Of Sound Mind and Spirit

We’ve seen all the holiday movies – Mom’s in the kitchen baking cookies and pies, the house is stylishly decorated, the kids are in matching outfits and all is perfect.  It’s on Pinterest every time we turn on the app.  We ooh and ahhh over the latest holiday decorations, amazing recipes fit for a restaurant and homemade crafts perfect for gifting.  Yep, I’m guilty of planning a Pinterest Perfect Holiday Season and there have been a few years I’ve been guilty of attempting to execute it.    Notice in the above sentence I said “planning” and “attempting.”  That’s as close as I’ve ever gotten to a perfect holiday season. This year, I’m challenging myself to something different.  I’m throwing out the amazingly high expectations I set for myself and letting myself just experience the holidays with my family.  After all, my fondest memories of holidays growing up are about family, togetherness, and laughter. Quick – close your eyes and conjure up your best Thanksgiving and

One of the things my husband taught our now-tween and teenage daughters is to approach men and women in uniform and thank them for their service to our country. This Sunday, November 11, we honor all men and women who proudly serve our great nation in the US Armed Forces. We owe them our respect and sincere gratitude for guarding our freedom. FRONTLINE FAITH is an organization that  supports the spiritual needs of the United States Military by distributing faith-filled MP3 players to provide critical spiritual nourishment for U.S. men and women soldiers. This year they are organizing An American Moment .   Wherever you are this Sunday at noon, please stop to join others in a moment of silent rememberance, prayer, and thankgiving , for soldiers past and present. Spread the word with everyone you know, asking them to stop at noon on Sunday and join you, to be in solidarity with others across our nation. Freedom always comes at a high price. It requires a generous h

Facebook, Politics and Friends As your Facebook news feed returns to posts about kid achievements, the latest television show and pictures of food, do you find yourself thinking about a friend’s previous political rant when you see their name come across your feed?  Has reading your friends’ political posts, rants and comments throughout this long political season changed your friend relationship?  Let me start off by saying that I strongly believe it is possible to disagree with my friends on politics, religion, and values yet still be friends.  True friends are people you can have a civil discussion with and agree to disagree without damaging your friendship.  But not everyone is a true friend and not everyone can agree to disagree on things we are passionate about. It is my belief that we can and should talk about politics on Facebook, Twitter, in person or anywhere else we might discuss things important to us.  Many of us profess and discuss our faith on F

Pray for our Nation Today is the day, the day Americans head to the polls to exercise our right to vote for the leaders of our nation.  Voting is not only a right, but also a moral obligation for all Christians. I'm not going to try to convince you of how you should vote today; only that you should vote.  We have a responsibility to get out there and participate in the political community as a service to the common good.   It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. The love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community. (CCC, 2239) The Catechism of the Catholic Church goes further by stating in CCC 2240 that we have a moral obligation to vote.  It is up to eac