Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 22

Death by a Thousand Cuts

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.

A friend recently found her nonprofit organization under attack… because a prospective client for another of her endeavors noticed she had a pro-life license plate.

Another friend finds herself called a hypocrite in some public quarters because those who oppose her judge that some of her professional actions are at odds with her faith.

I posted...

Wednesday’s Woman: St. Renelde

The Basics: Born about 630 in Belgium; died about 700 in Belgium; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, July 16. Woman religious, martyr.

The Story: Some saints are best known for what they did here on earth. But for some, it’s the good they did after death that keeps their names alive.

Renelde grew up in a family of people who would become saints (including her better-known sister Gudula; her mother, Amalberga; and her brother, Emebert). How she came to become a woman religious is unclear;...

Joseph Called Barsabbas

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.

So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen  to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.”  Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Ma...

Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Concepion Cabrera de Armida

The Basics: Born December 8, 1862, in Mexico; died March 3, 1937, in Mexico; beatified May 4, 2019; feast day, March 3. Wife, mother, writer, mystic.

The Story: Conchita, as she was known, had a devotion to Jesus from an early age. At 13, she met the man she would marry eight years later.

Artista audiovisual [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)]

When he died, she was 38, with eight children to raise. (A ninth had died several years later.) God had already inspired in...

Martyrdom

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.

Martyr.

Etymologists will tell you the original Greek, martus, means testifying to a fact about which the testifier has personal knowledge, in short, a witness.

And indeed, a martyr Stephen was, traditionally recognized as the first Christian martyr. But if you think about the word’s origin, his martyrdom began well before the first stone was th...

Casting Our Nets

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.

I had so many problems in my life, financial, marital, emotional, you name it. No spiritual problems, though, since I hadn’t gone to Mass or prayed for decades. I wasn’t smart enough to think there might be some linkage there.

But people started coming into my life, many of whom are still in it in some form or another more than a dozen years lat...

On the Nightstand: The Edge of Mercy

I ran across this title in my continuing effort to read more contemporary Christian fiction. The Edge of Mercy: who isn’t or hasn’t been there?

I was thrown a little by the cover–it doesn’t look contemporary–but then I read that it’s the story of two women, three hundred years apart, one during the time of King Philip’s War (which involved some of my ancestors), and I decided to give this a try for May.

This book and author Heidi Chiavaroli’s earlier books get great reviews, so I’m looking fo...

Friends in Faith: Annie Sweeney

I recently got a solicitation from AHC Inc., which builds and preserves affordable housing communities for low- and very-low-income people in my area and elsewhere. The solicitation was to help at-risk kids go to summer camp. It made me smile for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that my friend Annie Sweeney wrote the letter; she manages AHC’s individual giving efforts.

Annie’s had a career full of helping nonprofits. She says she didn’t plan it that way; it just happened. Annie rem...

Wednesday’s Woman: St. Hunna

The Basics: Born 7th century in France; died 679 in France; canonized in 1520 by Leo X; feast day, April 15. Wife, mother.

The Story: She may have never needed to touch a washtub in her entire life. After all, Hunna was born into nobility, and married into her own class. Indeed, her husband often traveled as a diplomat. But there was a faith-filled humility that ran through that blue blood in her veins.

Hunna devoted herself to the poor in Strasbourg, France. She would perform any service, ta...

Sons and Daughters of Encouragement

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.

Acts is one of my favorite books of the New Testament, because it’s full of action, the early Christians going to and fro, being persecuted, proclaiming the Gospel, helping people, so on and so on.

Today’s first reading from Acts 4 has a lot less action—on the surface. It begins with a general narrative passage in which we are told about the com...