Our Lady's Lamp

As I have matured in my faith, several saints have become more and more real and have walked with me along my journey. Besides the Blessed Mother, none has been as influential in my life as the beautiful St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower. Several of you have heard me talk about this spectacular woman, but many more have only heard "I'll tell you more! I promise!" So, I am going to write out a bit about my beautiful Saintly Stalker. First, let me say that I did not go seeking her out as I did with a couple of the other saints that have become meaningful. I did not choose her. She chose me. God knew I needed her, and so, when I went to my Awakening retreat, He put me in a group where both of the group leaders had encountered her and her intercession, and they beautifully shared that devotion with us retreaters. At the end of the weekend, they gave us a prayer card, a card with a picture of St. Therese on one side, a short prayer on the other, with rose petals (I...

This is an article I wrote for my Church's "newsletter" called the Messenger. It had to be really short, so I apologize for how abbreviated it is. I may, at some point, elaborate on one of more of the sections later. ~~~~~ We are all fighting a battle. We are the church militant. We fight against the forces of evil daily. We are in a constant battle, and, on our own, it would be impossible. But we are no more alone than were the Israelites in Exodus 17. Moses realized that while his arms were raised, the favor of the Lord shone upon the Israelites, and they could not be defeated. Likewise, we have the priests who offer – on our behalf and that of the whole world – the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. But, like Moses, our priests tire, as does the army. But like the Israelites, we should not despair, for we are not left alone. We have people to help hold up our priests’ arms so that we can better fight our fight, fueled by the Eucharist – those who consecrate themselve...

Well, the number of reasons are really too many to number, but I will focus on one. In almost all religions, the archetypal member is male, and most of their societies are heavily emphasized on the male. And while, yes, it is true, that the Church does not teach that women can be preachers, Christianity is one of the only religions that has for the archetypal member, a woman. Despite the fact that Jesus chose twelve apostles, declared that the Church would be built on Simon, then renamed Peter, rose Paul to such a position of power and authority, the Church does not promote them as the model Christians. They could. They are all beautiful examples of Christianity. Paul himself says to imitate him and thus imitate Christ, but you will rarely hear Paul put forward as the model Christian. You will hear Peter put forward as the model for repentance (and also Mary Magdalene), but you will rarely have him put forward - outside of anecdotes - as the model Christian. The person who is s...