To think of our Lady is always a breath of fresh air, a deep sigh of content, an infinite source of warmth and comfort in any kind of misery yet a pillar of strength against and above the most powerful forces of evil. A woman of sorrow, joy, purity and simplicity who, among all human […]
The Lord’s Buffet
For the first time last year, on the night of December 25, we did not spend the entire Christmas day together. Instead, my daughter lay on the hospital bed in the emergency room, about to be confined due to low platelet count. As I was staring blankly on the wall, it finally dawned on me […]
Permanent Address
When we first planned for our house, we dreamed of a garden, perfectly landscaped, with everything inside our house, complete and new. There was more to that but you get the picture. That was the dream. This was the reality. When we first moved in, the construction of the house left us with debts left […]
In the Name of Fun
Why do we do the things that we do? People do a lot of things for fun. People gossip and say things for fun. People sing songs or dance to the tune of offensive or sensual music. There are people who steal, kill, harm others or have sex with anyone. Some enjoy reading books or […]
A Woman’s Prayer
Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower
If there is one book that I must recommend, next to the Scriptures, it is the Story of a Soul, the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, a French Carmelite nun who entered the convent at a young age of 15 and died at the age of 24. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI […]
Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
How can you help someone you can’t even understand? When it started becoming apparent that my son’s condition was autism, I was somehow lost in ‘Holland’, so to speak. One of the first books that gave me an eye view of what’s ‘inside’ a person with autism is Dr. Temple Grandin’s book “Thinking in Pictures”, […]
Joy in Suffering
It was one of those dreadful not-so-ordinary days. My son with autism was graduating from preschool and I had to bring him to the venue of his ‘yearbook’ photoshoot. For starters, he had to wear something he doesn’t normally wear: polo, necktie, slacks and leather shoes. Having to fit these prior to the day of […]
The Encourager Who Never Gets Discouraged
How do we encourage others when we ourselves are discouraged? How do we pray when we feel too sad or weak to pray? How in the world is it to boast of one’s weaknesses as St. Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians? Every once in a while, a friend with a problem […]