Category Archives for "Community Contributors"

Guest blogger Yvette Piggush shares reflections about her recent trip to Lourdes, France. This is the final in a series. Souvenir shops in Lourdes sell many kinds of water bottles: gallon jugs, plastic bottles shaped like Mary with a screw-off crown, spray bottles, and tiny, jewel-like glass bottles. I had only seen water from Lourdes […]

Guest blogger Yvette Piggush shares reflections about her recent trip to Lourdes, France. This is the second in a series. The shrine of Lourdes in southern France commemorates the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Bernadette Soubirous between February 11 and July 16, 1858. The majority of these apparitions took place in February […]

Guest blogger Yvette Piggush shares reflections about her recent trip to Lourdes, France. This is the first in a series. I packed my suitcase for my trip to Lourdes so carefully. I tried to plan for every drop of rain and gust of wind. Of course, this isn’t how Jesus suggests that his disciples travel. […]

Guest blogger Franciscan Sister Rose Mae Rausch is a co-founder of the Mexico Mission and wrote this reflection on Sister Pat’s new book. Sister Patricia Forster, Franciscan from Little Falls, Minnesota, has just published the book, Opening Doors Lay Ministry: Mexico Mission 2002-2017. Sister Pat writes from personal experience, where she and other Franciscans contributed […]

Sheila Pulju is a guest blogger and a member of St. Boniface Church in Cold Spring, where she lives with her husband, Rich. Recently, my husband and I visited Costa Rica, and one of the highlights during our vacation was our one day trip to Cartago, a city in Costa Rica about 16 miles from […]

“For every single person, the body is the place in which the most internal and the most external meet…” – Chauvet, The Sacraments, p. 1 I have always found Lent and the Triduum to be my favorite days of our liturgical calendar. I’m often met with strange looks when I confess that to others. In […]

The following is a guest blog post by Barry Hudock. Barry works as publisher for parish resources at Liturgical Press. He lives in Albany with his family. My job at Liturgical Press typically has me sitting at my desk on the campus of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, toiling away with colleagues or […]

As we make our way through Lent, various themes are brought to our attention.  These include: repentance, healing, forgiveness, obedience and listening to God. As we approach Holy Week, however, the theme of the cross becomes ever more on our minds.  We recall that Jesus is headed for Jerusalem where He will suffer and die before rising again.  We are reminded, […]

In preparation for Christmas this year with my family, I have been baking a lot of cookies. I started weeks ago searching the internet for ideas and inspiration and dreamed of how my cookies would turn out. I inevitably waited until the last minute and ended up frosting cookies late the night before leaving. While […]

The Third Sunday of Advent — the readings, the “pink candle,” Gaudete Sunday — reminds us of the promise of hope amidst what can feel like a long time waiting for the birth of Christ and joy in a world that does not always make us feel joyful. My husband and I have been waiting […]