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What is your top 10 list for 2015? Funny, I was wondering what God’s was-- then, BOOM! It hit me! Duh! He wrote them down a few thousand years ago, and, believe it or not, they still hold true for 2015 and beyond. They are known as the Decalogue, The Holy Law, even “The Big Ten”, but we usually call them the Ten Commandments. I asked my child (who, by the way, has gone to Catholic School her entire life) if she could name them. Sadly, she couldn’t. Neither could her classmate

“O no! I’m not ready!” were the words that came unexpectedly tumbling out of my mouth as I was tucking my nine year old daughter in for the night, and suddenly realized that my freshman in college was coming home for the holidays the very next day. ”Oh yes you are Mommy!” she sweetly said. “ All you have to do is open your arms wide and welcome her in!” It is just that simple. Out of the mouth of babes… This past week of Advent during these “Golden Nights,” the octave before

Ecce! Fiat! Magnificat! What do these words even mean? Why do we hear them this time of year? They sum up all that the Blessed Virgin had to say in her radical act of obedience over 2000 years ago and reflect what should still be on the lips of the faithful even today. When the Angel Gabriel appeared with his famous salutation: ““Hail! Full of grace! The Lord is with you!” we can only guess at Mary’s shock! She was called “Full of Grace” --this 14 year old girl. And that was

“Lord-y Mercy!” If you are not from the south, let me translate…”Lord have Mercy!” And, as of this past Tuesday, December 8, that is just exactly what Pope Francis has declared this new year to be… a Jubilee Year of Mercy, one in which we are to follow in our Lord’s footsteps and extend MERCY to all. “What exactly IS ‘mercy’?’” you may ask. The word "mercy" in english has it’s roots in many beautiful words throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament Hebrew we find the word hes

Happy New Year! “Already!? What happened to Advent? Christmas? And Auld Lang Syne?” Well...as Christians, Sunday, November 29 started our liturgical New Year! So HAPPY NEW YEAR! Although the month of January is named for the Roman god Janus who had two faces-- one looking backwards and one looking forwards-- and the date of January 1 was based on celebrations surrounding the winter solstice of December 22 (the shortest day and longest night of the year) we Christians base our