You’ve seen the bumper sticker, right? “Love your Mother.” Great sentiment, almost Biblical. In fact, one of the commandments that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai, says… “Honor your father and your mother.” Except that the bumper sticker I’m referring to shows a picture of the earth, drawn in green. In other words, our mother [...]

When I first came to the United States, my husband, children and I lived in a tiny village in New Mexico.  You know the type: everyone knew everyone else; I checked up on my little-old-lady neighbors every day to make sure they were OK, and they told me stories of the old West. One summer, [...]

Once in a while, at a given situation, an old Italian saying pops into my mind, and I am always struck of how deep the Catholic roots of my Country are. Last year I mentioned a few, and this year I’ll expand on the theme. You’ll notice that there are some for all occasions: some [...]

Remember when we were little and we’d go up to our parents complaining of a painful leg, or arm? They’d look carefully at the offending limb, and if they could find no obvious reason for the aches, they’d cheer us up with the words: “Don’t worry, it’ll go away, it’s just growing pains.” And we’d [...]

A few weeks ago, we read the Gospel of the woman caught in adultery. The leaders, wishing to “kill two birds with one stone,” (Jesus and the woman) tried to trick Jesus into condemning the adulteress, almost taking pleasure in “catching” someone in wrongdoing, enjoying the sense of power that their “superiority” gave them. We [...]

This coming week is Holy Week, the high point of Lent, the final preparation for Easter. Some things have changed during Lent: daily Mass attendance has increased; many went to Confession more frequently; we have cut back on food and given the savings to charity; we have attended the Stations of the Cross and visited [...]

Picture Rome, circa 1545 AD. A woman kneels at the Confessional box as she has done many times before. She prepared her usual list of sins and is just waiting for the priest to open the little shutter that indicates he’s ready, so she can receive absolution and be on her way. But, this time [...]

This is the 15th year that I’ve helped with the R.C.I.A. program, and all except one, with Fr. Hilton. Looking back over time, I can see the changes and the sameness. The sameness: the Holy Spirit continues to call, thanks be to God, and there’s no point in trying to guess who will come forward [...]

When we talk of “The Media” we usually mean TV, radio and newspapers. But the media includes books, magazines, billboards, the internet, anything and everything that is used to communicate with a large audience. So, Catholic Media has been around for millennia. From the first letters written by the Apostles to the Encyclicals promulgated by [...]

Ok ladies. There has been a lot of discussion (and confusion) about marriage and the role of women, especially in the last few years. Most of it seems directed to diminishing the importance of the traditional family as the first building block of a solid, stable, peaceful society. If you are older than 30, you [...]