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Today is an important anniversary. On November 6, 2015, in a chapel at Camp Tekawitha in eastern Kansas, I reverted back to my Catholic faith. That night, I received the sacrament of confession for the first time in a very long time. The priest told me, “Welcome home,” and I sobbed all the way through.…

Jesus Christ, You are the Lord. I get so lost in myself sometimes that I forget this fundamental truth. You are the Lord. So often I come to pray and I gaze at my weakness, and I forget that it is You alone Who can take that away. I worry and falter over my sinfulness,…

 “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” – the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:31 What shocking words the father says to his eldest son. This son, who had just finished chewing him out for taking in his brother and rejoicing his return, stands before him seething with…

“I’m such an idiot,” I mumbled to myself as I picked up the pieces of my ruined experiment. I was freezing some samples to store for my assay and, fumbling with the tongs, had left them in liquid nitrogen for far too long. As a result, the lab was filled with “Pop! Pop!” while little…

I don’t know if you’ve ever felt this way, but recently I discovered that I often live like an orphan. Although I am steeped in the sacramental life of the Church, attend daily mass, and pray every day, I confess that it is sometimes difficult to sense God’s love for me. As a result, I…

I’ve been spending some time this week thinking about Jesus praying in the garden. In Luke’s gospel (the Passion narrative used on Palm Sunday), it says: “Then going out, He went, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives…” – Luke 22:39 I had never considered the phrase before, but this time I was…

For years I have tried to love God on my own, believing that in order to love Him, I must somehow prove myself to Him. I thought that was what was expected. I thought that was what He desired. I think I truly believed that this was what love was. But this could not have…

I am a sinner. Father asked us in his homily today, “What are you afraid of?” And this was the answer that came to mind. I am a sinner. For the past few weeks, I have been struggling to come to grips with this reality. I didn’t want to admit it. I was afraid of…

Holy Spirit, grant me the wisdom to know how to be myself. This was the prayer my priest gave me for my penance after confession last week. I don’t know about you, but these words really struck me. I was coming off of a week full of hustling. I was really pushing myself in the…

For Christmas, my boyfriend gave me a book containing translations of the surviving correspondence of St.s Zelie and Louis Martin, parents to St. Therese of Lisieux. I have been reading it for the past few weeks as I settle into the New Year, and I can say with certainty that this book, A Call to…