Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 105
June 20, 2014
“Where Your Treasure Is”
Note: On Fridays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod,owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
We were planning for a fire drill at work. It got canceled because it was raining at the appointed 
hour, and the powers that be didn’t want us to be inconvenienced. But we all officially unofficially got the reminder of which stairwell to use and where each team was to gather for nose counts before the “all clear.” The reminder also strongly encouraged us to bring o...
June 18, 2014
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Emilie de Vialar
The Basics:Born September 12, 1797, in France; died August 24, 1856, in France; canonized June 24, 1951, by Pius XII; feast day, June 17. Founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition.
The Story:As the daughter of a baron, Emilie didn’t want for much in tangible goods while she was growing up. She went away to Parish to school, but returned home at fifteen to care for her father after her mother’s death. He didn’t support Emilie’s plans to enter the religious life. She turned her atte...
June 16, 2014
Returning Catholics FAQs: Something About Mary
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 worship Mary?
Catholics don’t worship Mary. Catholics worship only God.
We have a very special, loving relationship with Mary, Jesus’s mother. We believe she was bor...
June 13, 2014
According to Plan
Note: On Fridays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod,owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
Nothing, I could tell you, had worked out as planned. The dream of working for a major news service in New York, the weekend cottage on Cape Cod, filling it up with friends and family in the summer, solo walks on the beach in the 
winter.
Except that it did. The solo walks happen in quiet Arlington mornings instead of at Provincetown or Chatham, the friends and family...
June 11, 2014
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Paula Frassinetti
The Basics:Born March 3, 1809 in Italy; died June 11, 1882, in Italy; canonized March 11, 1984, by John Paul II; feast day, June 11. Founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Dorothy.
The Story:Paula spent her entire life helping other people. Her mother died when she was nine. An aunt came to live
with Paula, her father, and her four brothers, but died when Paula was twelve. A respiratory ailment at age twenty sent Paula away to live with one of her brothers in northern Italy. When sh...
June 9, 2014
Returning Catholics FAQs: Are Catholics Christian?
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.
Are Catholics Christian? Some of my born-again friends say that’s not the case.
What’s your definition of “Christian”? Those who believe Jesus is the messiah foretold in the Old Tes...
June 6, 2014
The Challenge of “Follow Me”
Note: On Fridays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod,owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
Back in late 2010 and early 2011, I was struggling. What I really enjoyed writing was Christian fiction, but other than the occasional contest honor, that was going nowhere. What was getting published was the Catholic nonfiction I was writing, in Living Faith , Your Daily Tripod,and a book on setting up a parish program for returning Catholics I’d co-authored. It wa...
June 2, 2014
Returning Catholics FAQs: Can I Be Forgiven?
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.
If I return, will I have to spend the rest of my life on my knees in the back of the church saying, “God, I’m really sorry,” over and over?
No, that’s why the Sacrament of Penance a...
June 1, 2014
On the Nightstand: June
It’s been hard to miss Jennifer Fulwiler and the launch ofSomething Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It. But just in case you have, here’s the story: Jennifer was raised in a happy, atheist family and converted to Christianity in a 
profound way a few years ago.
Since her conversion, this mother of six has become a noted blogger for Catholic media (not to mention her own Conversion Diaryblog, which has been known to make me roar with laughter).
Anyway,So...
Being Christ in Our Lives: Pat Gohn
ImetPat Gohnin person last September at the National Conference of Catholic Women national convention, but I actually met her a couple months earlier when I devoured her soul-
stirring book,Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood.
Pat’s moving story of breast cancer and other struggles brought me close to tears. Her loving guide into St. John Paul II’s writings about women and the godly gifts we all share–even those like me with “almost-daughters”-sent me i...
