If you’ve ever prayed a novena to St. Therese of Lisieux, you know that as you pray, you start looking for roses.

Bring on the flavors of the harvest and the memories of a tree at my boyhood home that burst into brightness every year, and I’ll accept the shorter days and longer shadows.

Many years autumn comes and autumn goes and we haven’t had a chance to do the fun fall things we look forward to all year. This year we are trying to be more intentional about fitting things in.

Father Doyle fields questions on the status of Medjugorje and the true cross of Christ.

We knew we were saying yes to forever, so maybe 15 years doesn’t seem like much. But as I look back on that time, I feel so very grateful.

Should doctors and nurses be forced to take part in procedures that violate their conscience? It’s a timely question. New federal regulations to enforce existing conscience protection laws are being challenged in federal courts.

As we begin the start of a new school year, and children and young people are filling their backpacks for a season of new opportunities, maybe we, too, can take the time to look at what’s filling our lives.

Last Saturday morning I took a walk with our fourth grader through our neighborhood. He rode his bicycle, and I followed along behind, not even trying to keep up. I knew he would stop as we went along.

There is a special kind of humiliation (and humor, if you’re a good sport), reserved for pregnant women who skew a little bit above the average age of moms in this country.

This story begins six years ago when John and I dropped our sons off at my parents’ house to go house hunting.