Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter; whoever finds one finds a treasure. Faithful friends are beyond price, no amount can balance their worth. Faithful friends are life-saving medicine. . . Sirach 6:14-16a This truth has been ringing in my heart in recent days and weeks. God has blessed me with faithful friends my whole life….

When our children were small I mistakenly thought it my job to lovingly control their behavior and brush aside any negative feelings, proving what a happy family we were. And while I truly desired what was best for them, my ideas of what was best were impoverished. Unwilling to endure the small-minded judgment of others…

Back in Phoenix now, I’m feeling “in-between” two distinct places. I know Phoenix well. Yesterday we drove past a place where Evan took me for lunch just once and it hit me that I’m leaving this place that holds innumerable memories. After Evan’s first deployment to Afghanistan I was working at St. Thomas the Apostle…

We bought our house in “as is” condition because it’s in the same cul de sac with Cana & Ennie and our grandkids. We were also okay with “as is” because we have been blessed with the will and ability to labor, more than with funds to pay for work already done. Besides we like…

I’m in Houston with Cana and Ennie as their family adjusts to the addition of their ninth child, Evan Marie Immaculée. It’s quiet now compared to the previous few days when we, along with the baby’s Great Aunt Laura, her Uncles Jonathan and Chris, and her Tia Xhiv, each still reeling from the loss of…