Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 107

Being Christ in Our Lives: Ann Farrell Pulliam

Ann Farrell Pulliam teaches me a lot. Always has, in the nine years we’ve known each other. She’s a devoted wife, mother, and daughter, and is studying to become a hospice chaplain.

One of the greatest lessons I learned from her came when she was battling colon cancer (she’s cancer-free now, praise God) and graciously accepted whatever those of us in Ann’s Army brought for means, even if it was lasagna three nights in a row and her family might have been dying to order in pizza.

Ii also learn f...

Five Things I Know About the Saints

On Sunday they’ll be saints, Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. The former was pope the first seven years of my life; he may have been pope when I made my first communion, but I’m not sure of that date. The latter was pope for much of the thirty-plus years I was away from the Church. Some are joyful about their canonizations; others are critical of what they did or didn’t do; others laugh at the very idea of saints and praying to dead people rather than to God.

Saints. Is it good or bad that J...

Payback Time

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.

The words of Psalm 118 have come true: The stone the builders rejected has indeed become the cornerstone. Jesus, scorned by nearly all of his contemporaries, including most of those who claimed to love him, has by his resurrection shown he is indeed the messiah.

And what was Jesus’s reaction when he returned to the earth? He didn’t seek to exact vengeance. Instead,...

About that Lent Thing

So… about that Lent thing.

Back on March 4, I pledged to give up and take upin hopes offollowing Christ more closely.Here’s how I did:

No meals out while I was in town: I think I did well by the intention of saving money and giving it to charity, and giving the time to God.
Stop playing electronic games: Total success until Holy Thursday, where some car trouble in Ireland left me with nervous energy and time to fill.
Blog on a female saint or blessed each day and post a short video: Did it. Wasn’...

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Today, we attempt to drink in the profoundity of what the Lord has done for us: Sent his only begotten Son to redeem us… and to show us in a way we can understand that he loves us so very much. We learn that despite his pain and suffering and agony, Jesus, who died a very public death, lives. He is resurrected. And so too can we be.

From John 20:11-18:

But Mary (Magdalene) stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitt...

St. Veronica: 2014 Daily Lenten Reflections

We remember the woman we call Saint Veronica every time we participate in the Stations of the Cross: a woman steps forward to provide relief to Christ by wiping the blood and sweat from his face with her veil. We’re not sure if this event happened… or, if it did, what happened to Veronica or the veil.

I chose to talk about Veronica today, because I’m contemplating what the day after the crucifixion would have been like for such a woman. Was she profoundly moved, unable to forget the sight of J...

“It Is Finished”

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.

And so he died, for the most part abandoned by his friends and the adoring throngs who had accompanied him much of the past three years. That’s what happens when you challenge earthly authorities, it seems. That’s what happens when you stand up for God and those two greatest commandments.

And if we truly desire to grow ever closer to the Father, it’s what happens t...

The Blessed Virgin: 2014 Daily Lenten Reflections

I chose to talk about the Blessed Virgin today, because it is the image of her on Good Friday that most resonates with me.

We knowMary pondered so many things in her heart throughout her life, so many things that were amazing or shocking or incomprehensible. But when her son most needed her, on his road to Calvary, she was present,watching him bleed and stumble, deserted by those who claimed to love him. It would have been easier for her to be at home, crying and grieving. But she was there… b...

St. Marie of the Incarnation: 2014 Daily Lenten Reflections

St. Marie of the Incarnation was born October 28, 1599, in France and died on April 30, 1672, in Canada. Earlier this month, she was canonized by Pope Francis.

Marie’s story is a difficult one to understand at times. A relatively wealthy widow with a son, she chose to become an Ursuline nun when she was thirty. She left her son, who was about ten, in the care of her sister and brother-in-law. Ten years later, she felt called to serve in Canada, then known as New France.

Marie and her son, who b...

St. Bernadette Soubirous: 2014 Daily Lenten Reflections

St. Bernadette Soubirouswas born in France on January 7, 1844, and died on this date in 1879.

You probably know the story of the six months during which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Bernadette, a sickly, functionally illiterate fourteen year old. The girl’s witness never wavered, no matter how often or how long authorities questioned her. Millions have visited Lourdes since, in gratitude for or in search of cures.

And what happened to Bernadette after those six months? She eventually joined a...