The message of Heaven is very near in Georgia right now.  Last week, a sudden tragedy occurred whereby four young, Christian college women at the University of Georgia were killed in an automobile accident.  The fifth companion, Agnes, lies in a coma.

Tears and prayers flow like a river.

Even at this moment, I cannot go on writing without a prayer.  My heart reaches for His Peace; and, I think of the prayer I found framed long ago in the effects of my dear, paternal grandmother, Sara Evelyn Gott Cohron.  It was the “Serenity Prayer.”

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time. Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever. Continue reading →

Christ promises to send peace in the gospel. For most of us, this means that all our problems and conflicts cease to exist, and all is perfect according to the way we have it planned. This isn’t the peace that Christ came to give. His peace is more than just a “perfect” social order. He wants us each individually to have peace. Peace, which is to know ourselves to be loved and valued for being who we are, not for any appearance we have to put on or any expectation we have to live up to. Peace means that we learn to see things as God does; to know ourselves to be looked on with love, and to be able to look on with love to all those around us. Peace means that we see beyond the fly that absorbs all our attention, which takes away our peace and doesn’t allow us to see all the beauty that God has created.

It is amazing to see how one man can change an entire city. For Rome, that man is Pope Francis. I love him, and so does just about everyone one else on the streets of Rome. In February I met a poor musician, husband and father who makes a living by travelling into Rome every weekday morning to play the guitar in hopes that his hat will collect enough money to pay the rent, feed his family, and buy him a train ticket home that afternoon. His name is Roberto. We’ve become good friends over the past couple months. It is amazing to see how Pope Francis has touched Roberto’s life without the two ever meeting. Continue reading →

The Dad is a child’s first experience of God’s love. A dad needs to be a protector, provider, and to be present in his kids’ lives. A dad should imitate God’s love which is never changing and constant, providing what is good for his family unconditionally (“What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone.” Luke 11:11). This entails providing what they need, not necessarily what they want and protecting them from what is harmful. Additionally, a dad cannot model God’s love if he is not present in his children’s lives as God is constantly present in all of ours. With these thoughts in mind, here is a list of practical tips for being a great dad. Continue reading →

God promises to make all things new in the second reading. Christ tells us in the gospel how He wants us to participate in this new creation – by loving those around us. This way we can participate in God’s new creation. True love, which goes beyond a sweet feeling, leads us to live as Christ did. By loving, we become testimonies of this new creation. Our role is to be a testimony of God’s love for us. Our love for one another becomes a testimony for the new life that God wants to give all. God’s love for us makes everything worthwhile to make the gospel present, as the disciples did in the first reading, only because they are testimonies to what already God has redeemed in us. We aren’t perfect, but God renews in us the possibility to have life in Him.  Love is the only path that we have to be totally open to receiving the saving power of God.

In less than a month, I’ll be in Rome for the summer, preparing for final vows. The reality hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but something in my heart feels ready.

It’s been three years since I renewed my temporary vows. I’m part of the first generation of Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi to have a six year period of final vows, as a time to deepen in the experiential living and learning of our vocation. The first four years I was studying at Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island, and the past two I have been immersed in the full-time apostolic reality of Houston, Texas.

How do you know that you’re really ready to get married? That’s similar to the question that I was asking myself earlier this year faced to final vows. Continue reading →

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The Band of Brothers

At 4 am Monday morning my alarm clock went off.  Actually, my husband’s alarm clock went off. Mine was set for the much more sane time of 5:45 am, the start of a normal day for our family of 8.

Paul loves his sleep and a few extra minutes or hours have always been a cherished (and well earned) luxury for him, when he can get them.  There is an exception. Paul’s Regnum Christi encounter team meets at 6:30 am every Friday. A raucous, passionate and intense group of Catholic men; husbands, fathers and professionals who rise early to cap their week with prayer and resolution to change themselves and the world around them for Christ. Continue reading →

Right now, we have two people in the family who are about to start driving.  I keep telling our daughter and our son that the key to good driving is to “be where you are supposed to be.”  And, I added recently to this advice,

“Expect the other drivers to often be where they are not supposed to be.”

My dad taught me to drive and emphasized “defensive driving.” Before we really encountered other cars, we would go out of town into the western Kentucky countryside, where the big traffic was the occasional tractor or slow-going, pick-up truck. Continue reading →

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)  

Kenya’s  David Rudisha holds the world record for the 800 meter race , running in 1 minute, 40.91 seconds in August 9, 2012.  His incredible record pace pushed all the runners to incredible times; “With Rudisha breaking 1:41, two men under 1:42, five under 1:43, and all eight under 1:44, it was the greatest depth 800m race in history.” (IAAF- International Association of Athletes). It was the first time in the history of international 800m competition where every runner either ran a personal or season’s best. Continue reading →