Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 26

Eyes on God

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.

Seven martyred women saints are included in the Eucharistic prayer during the Catholic Mass: Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Agnes, Lucy, Cecilia, and Anastasia. The legends about them can be downright gory.

Consider, for example, St. Agatha, whose feast we celebrate today. She was such a beautiful, kind, Christian noblewoman that Sicily’s ruler fel...

On the Nightstand: Miles From Where We Started

I’m really excited about the book I’m going to be ready for March, when Lent begins. But what to read this month? Then I had lunch with a dear friend I don’t see too often. We talked about what we were reading, and I was embarrassed and surprised to realize it’s been a long time since I read any new fiction! As a result, I’ve selected for my February reading Cynthia Ruchti’s Miles from Where We Started, a novel about a year-old marriage that isn’t where the wife or the husband expected it to...

Friends in Faith: Patricia Lorenz

Cheesehead hat. Goofy fake teeth. Practical jokes. Humor that can make you laugh till you cry. That’s how many people would describe Patricia Lorenz, the longtime Daily Guideposts writer, one of the top Chicken Soup for the Soul contributors, and author of 14 books with titles like Grab the Extinguisher, My Birthday Cake’s on Fire and Life’s Too Short to Fold Your Underwear.

The past few months I’ve seen a different side of Pat than I’ve seen before in our nearly twenty years of friendship. H...

Wednesday’s Woman: St. Hermione of Ephesus

The Basics: Born in the 1st century in Israel; died in 117 in Italy; canonized precongregation; feast day, September 4. Martyr.

The Story: Two Roman emperors attempted to break Hermione’s faith, and both failed.

Hermione was one of Philip the Deacon’s (not to be confused with Philip the apostle) four daughters, and so was well grounded in Christianity. Indeed, she was so well grounded that she and a sister felt a call to seek out John the apostle in present-day Turkey but learned along the wa...

God as Master Chef

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 was talking with someone recently about my inability to veer from the directions in any recipe. “Oh,” she said, “you must be a baker.” I wrinkled up my nose a bit and wondered whether I should be offended because, yes, I’m a good baker, but I also am more than competent on the art of cooking in general.

“In baking, it’s important you measure e...

Many Parts, All Important

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 dinner recently with a couple of friends, and one of them said she doesn’t know where I get the energy to do all I do—a full-time job; writing, editing, and speaking on the side; owning a women’s conference; and, of course, following the Caps.

I had to shake my head in amazement. I don’t know where she gets the energy to do all she does: a...

Wednesday’s Woman: St. Verena

The Basics: Born in the 3rd century in Egypt; died about 300 in Switzerland; canonized precongregation; feast day, September 14. Social worker, nurse, hermit.

The Story: Some saints never left their hometowns. Others traveled far and wide doing missionary work. Verena’s story is somewhere in between. She was born into a noble Christian family in Egypt, but was sent to support a relative in the Theban Legion, which was then in Switzerland. The Legion took its place in history in 286 when the m...

Praying Even When We Don’t See the Results

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.

And so we pray, today and every day, for the legal protection of unborn children. Many have prayed that prayer daily for forty-six years; for some people, that’s a lifetime.

I know women who had abortions. I can only think of one who, at least publicly at the time, didn’t seem to regard it as her only option, who treated it as nothing more than...

Wednesday’s Woman: St. Pusinna

The Basics: Born in the 5th century in France; died in the 6th century in France; canonized precongregation; feast day, April 23. Hermit.

The Story: The Second Vatican Council writings included a reference to the family as the “domestic Church,” calling parents “the first preachers of the faith.” It appears that Pusinna’s parents, who lived fifteen centuries before Vatican II, took this responsibility very seriously and did well as preachers; all seven of their daughters chose to consecrate t...

Do You Know Who He Is?

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.

The Gospel of Mark writer isn’t one to waste time or words. No genealogy of Jesus, no infant narrative. By 1:16, Jesus is calling the first disciples. And in today’s reading, he’s already teaching and casting out demons. It’s a breakneck pace, told in clear, simple language, almost like a thriller or action adventure book or movie.

Clearly, simp...