Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 103
August 1, 2014
Being Christ in Our Lives: Nan Balfour
You know how sometimes, you start e-mailing with someone and you’re just so eager to meet in person because you know it’s going to be a mystical experience?
Well, that’s how I feel about Nan Balfour, coordinator for the 2014 Catholic Women’s Conference in San Antonio, presented by ThePilgrim Center of Hope. When Nan and I spoke by phone to nail down the particulars of my participation at the conference, it was hard to stay focused on business, we were finding so many similarities in our spiri...
July 30, 2014
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Martha
The Basics:Born in what today is Israel, sometime near the birth of Christ; death location not known with any precision; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, July 29. Friend of Jesus.
The Story: Martha; her brother, Lazarus; and her younger sister, Mary were friends of Jesus’s. Most often we think of Martha as a bit of a whiner; she complains to Jesus about Mary not helping her in the kitchen during one of his visits. She rebukes Jesus, saying if he’d come right away when Lazarus was 
sick, h...
July 28, 2014
Returning Catholics FAQs: About Purgatory
On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
What’s this business with purgatory?
Some people compare purgatory to a car wash—if your vehicle is basically in good shape but a little dirty or messy on the outside, you like to h...
July 25, 2014
Of Discernment and Altars
Note: On Fridays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod , owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
It was on this day in 1968 that Humanae Vitae was released, the papal encyclical that affirmed traditional Catholic teachings on human sexuality, including the prohibition of artificial birth control. Some left the Church. Others stayed with a variety of reactions: they cheered, or they did their best to be obedient, whether that obedience meant using natural famil...
July 23, 2014
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Bridget of Sweden
The Basics:Born circa 1303 in Sweden; died July 23, 1373, in Italy; canonized in 1391, by Boniface IX; feast day, July 23. Mystic; adviser; monastery founder.
The Story:Bridget was a world traveler and outspoken woman. By turns she was a wife and mother; a lady in waiting to the Swedish king’s wife; a pilgrim to the shrine of St. Olaf and the Way of St. James; a widow; the founder of monasteries; and a critic of Pope Clement VI for his refusal to return to Rome from Avignon. Bridget went to Ro...
July 21, 2014
Returning Catholics FAQs: Faith vs. Works
On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
Why do Catholics have to do good works to get to heaven while Protestants seem to know they’re going to heaven just based on faith?
This one’s mainly a matter of semantics—but shine...
July 18, 2014
“Something Greater Than the Temple”
Note: On Fridays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod , owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
Oh, how quick we are to play God—when someone else is involved.
There I was at Mass last Sunday, smiling and chuckling when the earnest young transitional deacon referred to Little Shop of Horrors and said, “Now, that might be before your time for some of you. In fact, it’s before my time.” There 
was something so sweet, so tender, so vulnerable about it.
My smile tur...
July 16, 2014
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Hedwig of Poland
The Basics:Born circa 1371 in Hungary; died July 17, 1399, in Poland; canonized December 17, 1996, by John Paul II; feast day, July 17. Queen.
The Story:Hedwig had fallen in love with an Austrian duke. However, for political reasons, her father, King Louis I 
of Hungary, forced her when she was thirteen to marry a Lithuanian prince, Jagiello, who promised to convert to Christianity as part of the arranged marriage. Hedwig died in childbirth after about fifteen years of marriage, but she and Jag...
July 14, 2014
Returning Catholics FAQs: About the Saints
On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
Why do Catholics pray to saints instead of to God?
First, let’s straighten out that common misperception. Catholics pray toGod, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We praywith...
July 11, 2014
In the Midst of Wolves
Note: On Fridays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
“My political views are those of the Lord’s prayer.” That quote attributed to St. John Bosco pretty much sums it up for me, in terms of the United States and the Catholic Church. Am I loyal to the Magisterium? Yes. Do I think it’s my job to police members of the clergy, locally or up to and including Pope Francis I? No. I’m not that smart or educated. I struggle en...
