First, I Give Thanks

...like, I mean, a really big fan. Mary is always there, always. As the guardian of the America's we need her now more than ever. As the Queen of Peace (the name of the statue above) we need her now more than ever. As our spiritual mother, as our guide, as our intercessor, we need her now more than ever.  Sometimes, I think that when people aren't keen on Mary, it is because they don't fully understand just how much we have in common with her. Just how much her "yes" changed history, just how much she has brought people closer to her son. Mary always, and in  ALL WAYS points toward Jesus. And then I want to ask them, "Do you know what you're missing?"  I am convinced that for some people there is a misappropriation of attention and affection for Mary, and perhaps that is what the people who don't rely on her wisdom see. That isn't good, we are not meant to worship our mother, we are meant to love her, to seek her wisdom and to pray

Hoping this aids in the Good Friday walk!

“This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate  with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.” Exodus 12:14 Happy Holy Thursday! I was thinking about how I was at the Jameson Distillary last year on Holy Thursday because we missed all of the Masses in Dublin. Apparently their Masses start in the morning and are done for the most part by 1pm. WE did not know this. So we missed Mass. But we thought it was actually kind of poetic that we ended up lifting some Jameson and saying a quick prayer in a cask surrounded room in one of the most Catholic countries in the world. It felt kind of sacred in the early Christian sense. The same can be true for this Holy Thursday, because even though our usual traditions can't be experienced, we can experience our families all gathered around our table. I noticed last night as we sat down for dinner how this part of the "Stay Home" practice is something we all like. The routine is com

"First, I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is heralded throughout the world. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in proclaiming the Gospel of his Son, that I remember you constantly, always asking in my prayers that somehow by God's will, I may at last find my way clear to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened, that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by one another's faith, yours and mine." Romans 1: 8-12 I was trying to come up with a name for this blog, that I hope will bring some of us together in the interim. I told my husband that my Bible usually gave me direction but it was falling flat. I no sooner said that when I opened to this passage. I thought about it and considered the purpose of this blog and whether the title was right. Then I read the passage and it was clear.  Though Paul is in very different circumstances