The third week of The Great Lent in the Maronite tradition celebrates the Healing of the Hemorrhaging Woman. I have been that woman. “Her life flowed out with the blood that flowed from her. Pain and sorrow filled her days. Doctors disillusioned her; healing was a dream she chased and her world was dark as …
And so Lent begins. Another Lent full of dreams of transformation. Or maybe just survival. I wonder at the people who get excited about Lent. Lent has been rebranded in recent years. Parish programs promise a “Lent you will love” or the “Best Lent Ever!” Yes, Lent is good. Fruitful. Necessary. Even beautiful. But I …
I got in my car, alone. Put it in drive and headed down the road. I adjusted the thermostat and settled in for the hour and a half drive. About 30 seconds later, the tears came. They came in great waves of grief. They came in the kind of shedding that you can feel coming …
When I moved to Mongolia twenty years ago, like any new bride, I brought my collection of family recipes to my new home—those trusty old standbys of comfort foods. Problem was, I was now living in the frozen tundra, a post-soviet country that was just finding her beautiful way. Half the ingredients in my recipes …
Social media has this delightful little gimmick that reminds you of what you posted on this day in past years. All is well and good when the memory was a refreshing green smoothie enjoyed after a run. It’s a little tougher when the memory hits a raw spot in your heart. Thomas Merton wrote that …
As I grate cheese by hand, “You know the store sells cheese that is already grated, right?” As I chop piles of vegetables for fermenting, “Why don’t you own a food processor?” As I light dozens of candles in the evening, “Why don’t you just turn on the lights?” As I mix herbs and store …
Today I had to read the first chapter of a book called De-Romanticizing the Domestic Church by Timothy O’Malley. I say “had to” because there is no way I would have picked up a book with this title. Today I read that first chapter and disliked it just as much, if not more, than I …
It seems to me that the waters are getting muddy as a myriad of things are being redefined and labeled incorrectly. Yes, we can believe it’s not butter. And we also don’t buy that wearing a mask and masking our children is the most pro-life thing we can do. I have taught my children that …
Today I deactivated Facebook. I have been on Facebook since around 2006, I think. Today I broke free. It actually had little to nothing to do with terms and conditions or people who talk about politics too much or the variety of “Karens” in my feed. It was something else.
I want to ask, “Really Bishop? Is my first responsibility to thank God for every ‘scientific’ advancement, even if it goes against my conscience and even if many others have been harmed in its development?
reconciling things 