Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 117

November 1, 2013

Being Christ in Our Lives: Anna LaNave

Anna LaNave was wearing a green-and-white-striped shirt and a radiant smile when I met her in 2005. She was in charge of a anna-crop ministry called Landings at the parish I’d tiptoed into as someone away from theChurch fordecades. Anna and Landings gave me a safe place to ask questions about God… and to come back to faith.

Anna, who has a master’s degree in pastoral studies, is now the ministry coordinator of the Paulists’LandingsInternational program. We coauthored abook for parish leaderswho want to...
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Published on November 01, 2013 12:50

Answering the Call

Note: This essay was written for the St. Davids Christian Writers Association, of which I am blessed to be a member. Check out SDCWA if you’d like to learn more about this writers-owned-and-operated association and annual conference.


God’s a funny guy.


I always considered myself an editor, not a writer. And, unchurched from the age of sixteen, I considered myself spiritual but not religious. I believed in Christ. I believed nearly all the things I had learned in catechism. But that part about H...

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Published on November 01, 2013 11:00

“How Can I Become a Saint?”

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. Please note that today, Catholics observe the Solemnity of All Saints, a holy day of obligation.


“Mother, how can I become a saint?” the young Clelia Barbieri asked. Her mother’s response is lost to time, but the question was certainly prescient. Clelia was only eleven when she made her First Communion in 1858… and on that same day had her first mystic experience....

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Published on November 01, 2013 02:07

October 25, 2013

You Don’t Need a Weatherman…

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.


When we’re sick, we take a pill, use some ointment, or go to the doctor.


When we need directions, we turn on the GPS, consult an online or paper map, or ask a friend.


When we know we’re going to have to face God eventually about something that troubles us and grieves him, we …


How do you fill in the blank?


In Luke 12:54-59, Jesus sounds a mite frustrated with the crow...

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Published on October 25, 2013 02:56

October 21, 2013

God’s Signature on Our Lives

“You have no idea how everyone enjoys your book, but most of all what it means to me,” the handwritten note began. I smiled. The note came from a friend who’s had some health challenges and is convalescing at her monastery. I’d sent her a copy ofSisterhood of Saintsa while back, and was delighted to think women religious liked the book.


SisterB Book-DRAFT_Page_01


“It covers most of my life and written so well and loved by all who read it. The people here at the nursing home who see it are excited to know who I am–the re...

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Published on October 21, 2013 02:56

October 18, 2013

Loving Them Anyway

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.


Consider this: You’re nineteen years old, and you write a booklet for high school student leaders that you think is pretty good. In fact, you think it’s good enough that either you or your father goes through the process of actually copyrighting the text with the Library of Congress. Nearly thirty years later, you’re attending a service club meeting and you hear a...

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Published on October 18, 2013 02:11

October 11, 2013

Guarding Against the Return of Unclean Spirits

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’ve all conquered evil at one point or another. Perhaps we ended a human relationship that had us headed down the road to perdition. Or maybe it was stepping away from a behavior of our own, such as cruelty or indifference, that hurt others. Or maybe it was a means such as substance abuse that was destroying our body or soul.Cleaning Supplies 006


In the early days of victory, we stay o...

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Published on October 11, 2013 02:28

October 4, 2013

Of Willfulness and the Consequences

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.


Hindsight, as the saying goes, is 20/20.


The Babylonian exiles knew what they’d done wrong. Baruch may have detailed the sins on the scroll, and Asaph or a member of a guild may have written or transcribed the plea for forgiveneyeglassesess in Psalm 79 (“Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low”),...

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Published on October 04, 2013 02:36

October 1, 2013

On the Nightstand: October

Preparing for the prayer retreat I facilitated last month meant I got to read a lot of great books, including Jon M. Sweeney’s Praying with Our Hands: 21 Practices of Embodied Prayers from the World’s Spiritual Traditions. The images of prayer–with our hands, in dance, at altars–are stunning. The text is thought provoking. Here’s an example: “We pray with our bodies when we put them in front of tanks. We pray with our hands when we link arms together to fight injustice. We are co-creators wi...

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Published on October 01, 2013 03:40

Being Christ in Our Lives: Bonnie Rose Hudson

My friend Bonnie Rose Hudson inspires me because she trusts God so Bonnie Rose Hudson completely.


When she was still in her 20s, she went to her first writers’ conference–alone, without knowing anyone in attendance. She knew she was being called to write, specifically for young adults.


In just the past two years, Bonnie Rose has gone from never having conducted an interview to joining the staff of The Old Schoolhouse® , the premier homeschooling magazine; blogging; and presenting at conferences. She stepped away...

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Published on October 01, 2013 03:35