Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 20

July 10, 2019

Wednesday’s Woman: Achahildis of Wendelstein

The Basics: Born in Germany; died about 970 in Germany; canonized precongregation; feast day, October 29. Wife; mother.

The Story: Achahildis, it seems was one busy–and talented woman. She may not be well known outside her hometown near Nuremberg, but

Aarp65 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...

she was beloved there in her time.

This noblewoman...

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Published on July 10, 2019 03:20

July 9, 2019

Struggles and Blessings

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.

He was alone. Or so he thought.

Jacob was concerned about the meeting with his brother Esau—as well he should have been. After all, he’d tricked the man out of his birthright.

Then a being appeared out of nowhere and the wrestling match was on. We might infer the issue was Jacob’s lack of confidence that God would be with him at the meeting. Or maybe it was guil...

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Published on July 09, 2019 04:09

July 3, 2019

Wednesday’s Woman: Saint Felicitas of Rome

The Basics: Born in Italy; died about 150 in Italy; canonized precongregation; feast day, November 23. Widow; mother; martyr.

The Story: The gruesome image from the late 15th or early 16th century says it all: A woman contemplating the deaths of her seven sons who refused to deny their faith. And, four months after the last of them was killed, the mother, Felicitas of Rome, joined them in martyrdom.

It’s painful to even imagine the pain Felicitas must have felt as she watched each son die… bu...

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Published on July 03, 2019 04:04

July 2, 2019

Pillars of Salt

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.

They were less than righteous people, the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were immoral, self-absorbed, violent, threatening to violate total strangers just to debase them. God wasn’t inclined to believe any of them were worthy of salvation, though He relented a bit thanks to Abraham’s impassioned bargaining. Finally, the visiting angels helped Lot, his wif...

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Published on July 02, 2019 04:13

July 1, 2019

Friends in Faith: Karin Ebert

In the three years I have known her, I have never seen Karin Ebert look anything other than engaged in any situation… whether it’s a few of us sharing about our struggles, listening to a presenter, or enjoying a meal together. I’m betting that engagement shines through in the classroom too. You see, Karin is a middle school Spanish teacher in a large public school system. She encounters children every day who are challenged by a lack of parental involvement, peer pressures, and more. She’s a...
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Published on July 01, 2019 02:50

June 26, 2019

A Bit of Horn Blowing

I had dinner last night with a good friend, who gently chided me about having to get news about my writing life from a mutual friend. “That’s why I follow your blog,” she said.

Now, for someone who works in marketing, that was a pretty humbling reminder of a very basic tenet: people get their information in different ways. Not everyone reads a blog or has accounts on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter or subscribes to an eletter or anything else.

I’ve tried to keep posts here to my Tuesday refl...

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Published on June 26, 2019 16:56

Wednesday’s Woman: Saint Oda of Scotland

The Basics: Born about 680 in Scotland; died about 713 in the Netherlands; canonized precongregation; feast day, October 23. Laywoman.

The Story: The Lord protects us in many ways. This is a story about a young woman who received that protection in an unusual form.

Oda, it is said, was beautiful, perfect in every way except for her blindness. Concerned, her father, a Scots king, sent her off to visit the Belgian grave of the bishop we know as Saint Lambert, who had died a few years before. Od...

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Published on June 26, 2019 02:04

June 25, 2019

Choices

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

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.  How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14, NABRE)

Entering through the narrow gate at the end is what most of us want, because it lead...

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Published on June 25, 2019 04:41

June 23, 2019

Becoming a Miracle

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

“Give them some food yourselves,” Jesus says when the apostles ask him to disperse the crowd so the throngs can find something to eat. And we can all imagine the blank stares, right?

Jesus, being Jesus, shows them how it’s done. It’s a miracle, to be sure. But it all starts with him looking heavenward, praying, then blessing the scant food that’...

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Published on June 23, 2019 04:56

June 19, 2019

Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Edvige Carboni

The Basics: Born May 2, 1880 in Italy; died February 17, 1952, in Italy; beatified June 15, 2019; feast day, February 17. Mystic.

The Story: It’s said there were signs early on that Edvige was someone special. The day she was born, her mother saw a special luminescence in a communion host. And, when the child entered the world, she had a small cross imprinted upon her chest.

Edvige would have a life of cross carrying. She wanted to become a woman religious, but ceded to her mother’s strong de...

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Published on June 19, 2019 04:41