Our Lady's Lamp

I'm a dreamer. I'm pretty sure I always have been, and that hasn't always been easy for me. It means I dreamed up crazy things I wanted to do with my life, didn't always hold to the proper ideals for a young Christian woman, and I utterly despise practicality when it imposes itself upon my life. And I had many, many people when I was growing up speak caution to me. Most of them were well meaning, I'm sure. But unbeknownst to them, their words of caution crippled me. They made me start to doubt myself. I allowed their words of caution to clip my wings. So, when I would have a crazy idea, I'd slap it down and chastise myself for not being practical. "Don't you know you can't do that?" "You cannot travel the world and be a responsible adult." "Do you really want to waste your time on school when you really just want a family?" "You know, if you'd just settle, you'd be married by now." "You'll ...

Thanksgiving is past, and now, even the most conservative of vendors have decked their halls, doors, and bags with red, green, holly, snowmen, and Jolly Santas. Christmas songs will fill the air on radios, in stores, and in homes. We look forward now to Christmas. But before we get to Christmas, we must journey through Advent, that time of preparation, that time of anticipation. This is the pregnancy before the birth, the quiet before the storm, the shy courtship before the wedding. It is a time of self reflection, of introspection, of getting house, home, and soul ready for the coming of a Glorious Guest. In most households, this change in seasons means people will begin shopping in earnest (or begin shopping period), tickets will be booked, plans will be solidified, fudge will be made, advent wreaths, candles, Christmas lights, and toy soldiers will be laid out. And so, we will whittle away this beautiful season, replacing the peace it is meant to bring with the chaos of preparat...

“Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven .” That verse in Matthew gave me so much grief for so long. I mean, the rest of scripture talks about us putting on armor and fighting evil spirits, about setting examples, and about not clinging to milk in our faith but instead becoming adults and eating “real food.” Especially being someone who has always taken pride in being told I am more mature than most people my age and knowing that I’ve been gifted with many different gifts and talents that tend toward leadership, I never was able to reconcile the idea of being a child with myself. So, in many ways, I ignored the verse and focused on the other verses that I did relate better to. But one day, when I felt like I had absolutely nothing left to give to God, when I felt like everything I wanted to do was being blockaded, like I was unable to do anything at all that would ever be of merit to the Kingdom, I looked up at the cross and just said, “I ca...

Around the world today, people are celebrating the thirty-first of October in various ways. Most of the Western World celebrates Halloween on this date. But for those, especially Christians, who do not agree with this practice, many choose another thing to emphasize: Reformation Day. I have issue with both of these observances, but I would be saying nothing new by saying what I think of Halloween. However, I am going to talk about the latter of the observances. Many people think that since I'm Catholic, I have issues with the celebration of Reformation Day because it is the start of the Protestant movement. While I think everyone knows my opinion on that matter, that is not the real reason I have issue with the celebration - and emphasis of - Reformation Day. My issue with it is that it propagates dis-unity. Luther needed to pin the 95 thesis on the door. Those were, for the most part, valid concerns. The clergy at the time was abusing its right. Luther did the right thing by b...