I love having a prayer basket for Lent. I don’t know why pulling an intention out of a basket feels so ceremonial and important, but it does.

Two years ago, on Ash Wednesday, we went to Mass as a family. It was a beautiful service on what was otherwise a relatively ordinary winter day.

Would it be a mortal sin if I left the church? I believe in Jesus as my savior, and I look forward to receiving the Eucharist. Am I a hypocrite in staying?

~1~ Sometimes when I run out of ideas for dinner, we make fondue. It requires a little prep—cutting up vegetables and meats and preparing the broth, but then John takes over the pot and handles the cooking. It always feels fancy and special, but there are never leftovers. I wonder whether people will expect dinner […]

Life reveals the basic goodness of people. Yes, there are cruel and ruthless dictators. There are people who resort to crime and violence. Fortunately, they are the exceptions. Most people live good and decent lives.

There’s many a day I’d like to be “home on the range” so as to escape the proliferation of discouraging words that besets us.

This weekend, my sons and I road-tripped to New York to see my sister Maureen and her three youngest children. Spending eight hours on the road for about 36 hours together might seem a little intense, but I would drive further than that for the chance to hug my sister. We had a fantastic weekend. […]

Sister Ita Ford was a Catholic Maryknoll Sister who grew up in Brooklyn. She served as a missionary in Bolivia, Chile and El Salvador, working primarily with the poor.

One of my favorite writing techniques is to give myself a designated period of time to write and see how quickly I can go. I am currently racing to complete these quick takes before my sister Maureen and niece finish baking brownies for my nephew who turns 13 today. Here we go! ~1~ We are […]

We’ve never missed the bus, but we’ve come close.