Thoughts Along the Journey

Grotto at Franciscan University Steubenville, OH

I am experiencing my annual "the-kids-are-going-back-to-school-soon-and-I'm-absolutely-dreading-it-but-the-summer-has-been-crazy-and-hectic-and-I'm-ready-to-go-back-to-a-regular-schedule" frame of mind. Can you relate?  (Please say yes!) I always look forward to the end of the school year.  I want to spend every possible moment with my boys.  I think of all kinds of fun things we can do together.  Suddenly, they're actually home for the summer, and I still have to do laundry, clean house, and make meals.  Then they start the "I'm bored" syndrome, and the real fun begins. Don't get me wrong, we have made some great memories this summer.  We spent part of Memorial Day weekend playing "tourists" in Cleveland.  We also went to a mini golf park.  We spent Memorial Day at the Cleveland Zoo.  Our oldest son went to a great youth conference.  Our church celebrated the Feast of the Sacred Heart (our patronal feast) with a special Mass, dinne...

One of the speakers we heard at the Defending the Faith Conference was Archbishop Carlson, of St. Louis.  Due to storms, he was not able to be with us for all his scheduled time slots.  He graciously supplied the notes he had written for the session he missed. Wow. I. Introduction When we find a good restaurant we want to share it with our friends, and we do. When we hear a good song we want to share it with our friends, and we do. When we see a good movie or read a good book or find a good recipe we want to share it with our friends, and we do. The fact that you can now do it on Facebook is just a new twist on an old theological principle: The good is self-diffusive. The good wants to be shared, and anyone who resists doing so is rightly called selfish. It's a curious fact about many Catholics, however, that there is one good thing that we're reluctant to share: the good news of our faith in Jesus Christ. For one reason or another, our culture tells us that it...

This past weekend, my husband and I had the opportunity to attend the "Defending the Faith" conference at Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH.  This was definitely a "wow" experience in our lives! The hosts of the conference were Scott Hahn and Alan Schreck.  Marcus Grodi (of "The Journey Home" on EWTN) was also there, and spoke briefly.  These men had some hurdles to deal with:  water main break, speakers who had delayed/cancelled flights, etc. etc.  But the Holy Spirit brought it all together so beautifully. A couple of highlights from the weekend:  the hour of Eucharistic devotion.  The holy hush that came over all of us at the beginning...wow.  And, as my husband said, as wonderful as all the speakers were, that hour was when we were listening to Jesus speak to us. Another highlight was the exuberant worship, and seeing people of all ages with their hands raised in worship.  Of special note to me:  seeing two nuns with...