by Barbara | Sep 8, 2023
I love words! Apart from monotonous whining or mundane dribble, words excite me. I love words so much that when discipling our kids as teens I would put them into a coma as I worded them to death about the dangers of their actions. Isn't it exciting when you...
by Barbara | Aug 29, 2023
Chocolate is my go-to flavor when eradicating my craving for something sweet. Not just any chocolate suffices, as I’ve spent a lifetime honing what gratifies. It’s easy to recognize a counterfeit when I’ve tasted the real deal. Humans have favorite foods, clothes,...
by Barbara | Aug 23, 2023
We can all relate to Jonah at times. We want people to get what is coming to them, good or bad- mostly bad- especially if they have hurt us. In this case, Jonah wanted Nineveh to die for the ill-treatment of his people. We're told in Scripture that "Jonah...
by Barbara | Jul 2, 2023
We planned a mini staycation with several of our kids who lived locally. It seemed reasonable when we made the reservations months earlier. But that was before the out-of-state baptism was scheduled, and one week later, a triple baptism which included hosting the...
by Barbara | Jun 12, 2023
Novena Pray always in readiness to surrender, and you will receive from it great peace and great rewards, even when I confer on you the grace of immolation, of repentance and of love. Then what does suffering matter? It seems impossible to you. Close your eyes and say...
by Barbara | Jun 11, 2023
Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace; close your eyes and do not think of the present, turning your thoughts away from the future just as you would from temptation. Repose in me, believing in my goodness, and I promise...
by Barbara | Jun 10, 2023
Day 7 NovenaI perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves. I sow treasure troves of graces when you are in the deepest poverty. No person of reason, no thinker, has ever performed miracles, not even among the...
by Barbara | Jun 9, 2023
Novena You are sleepless; you want to judge everything, direct everything and see to everything and you surrender to human strength, or worse – to men themselves, trusting in their intervention, – this is what hinders my words and my views. Oh how much I wish from you...
by Barbara | Jun 8, 2023
NovenaAnd when I must lead you on a path different from the one you see, I will prepare you; I will carry you in my arms; I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river. What troubles you and...
by Barbara | Jun 7, 2023
NovenaYou see evil growing instead of weakening? Do not worry. Close your eyes and say to me with faith: “Thy will be done, You take care of it”. I say to you that I will take care of it, and that I will intervene as does a doctor and I will accomplish miracles when...
by Barbara | Jun 6, 2023
Novena How many things I do when the soul, in so much spiritual and material need, turns to me, looks at me and says to me; “You take care of it”, then closes its eyes and rests. In pain you pray for me to act, but that I act in the way you want. You do not turn to...
by Barbara | Jun 5, 2023
Novena: Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to...
by Barbara | Jun 4, 2023
Thank you for joining me in praying the Surrender Novena. Fr Dolindo Ruotolo, Spiritual Director to Padre Pio, received this novena from Christ Jesus. As we pray this novena each day, imagine Jesus saying these words to you personally. Prayerfully linger over each...
by Barbara | May 31, 2023
Immediately you may balk at this title. Isn't surrendering for cowards? Not necessarily. If you are stressed, anxious, confused, or even frustrated with feelings of helplessness, I invite you to read on. Have you dreamed of an abiding peace that seems only to evade...
by Barbara | May 22, 2023
What memory, if any, do you have of a time you felt completely loved? Not the mushy fleeting feelings of giddiness and butterflies. Rather, a deep abiding love not dependent on conditions. A love given exclusively for your own good. No strings attached. Parental love...
by Barbara | Apr 30, 2023
Retirement, that perplexing magical state of being, twirled in my head for months. I assumed I would have to wait until December when I reached the official number, which makes me eligible for Medicare. I remember sitting in Church a few months back when a somewhat...
by Barbara | Apr 15, 2023
Pt 4/4 The world will change when we get love right, and it must begin first and foremost in marriage and family life. Marriage is not “fifty-fifty.” Divorce is. Love requires a one hundred percent gift from the spouses. Listen to the words of the vows, “in sickness...
by Barbara | Apr 12, 2023
Pt.3 /4 The previous articles covered what the Catechism and Sacred Scripture teach us about marriage and love. This week we will look at what makes a marriage sacramental. God provided all that was necessary to thrive for our first parents in the Garden of Eden;...
by Barbara | Apr 3, 2023
Part 2/4 "Selfishness is the enemy of love," writes Ven. Fulton J Sheen. It is a strong statement of truth that cannot be denied. Let's talk about love, the greatly misunderstood four-letter word, and what it demands of married couples. Spoiler alert-men and women are...
by Barbara | Mar 27, 2023
part 1/4 In this series of articles, I seek to offer you dear reader, a deeper understanding of the Sacrament of Matrimony. I hope to inspire, educate, enlighten, strengthen, and encourage couples and those who are contemplating married life. What is marriage in God’s...
by Barbara | Jan 31, 2023
Crap happens in more ways than one, metaphorically speaking. Perchance, you remember the popular bumper sticker a few years back that explicitly proclaimed that very thing. So why are we so surprised when it does? We can tend to live life deluding ourselves that...