Today as I was reading the latest Catholic Carnival, I clicked on A Catholic Mom in Hawaii:Helping the Holy Souls in Purgatory. This blog is a labor of love on behalf of all souls in purgatory, reminding us to keep these people in our intentions, as part of our family in Christ. As a convert to Catholicism, purgatory is a relatively new concept to me … but frankly, one that I never had much trouble with. It made perfect sense to me, that some Christians need a bit of a “spit and polish,” spiritually speaking, before approaching the Throne of Grace (like the man who […]

In I Kings 3:16 we find a story of King Solomon that is often used to demonstrate his wisdom. Two babies were put to bed one night; the next morning, one of them was dead. The mothers – women of questionable repute – each claimed the living infant was hers. Solomon instructed that the baby be cut in two, and half given to each woman. One woman agreed – and the other immediately begged the king to give the live infant to her opponent. Solomon then handed the child to the woman who was willing to surrender her child rather than see him come to […]

***Catholic Carnival #136 is now UP! Sarah at “Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering” shows her true colors as she draws from the four corners of the virtual universe to compile the best and most thought-provoking posts to brighten your week. Enjoy! (Here was my contribution …) Please note: A Good Samaritan identified the quote that was sent to me, which appeared in the “Invisible Mom” piece I already posted. The wonderful reflection was from a book by Nicole Johnson entitled The Invisible Woman. You can order it through Amazon.com by clicking here. This week God has been teaching me about the flip side of […]

I do. And today my sister Kathy sent this to me, to remind me that “behind the scenes” can be a blessed place to be. UPDATE: I WAS JUST INFORMED THAT THIS LOVELY MEDITATION IS FROM A BOOK ENTITLED “THE INVISIBLE WOMAN” BY NICOLE JOHNSON. YOU CAN ORDER IT FROM AMAZON.COM BY CLICKING HERE. “I’m invisible….. “ It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” Obviously […]

Yesterday CE featured an article that compared the atrocities of Auschwitz to the American “death camps” of the preborn — abortion mills. While the “American holocaust” theme was not terribly original, the mention of that particular death camp did spark a train of thought, which I posted as a reflection based on this article in “Streams of Mercy.” When I spent the summer traveling across Poland in the summer of 1992, conducting a series of “good-will tours” with a team of Polish and American college students, we stopped by Auschwitz. I was struck by the fact that none of the Polish students wanted to go […]

Today I came across an excellent post by Karen Edmisten (August 16) about what it means to be a “Good Catholic Family” — and the dangers of faulty comparisons. As an adoptive parent, I’ve thought about this a great deal. When we started the foster care/adoption process, we toyed with the idea of having a group home of six or eight … Thankfully, God did not hold us to that starry-eyed notion. At the end of the day, He knew (and just as importantly, I knew) the two special children He wanted us to parent would be more than enough. The truth is, good Catholic […]

Today on Catholic Exchange there was a post from a poor, desperate mother with a special-needs child who struggled with migraines. If you are one such poor soul, you might like to know about the advice I gave this woman here. There is a time to suffer … and a time to take care of ourselves so we can be there for our families! God bless you.

Mary Kochan at CatholicExchange.com sent me this link to YouTube, featuring the breathtaking complexity and variety of womanhood. Enjoy!