Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 16

In the Beginning

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

So we bid farewell to 2019 and its joys, struggles, triumphs, and challenges. Will it prove to be the last hour foretold in 1 John? We can’t know, of course; God’s time and plans are on a plane beyond our understanding.

What we can understand is beginnings. And beginnings typically grow out of endings. It was likely no coincidence that John’s gospel begins with...

Preparing the Way

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

(Zechariah prophesied): “And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,for you will go before the Lordto prepare his ways,to give his people knowledge of salvationthrough the forgiveness of their sins,because of the tender mercy of our Godby which the daybreak from on highwill visit sto shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow,to guide our...

The Supreme “Irregularity”

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

The New American Bible notes on Matthew’s detailing of Jesus’s genealogy point out that many of the names we hear do not appear in

José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, used under license found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/....

Old Testament genealogy. The notes also point out that four of Jesus’s female ancestors—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and...

Feeding the Flock

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

It was fourteen years ago this month that I first met Karen, though I don’t remember hearing her name at the time. I was close to coming back to the Church after decades away, and my pastor had told me to attend the parish evening Advent retreats. Karen was in my group the first night. She talked about feeling stressed and overworked—but still praying in the car...

Blessed Are the Eyes

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Every day.

Every day the disciples saw Him, heard Him, could touch Him. It wasn’t that they didn’t appreciate Him as a charismatic, challenging teacher and friend, albeit a bit of an odd and confusing one. But making the leap of faith to viewing Him as the promised Messiah, well, that took a while, even when He made it plain.

Then turning to the disciples, Jesus...

Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century Cover Reveal

It’s here! The cover and final title for my next book, due out in the spring. I think the folks at Franciscan Media really outdid themselves with this one. That’s Jacinta Marto, one of the children of Fatima, who died in 1920 just shy of her 10th birthday. How can a child be radical, you ask? Well, having seen a vision of hell during one apparition, Jacinta focused on interceding on the behalf of sinners. She went from a chatty child to a witness for Christ. Jacinta’s life was radical in...

On the Nightstand: North American Martyrs Kids Activity Book

Eight Jesuit missionaries who worked among the indigenous people of Ontario and upstate New York were martyred in the mid-17th century, and canonized in 1930. I was planning to do some research into them in January. But a couple weeks ago, Bonnie Way, a sister lover of Catholic saints, wrote to tell me about her new North American Martyrs Kids Activity Book . It’s primarily intended as a homeschool study unit or other children’s group study. While my childhood ended long ago, it seems like a...

Start Your Advent Right!

Happy Advent! I’m teaming up with my friends at Soli Deo Gloria Sacred Art again this year to offer a giveaway of two sets of their wonderful Advent woodblocks. Each set, with one green block and one red block, is valued at $36. The entry window is short–ending at 11:59 p.m. ET this Thursday, December 5–since I want to make sure the winners get their prizes in time to really enjoy them this season. You can enter by engaging with Soli Deo Gloria or me on social media, and multiple entries...

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind

Do this don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?

Back in my youth, Canada’s Five Man Electrical Band recorded “Signs,” a tune with the above refrain and a whole lot of lyrics about not prejudging or judging people. (Squirrel alert! Then, twenty-seven years later, right here in the DC area, I...

Of Consistencies, Large and Small

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Eleazar, one of the scribes in high position, a man now advanced in age and of noble presence, was being forced to open his mouth to eat swine’s flesh.  But he, welcoming death with honor rather than life with pollution, wen...