I, no doubt as many of you, heard about the work of the Synod on the Family through glaring news headlines earlier this week. It was a couple of days before I located the document itself (in its unofficial translation) on the Vatican’s website. By the time I read it I had already been bombarded with bloggers and journalists that had either usurped the Synod document to confirm their agenda or rejected it outright as a sell-out.This morning I found the Message of the Synod Fathers issued at the ...

 In preparation for the Synod on the Family, Pope Francis made it clear that the Synod Fathers do not have to “fix” the family. Rather, he is concerned that the family, rather than being an object for concern and study, be the subject of evangelization.It took me awhile to get to the meaning of the phrase “subject of evangelization.” My memories of diagramming English sentences in school helped me. A subject, Sister taught us, is who or what is doing the acting and an object is who or what i...

A friend just called me to ask for prayers for a sister who is having problems with her teenage son. We talked about many things including the challenge of being there as family members struggle through issues and challenges in today’s society.  The fabric of our relationships stretch and strain to absorb so many challenges today—big and small! The good news of the Gospel is that being born into a family is being born into a community.Particularly as Catholics we have an inescapable connection...

 Have you ever been part of a discussion, knowing that you really didn’t know what you were talking about? Maybe you didn’t remember the relevant details, weren’t clear on definitions, were clueless as to the context of the situation…. That will be most people during the Synod in October, since the secular media frames popular discussion even of religious questions and events. Here’s basic information that will help you feel comfortable reading about the Synod and discussing it with others:...

Zélie Martin sat upright in the chair of the doctor’s office on that never-to-be-forgotten day in October 1876. She waited patiently for his verdict. Without raising his eyes, the doctor cleared his throat and began writing out a prescription. He said, “Madame, what you have is a tumor.”“Please be direct with me, doctor. What is the use of the prescription?”“Really, no use at all,” admitted the doctor.“Will an operation help me?”“I’m afraid not, Madame. We have diagnosed you too late....

Two phone calls from members of my family are etched into my heart. They were spouses and parents whose hearts were breaking. I’m sure you’ve received similar calls: perhaps it was a brother whose wife is divorcing him, or a friend whose child is marrying outside of the Church, a mother whose son is caught up in gang violence, or a young adult who can’t find a job and a place to belong. Family is the place we should be able to find a shelter for our hurting hearts, and sometimes it is family ...

Electricity is a powerful image for the Christian life. A lamp gives light only when it is plugged in. When our computer doesn't turn on, the first thing we check is whether it is plugged in or the battery charged. Blessed James Alberione said that holiness was living the Christian life at high voltage. We have no light within unless we are "plugged in" to the grace God gives us in Christ. It is a simple way of expressing Jesus’ statement that we are the branches and he the Vine. Unless we are ...