Four-fold Gratitude

Four-fold Gratitude

For some time upon receiving Holy Communion, I have tried to focus on three things for which I am deeply grateful: the Divine Plan, the Blood of Christ, and Our Lady’s fiat. Each requires a moment to unpack and savor, beginning with this entire project we know as...
Leaving Afghanistan

Leaving Afghanistan

This  46-year-old nun of the Congregation of Saint Jeanne Antida had to leave years of work and many beloved children to an unknown fate: Sister Shahnaz will never forget the long days in Taliban-occupied Kabul, anxiously waiting for a chance to leave the country. The...
Maria Kondo for the soul?

Maria Kondo for the soul?

I probably shouldn’t pretend to know what the lovely Ms Kondo is all about without having seen her or watched her show, so forgive this boldness. Truly, there is so much out there concerning her techniques that one imagines that her joyful approach to...
A fruitful Lent

A fruitful Lent

Leila Marie Lawler would make anyone’s short list of wise women alive today, and this piece on how to choose reading material for Lent is a prime example of why. It’s not wrong to take practices upon ourselves (prayers, readings, penitential acts), but we have...