Our toddlers giggled and screeched at each other from across the table as we drank our coffees and chatted. We tried to shush them, but the people at the tables around us smiled and said "hi" to our toddlers. ("She's precious," one said to me as we left.) In the last couple of weeks, my … Continue reading Community and “IRL” Friendship Are the Cure for Comparison and Perfectionism
Tag: motherhood
Receptivity and Humility: A Virtuous Cycle
It's occurred to me recently that humility is a prerequisite for receptivity. In order to receive, we must be aware of what we lack and be willing to accept gifts from God and from others. Humility is the virtue that gives us that self-awareness.
Wanda Maximoff and the Idolatry of Motherhood
Turning motherhood into an idol can lead us down some dangerous paths, and I found an illustration of this truth in an unlikely place: the new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness."
Book Review: “For Their Sake I Consecrate Myself”
Spiritual biographies can be a little intimidating sometimes. When they’re written by an overly enthusiastic admirer, they can show all of the sainthood and none of the struggle. “For Their Sake I Consecrate Myself,” a biography of Sister Maria Bernadette of the Cross written by Jadwiga Stabińska, OSBap, could have been such a biography—but wasn’t.
“Mama Prays”: A Realistic, Encouraging Devotional for Catholic Mamas
Being a mom is hard. Being a Catholic mom is, in some ways, especially hard. (How on earth do you raise a practicing Catholic in our culture? I'm not sure yet!) In many other ways, though, Catholicism gives us comfort, strength, and wisdom, and I don't know how I would survive motherhood without it. It … Continue reading “Mama Prays”: A Realistic, Encouraging Devotional for Catholic Mamas
Babies Just Might Save the World
There is something so good about a baby. Why else would couples, after weeks of morning sickness, the pain of labor and childbirth, and the long and difficult nights, choose to have more than one? Sleep deprivation-induced memory loss may well be a reason—but it's also because babies are good. Their wonder can teach us to wonder. Their delight can teach us to delight. Their innocence can call us back to innocence. They remind us of the beauty of the human being
Praying the Joyful Mysteries as a New Mother
Lately, though, I've had some beautiful moments meditating on the joyful mysteries. Becoming a mother brings them to life in a way they never have before; I can relate my own experiences of motherhood to the awe-inspiring experiences of the Blessed Mother as she and St. Joseph raised the Son of God.
Praying the Rosary: It’s a Journey
Day by day, bead by bead, the rosary bringing me closer to Jesus and his mother—and I'm bringing my daughter there with me.
Celebrating Mother Teresa on My Wedding Anniversary
My husband and I got married last year on the feast day of St. Teresa of Calcutta (perhaps still more commonly known as Mother Teresa). We'd selected that day partly because of the time of year (not too distant from when he proposed but enough time for marriage prep and wedding planning ... and, it … Continue reading Celebrating Mother Teresa on My Wedding Anniversary
“Reflecting on Them in Her Heart”: Pondering Versus Ruminating
What made Mary's reflection different from rumination? How can an anxious person like me imitate her, deepening my relationship with God by pondering the good and bad things that happen in my life rather than ruminating on the negative?
Everyday Roses 