Dear Friends,
Even as a child my family could see that I was a nurturer; I could constantly be found taking care of a doll or stuffed animal in a gentle and intentional manner. The desire to provide them with a safe, loving, comfortable environment was certainly within me! I can vividly remember the day that I put on a full wedding ceremony for two of my teddy bears.
Read MoreWhen I was pregnant with my fourth child, God blessed me with an opportunity to go on a retreat where I first heard the message that we all have an individual call from God – a vocation – that is the path to our holiness. For some, it is a call to the single life, for others it is the call to marriage and motherhood – for all, it is a call to sanctify our lives and offer up our days as a prayer to our Heavenly Father.
Read MoreSo what is the truth of what it means to be a Catholic woman today? The truth is that our vocation is not found in one single decision in time. Our vocation is not proven through what we went to school for, our ability to hold a job, or where we live. Our vocation is not necessarily one thing. Our vocation can change with the seasons. Whether we are married, single, or a religious, God can call us all over the place, to a number of different careers or workplaces; we should not be convinced that one path is the only path.
Read MoreIt was a hot and muggy Wednesday evening as I sat alone in a church pew for adoration. Sweat was soaking the back of my shirt, tears were streaming down my face, and my only thought as I knelt before the golden monstrance and the Blessed Sacrament within was “What the heck am I doing here, God?”
Read MoreSisters, when we are lost, God asks us: “what happened to you and where are you?” Imagine what your life would look like if fear, anxiety, doubt or worry did not dictate any of your decisions. Imagine letting go of control, of your own carefully crafted plan for your life and trusting that God’s plan and timing are so much better than what we can conjure up for ourselves. Imagine surrendering everything. What would your life look like?
Read MoreUpon returning home, I did a lot of reflecting on this trip and why God called me there. And I realized that God doesn’t always give us the answers to our prayers in simple terms. At some times, I’m still confused as to what my calling might me. But through this experience, through God’s love, and through the sense of community I found in Honduras, I’ve learned that I am called to simply love my neighbors. Yes, I’m still unsure of what career I should pursue, but I’ve learned that if I love the people right in front of me and treat them with kindness, God will provide the rest.
Read MoreI am coming to realize that being surrendered doesn’t have to mean accepting every possible tragedy in advance. Being surrendered doesn’t have to mean having a nonchalant attitude towards the things you love and care about. I don’t need to stake my identity in my ability to surrender “correctly.” Surrender can simply mean loosening my grip on expectation. Surrender can mean practicing gratitude in the moment.
Read MoreI still felt clueless about successfully coping with anxiety but I was steadily on the road to recovery. I was still depressed and still suicidal but, as I held my nephew, I realized the many successes of choosing life again and again that had brought me to this moment of meeting him. So I whispered a soft “Thank you” to him because deep down I knew I wanted to live for God and I’d been searching for a meaningful way of doing so.
Read MoreSome days after the conversation with Sr. Hope, though, sitting before Jesus in the Adoration chapel and still mulling over the job offer, I asked a different question: “Lord, what would bring You joy? How do You want me to serve?”
He didn’t answer by saying ,”You’ll bring me joy when you have a Ph.D.”; or, “You’ll delight me when you become a professor.” Instead, He whispered, ever so gently, “You bring me joy when you use the gifts I have given you, right here and now. You delight me already.”
Read MoreSavoring these moments with my children doesn’t mean letting those goals go. It has meant that they take on a different character. The beauty of this is that, although the dreams I had for myself were big and exciting, they were still somehow less than what God is doing with my heart. What he is doing with me now is more wild and untamed than the conventional way I could have imagined my life unfolding. Is this strange to say about a life of domesticity?
Read MoreBut what I do know is that each day of juggle and wonder and struggle and worry is stretching me to the shape of God’s intentions. His plan for me is so much greater than any “ideal” story I tell myself in my head or compare against someone else’s. And though I’m currently struggling with “balancing it all” as a working, Catholic mother, I know in the end my story is pushing me toward my ultimate salvation.
Read MoreMy mind travels back to those greats who came to preach the Gospel to India, who were as strange as we are if not more. They were new missionaries, and had to learn the language, the way to dress, the food, the customs, and the huge cultural and social barriers They were rejected, accepted and rejected some more. Still, they made Jesus known. They are the reason we have faith.
Read MoreBut with every small victory—the occasional moments when I am able to practice gentleness with my 4-year-old, despite how mad I am that he just pushed his little brother down the steps—a change takes place in me. My capacity for gentleness grows. I had no idea how much virtue I lacked in the realms of gentleness, self-control, and patience. Motherhood moved my focus from an external sense of stability and social validation to a much deeper internal need for God’s grace and guidance—inevitably helping me rely more on God’s fatherhood.
Read MoreI remember sitting in the crowded pub at my university, tears filling my eyes and anxiety welling up in my chest. I was nearing the end of my senior year of college and after months of searching LinkedIn, filling out job applications, and preparing for interviews, I was swimming in a sea of rejection emails and phone calls.
Read MoreIt was the first time in my career I came to a crossroads where my faith couldn’t blend with my work.
Read MoreFor the first time in my 25 years of life, I’m living what I consider to be an ordinary life. I work Monday-Friday, eight-to-five, as a receptionist for a Catholic non-profit. Most of my days are spent answering phones, sorting mail, forwarding emails, unjamming printers, and standing at my desk.
Read MoreI want to share a snippet of this journey of overcoming self-doubt and embracing my role as an artist with you. I also want to encourage other women to recognize in themselves their creative capacity, and explore how spiritual and physical motherhood reflect the role of the Creator in the deepest way.
Read More“You know, they call it a mid-life crisis, but does anyone else feel like it’s more like a daily-life crisis? That may be a little dramatic but I’m sure you can relate to those moments throughout your life that you look around thinking what the heck, where do I go from here?”
Read More“My military uniform clung to my skin in the uncharacteristically hot and humid weather as my mind pressed in on the question that had been floating through my head. Finally, it landed: ‘What am I doing here?’”
Read More"On January 14, 2017 I married the love of my life in my home parish in Miami. On January 16th we boarded separate flights to our respective cities. He had been working in Boston for 6 months and I was still struggling to finish my PhD in Atlanta."
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