Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 39
March 1, 2018
On the Nightstand: Redeemed
2017. In March, I’ll be reading her book Redeemed. In flipping through some early pages, I found this beautiful passage: “To me, the Fall doesn’t mean I’m bad (though in one way I actually am pretty bad) and that God hates me. It means I’m broken and I need help.” Amen, Heather!
February 28, 2018
Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Alix Le Clerc
The Basics: Born February 2, 1576, in France; died January 9, 1622, in France; beatified May 4, 1947, by Pius XII; feast day, January 9; woman religious.
The Story: Born into a prosperous family, Alix wanted for little as
she was growing up. Then in her early twenties, she experienced a conversion moment when an illness resulted in her being bedridden. While she was interested in becoming a woman religious, she did not feel called to life in a cloister. She discerned with her confessor, Fathe...
February 27, 2018
Setting Things Right
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.
Oh, the scribes and the Pharisees.
Jesus acknowledges they were preaching the right things. The 
problem was they weren’t living them, judging where compassion was needed, polishing their public images instead of getting their hands and robes dirty in service.
The Messiah was right in front of them, day after day after day. But while their works...
February 23, 2018
Fall in Love
An occasional series based on stuff that hangs in my room… or my heart.
Fall in love.
I’ll bet that phrase brings a smile to your face about a current or past love, and maybe brings a faraway look to your eyes about that time you first laid eyes on the one, or you realized
that someone who had been around for a while was the one. Because that’s how romantic love is for most of us, right, there is a one.
The man I thought was my one turned out not to be for a lot of reasons. Still, if he walke...
February 21, 2018
Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Benvenuta Bojani
The Basics: Born May 4, 1254, in Italy; died October 30, 1292, in Italy; beatified February 6, 1763, by Clement XIV; feast day, October 30; lay woman.
The Story: The story goes that Benvenuta’s father was somewhat disappointed to find he and his wife had had a seventh daughter, but shook it off quickly, proclaiming, “She too shall be welcome!” And that is how she got her name.
Benvenuta took self-mortification seriously. She bound herself so tightly with a rope girdle that after a time, it co...
February 20, 2018
God Isn’t Santa. He’s Way Better.
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.
Back in the day, Santa was often a disappointment for me.
I asked for a dark-haired, ponytailed Barbie; I got an ash-
blonde bubble cut. I asked for an Easy-Bake oven; I got a no-name brand doll-size kitchen sink. But I never, ever stopped believing in him, not until the day my mother told me who Santa was.
Why was it easier to believe in Santa,...
February 18, 2018
Life and Death… and Life Again
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 took my first-ever CPR course last week. The instructor, a burly fellow from the Baltimore Fire Department, had a teaching style that often consisted of shouting questions at us
Image by Rama (Own work) [CeCILL (http://www.cecill.info/licences/Licen...)], via Wikimedia Commons
until we answered almost as loudly.“What are they...
February 14, 2018
Wednesday’s Woman: Saint Franca Visalta
The Basics: Born in 1170 in Italy; died in 1218 in Italy; cultus confirmed in 1273 by Gregory X; feast day, April 26; woman religious.
The Story: Sometimes our spiritual rigor, regardless of how well intentioned, doesn’t sit well with others. Franca, the daughter of a family in the nobility, was sent to a Benedictine abbey when she was just seven, and professed her vows a mere seven years later. She was twenty-three when the abbess died, and the community of fifty unanimously selected her as...
February 13, 2018
Temptations, Desires, and Self-Mortification
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.
James nails it in today’s first lectionary reading: “But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it.” (James 1:14, NRSVCE)
There’s no point in us coming up with a form of Adam and Eve’s excuse that someone or something made them stray 
from the Lord’s path. They made that decision for themselves. And so do we.
Yes, the evil...
February 7, 2018
Wednesday’s Woman: Saint Edith of Wilton
The Basics: Born about 961 in England; died September 16, 984, in England; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, September 16; woman religious.
The Story: She lived inside the walls of Wilton Abbey nearly all her life, but Edith’s twenty-three years still intrigue us. Her father, King 
Edgar, carried off her mother, Wulfrida, from the abbey under circumstances that are less than clear. Wulfrida returned with Edith after a year, but reportedly was on good terms with Edgar, who later offered to...
