Our Lady's Lamp

Right after Jesus feeds the five thousand, Jesus sends the disciples away and takes time for himself. As often happens in life, especially life on the sea, the disciples soon found themselves caught up in a storm. But they were content to weather it out. They had faced storms before, they would face them again. But when they saw Jesus walking toward them out of this storm, they were terrified. They cried out in fear, despite having just seen miracles. He wasn't where He was supposed to be. People were safe in the boats.... not on the water! When Jesus calls out to them, assuring them He is not a ghost, Peter challenges Him saying, “If it's you, call me to walk on the water too.” And Jesus says, “Come.” Now, about then, I would be wondering if it really was Jesus calling me or some spirit wanting to drown me, but Peter doesn't hesitate. He steps out onto the stormy sea and walks on the water. He trusts that it is Jesus, and that Jesus can give him – bumbling...

“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...

My last two posts have been about Saints that have impacted me in some way, shape, or form recently, and they are the first of several. But the one who has been my patroness for the longest is the young girl who I chose as my Confirmation saint - Agnes of Rome. Agnes was a beautiful daughter of a noble couple who lived in the 4th century, and, like most noble children of the time, she was effectively raised by a Nanny. This woman was a Christian, and she taught Agnes about the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord, and she taught her about the life of St. Paul and how he called young women to a life of purity, consecrated to Our Lord in a special way. This was something that Agnes greatly desired, and so she consecrated herself and her virginity to Our Lord and said that she would take no human man. Unfortunately, by the time she was 12 or 13, her status and beauty attracted many men, among them, the son of the Prefect of the time. Steadily, she refused him, telli...

As I have matured in my faith and walk with God, I have realized that certain saints have risen in my life as models. Over the next couple weeks or months, I intend to continue writing about some of them. I wrote about one of the most consistent over the last year and a half in my last post , but now I want to tell you about one of the most recent. And I can honestly say she is a saint I never really expected to connect with. I have recently begun pondering the life of Mary Magdalene, and as I am wont to do, I started doing some research. And you know what I found? That she is easily one of the most misunderstood women in history.  Not only do we have the Da Vinci Code  trying to cast her as the wife of Jesus and propagator of his dynasty (which is heretical on many levels as well as unfounded by any historical evidence), but we also simply don't know who  exactly she was. Some people say that Mary Magdalene is a catch all for every Mary or female sinner ...

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...

Guess what, everone? Jesus is risen! He suffered and subjected himself to a horrible death, He remained with the dead for three days, and now He's risen! And just like He suffered, my Big Brother also rose for me. No more do I have to fear death. Death is not something, as in the Old Testament, to be feared or embraced only reluctantly. I can now look forward to the day I die because it is not, as good Gandalf says, the end but "just the beginning." My time here, in my earthly flesh, will be over, but I will be given a new body, a glorious body, like the one Jesus wore from the grave. What does it mean to, as Paul says, have the hope of the resurrection? Well, if we die to our old selves and become slaves to Christ, then we can join the "Cloud of Witnesses" the author of Hebrews talks about. We will join our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Judah, Simeon, and the other Maccabean Brothers and Martyrs, Simeon and ...