Carmelite nun, the same order founded by St. Teresa of Avila. Her religious name is St....
People do foolish things for love. Consider a wonderful Catholic girl I know who creeped away from her loving parents one night to join some neighborhood dude who had shamed his family by stealing from his own father, and then scandalized the whole town by flashing...
Three years ago, today, I published a blog about my personal struggle with pornography. Before that day, I had never spoken openly about porn, it was very much a secret problem that had been eating me up for years. More than anything else I have ever written, I look...
I wish I had always known God’s loving tenderness. I have been a Catholic all my life but it was only a year ago that I discovered a God who loves us with such magnitude that not only is He powerful, He is also tender, as a terrified new father, who stands in by the...
Homelessness goes deeper than not having a place to lay your head at night, and solving the problem of homelessness goes deeper than simply providing hot meals or houses. In this video, we see how one man was called by Christ to suffer-with the homeless and how that...
If you think Saint costumes are boring, think again! Check out these gory, gruesome, and horrifying costumes that will have your friends talking all night long. It's an interesting way to evangelize, but it just might work. 8 Scary Saint Costumes Saint Ursula - The...
Teens are hungry for God. They want to know what is true. They yearn to experience authentic encounters with the risen Lord. Many may have faith in their hearts, but are still trying to figure out what is real for themselves. They need proof. They want to know...
When people hear the word “missionary”, most people think of someone who travels to another country to share the Gospel, teach in schools, volunteer in hospitals, and serve the community. Missionaries go to places like Africa, El Salvador, and Haiti. That was always...
Through my three pregnancy losses, I have been absolutely blown away by my amazing community of family and friends. I am in awe of the loving strength and selfless support that is given by so many people around me, male and female, old and young, close friends and...
It’s been said that we make 35,000 decisions every day. Some decisions are small things like what we want to eat, what time we'll brush our teeth, and what show we want to watch. Other decisions are more life-changing like choosing a career path, buying a house,...
Every year I search for a unique way to help my children understand the season of Lent. Sometimes I find something and other years we just do what we've always done, but this year I'm really excited about what God led me to. I've felt called to teach my children the...
By the fall semester of my junior year at Northwest Missouri State University, I was completely consumed with the typical college culture. I partied every chance I got and sought to make my mark on campus. But because of my conscience and the Lord’s grace, I was still...
Jesus was my excuse. He wanted me to forgive my abuser, to give him a second chance. But in the pit of my stomach, I know that I just made that up because I was too afraid to speak up. My name is Maria Sage. I am a 24-year-old Catholic, a writer, a bookworm, a lover...
Asking for a saint’s help never seemed odd to me growing up. It was like asking friends or family to pray for me. In fact, it is asking friends and family to pray for me. God wishes to help His children grow strong and help each other. He didn’t make us to passively...
As fairly new homeowners (it’s been 1.5 years), one struggle that my husband and I have is that of finding a right balance with how much stuff we possess. Our goal: not to possess too little stuff (we’re not hardcore minimalists) and not to possess too much stuff (we...
Dear Child, My parents baptized me three months after I was born. I don’t remember it. I wasn’t asked if I wanted to be baptized or not, nor would I have been able to understand or respond. And, I’m grateful that they did. We decided to do the same for you. We...
Growing up, I ticked of all the ‘weird kid’ qualities. Bookworm? Tick. Shy Catholic girl? Big tick. Facial scarring? Tick. Scar from open-heart surgery? Tick. You know how everyone gets known for something for in highschool? Try being known as that weird kid who...
Good things are happening somewhere in Middle America: Vocations are booming in Lincoln, Nebraska (and Wichita, KS). It's not a secret in the American Catholic world, though it is somewhat perplexing that more bishops have not looked to imitate certain successful...
When Mercy Me released “I Can Only Imagine" in 2001 it was one of the first Christian songs that I had ever heard on the radio. I remember thinking about the lyrics and truly imagining how my heart might feel when the time would come for me to meet Jesus. At that...
"For so long, I kept things to myself and refused to open up because I didn't want to burden people with my problems and because I didn't think anyone would understand what I was going through. I was so wrong. No matter who you are, no matter what you're struggling...