All Posts by From the Heart

This is the first in a series of three. The Visitor celebrated Catholic Press Month during February . To share in the fun, I searched “Food, Faith and Fellowship,” a food blog I wrote for The Visitor from August 2010 to December 2012 for a “Flashback Friday” recipe for the paper’s Facebook site. Looking back […]

This year for the first time since 1945, Ash Wednesday coincided with that saccharine Hallmark Holiday, Valentine’s Day. I’ve been reflecting on this rare coincidence and at first, found it rather hilarious. My husband and I are not wont to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s not because we disdain romance or because we don’t enjoy a […]

Yesterday diocesan employees gathered for our second all-staff retreat centered on StrengthsFinder, a program that we’ve been using to learn more about our own strengths and those of our co-workers and to assist all of us in exploring how we can best minister together as a team. Leisa Anslinger, a national leader in StrengthsFinder work, […]

“Do one thing every day that scares you” -Eleanor Roosevelt Can you believe Lent is here already?! I can’t believe how much it has snuck up on me. It feels like yesterday we were putting the Christmas decorations up! I have been spending the last couple days really praying and trying to figure out what […]

17 dead. When will these senseless mass shootings stop? Parkland Florida, Las Vegas, Orlando, Sandy Hook… the list goes on and on. When I heard another shooting took place, I immediately got super angry. How can someone think they have the right to end someone else’s life? Or was it a mental illness that went […]

I remember Lent as a kid and it was always about giving something up. Usually it was candy or sweets.  Other kids, braver and stronger than I, would give up TV.  Now Lent is different. I still try for the candy thing, but I try to look beyond food in conscious choices to do or […]

When a common theme comes up in your prayer time or the Scriptures, do you hear it? Do you stop to listen and take heed? I’m certain that such recurring themes are not usually coincidence. Especially not when they fall within a time span of less than one week. When those promptings happen, they tend […]

Each year, the Catholic Press Association celebrates the Catholic press in February. As members of the association, The Visitor is excited to celebrate what we do all year long in bringing the latest in Catholic news as well as inspirational stories to the people of the St. Cloud Diocese. Part of the fun this year […]

It seems to be a new catch phrase, “live authentically.” Yet, as a Catholic, sometimes that is harder than it appears. For me, this time of year is especially difficult. It has nothing to do with Christmas. Next week we mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion. It is not news to […]

I came across a blog by Abby Johnson a while back that really struck a chord with me. It was titled “7 Things I Learned at the Women’s Convention About Feminists and Abortion.” There were a lot of crazy things she encountered at the convention as a pro-life feminist (in the truest and best sense […]