Let's all help a young woman get into the habit!

Here is a happy thought for the Advent season. We are all in a time of preparation, and if we have been privileged, we will know that the time of Advent is a blessed time of spiritual preparation. I say that I am privileged because I owe all that I have and know about the Catholic faith to the hard work of some dedicated people in my life through the grace of God.

I thank God everyday for giving me good and wise parents who know that faith is a priority. While growing up, I attended Mass at  a parish that was faithful in a diocese that was faithful, and through the sacrifices of my parents and other generous parish tithers, I was able to attend Catholic schools all throughout my childhood and teen years.

One of the encounters with a holy example of radical love for Christ, however, would shake me to the core. I simply would not be where I am today if not for the dedication of the religious sisters who taught me at my high school. They wore their habits, something I had rarely seen in my grade school years. They knew their faith, and they educated us both by word and by deed. When I most needed to see the love of Christ present in my surroundings, there they were, teaching me and guiding me on the path to young adulthood.

This is why this appeal is so close to my heart. A classmate of mine is willing to become one of these shining examples of Christ through a great deal of personal sacrifice. The past three years, she has worked very hard in  her classes and is graduating with me this May with her Master's degree in Theological Studies. While she has been able to pay along the way for this program she is currently finishing up, her undergraduate debt remains...the only obstacle to her entering the convent this fall.

Please, if you are able, join me in supporting her undergraduate debt reduction. We NEED good sisters. They are the lifeblood of so many apostolates in our Church today. Thank you for your generosity!!!

Here is the link to her blog:

GIVING IS HABIT FORMING

Isn't that a cute and clever name?

Thanks be to God for our holy bishops

Bishop Alexander Sample

I've been pretty busy lately trying to finish up my studies and teaching part-time at my children's school. In the midst of working on my exams, I took a break to check my Facebook and came across this article on LifeSite News... Contraception a ‘clear factor’ in decline of church numbers: Michigan bishop.

I just love it when bishops come out and say what so many of us in the pews have been observing for years. It is so wonderful to know that the shepherds are seeing clearly the wolves who are threatening to devour us.

This gives me great hope for the Church of the future.

Oh, and by the way, I am LOVING the new English translation of the liturgy. It is so beautiful and prayerful. I feel like I am encountering Christ for the first time every time I go to Mass...another reason to be grateful for the wise leadership in the Church!