Author Archives: Holly Gustafson

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About Holly Gustafson

Holly lives with her husband, James, and their five children in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. She received her Masters in Linguistics at the University of Manitoba and now pursues her love of language through art, writing, public speaking, and unsolicited grammatical advice. Her favorite show is always the one she’s currently watching, and her favorite saint is always the one she’s currently reading. The best advice she ever received was from her spiritual friend, St. Faustina, who told her that when in doubt, “Always ask Love. It advises best.”

8 Ways to Enter Into Silence – Part 1

One of the most transformative books I read last year was Cardinal Sarah’s The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise. As a peace-and-quiet-loving mom of five, silence is something I crave always. It can never be too quiet. … Continue reading

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5 Reasons Not to Seek Spiritual Consolation from God

I think Teresa of Avila might have made a great blogger. I read her Interior Castle this year, and while it was sometimes tricky reading, her organization style and penchant for lists would have made for some catchy titles: The … Continue reading

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A Litany of Hospitality

The German language has a great way of expressing broad ideas or sentiments in a single word. Treppenwitz literally means “staircase joke”, and describes that witty comeback you thought of too late. Fremdschämen is “exterior shame”, and describes the cringey … Continue reading

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Living the Beatitudes at Home Part 8: Holiness and the Courage to Speak Up

As a linguist, I love virtues with weird-sounding names. Benedicencia is the virtue of speaking well of others, from Latin bene, meaning “well”, and dicere, meaning “say” (we have the word benediction in English, so benedicencia really means to “speak … Continue reading

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Living the Beatitudes at Home – Part 7: Holiness and the Habit of Not Screaming at My Children

A friend and I were walking through a summer market today when we spied a t-shirt that read: “Patience is what you have when there are too many witnesses.” My friend giggled and said, “That’s true!” I smiled. For the … Continue reading

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Living the Beatitudes at Home – Part 6: Holiness and the Annual Family Intention

Several years ago, some new friends we’d met through church invited our family over for supper. On the wall of their home, my husband and I noticed a large sign that read “God, Golf, Disneyworld.” Curious, we asked the couple … Continue reading

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Living the Beatitudes at Home Part 5: Holiness through the Teenage Years

We have three teenagers in our family right now. This was something I swore would never happen; having been an irritable and defiant teenager myself, I’d always asserted, half-seriously, that I would somehow find a way to have my children … Continue reading

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Living the Beatitudes at Home – Part 4: Holiness Amongst the Shadows

It is said that the traditional greeting among the people of the Masai tribe of Africa is Kasserian Ingera?, which translates as “And how are the children?” Whether or not this greeting is still used amongst the Masai today, it’s … Continue reading

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Living the Beatitudes at Home – Part 3: Holiness for the Overly Optimistic

The Beatitudes certainly don’t get any better as you go along. As Christians, we’re called to be poor, meek, and now to mourn (spoiler: it only gets worse).                      “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  I remember … Continue reading

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Living the Beatitudes at Home – Part 2: Holy Through Sneezes

The second Beatitude has always been a tricky one for me. I know that meekness was one of Christ’s greatest virtues: He uses it, and lowliness of heart, to describe Himself in Matthew 11:29. But in today’s culture, the adjective … Continue reading

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