I shuffle into our prayer room in the early hours, 5ish most days, to join Doug, my deacon husband, in praying The Office of Readings and Lauds. He’s lucid even before his black coffee and quietly prepares me a cup with plenty of cream. We both accept that I will not be clear-headed for awhile….

The desert is blooming right now. One neighbor has a cactus with blooms I’ve never seen before. Doug has coaxed blooms from at least nine different kinds of roses in our backyard. But, plentiful oleander and palo verde blossoms in our neighborhood make my nose run and my eyes itch. I sneeze and sneeze and…

It’s the phrase I resort to when trying to describe what life has been like since becoming Catholic more than 20 years ago. It’s still new and fresh, and I am kept afloat by an effort not my own. That’s why I say I’m swimming in grace.  The evening we were received into the Church,…

It felt good to run along the canal again yesterday after more than two weeks of recovery from sickness and injury. April in Phoenix brings Alleluia weather. I step outside and am comfortable in the shade, but if a slight breeze cools me too much, I step into the sun; then if the sun warms…

I’ve learned so much from our daughter about choosing JOY!Today, which happens to be our daughter’s birthday, has been exceptionally good. I woke up just before the alarm sounded, my husband and I had an unrushed prayer time together, my boss came into my office to tell me my administrative assistant and I are both…