I’ve never done that before – prayed only for myself in a single prayer session – and yet it felt suitable. No way I could have survived 59 years without God.

Remember our Sunday-best outfits? As children, we girls wore patent leather shoes, frilly party-type dresses with white gloves, clutched matching patent leather purses, and hats with ribbons snaking down our backs. Hats for women once were a requirement in Catholic churches – can you imagine that today?

Sometimes our focal point in life is off. We should be looking at – and appreciating – what we are holding in our hands – life’s blessings and gifts.

Baltimore’s Italian community will launch its 128th Columbus Day Commemoration & Parade Sunday, Oct. 7 – an event deemed the longest-running Columbus Day celebration in the United States.

Humans need light – that’s all there is to that. It is scientifically proven sunlight lifts our moods, and a good explanation as to why people generally feel happier and more energized in the summer.

How much better would our lives be if Jesus was always in the picture?

I find him to be such a tender and calm soul. He speaks gently. He celebrates Mass gently. He acts gently. I love chatting with Father Bernie – his tranquility is contagious.

I do know this … we have no power in other people’s spaces. But God does.

The next time someone asks you to pray for something or someone specifically, it is because that suggestion is significant to him or her. Let’s really hear the petition … pray it … and mean it.                   

Death is such a part of our lives, and it puts us in a funny place. Since that’s true, why not amuse ourselves?