Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 42

Remember to Breathe

An occasional series based on stuff that hangs in my room… or my heart.

It was a game of sorts when I was a child. I liked to see how long I could hold my breath. I don’t think I ever got past 45 seconds or so but I loved the feeling of relief when I took in air again.

That little contest was a lot more interesting than the times I had serious difficulty breathing due to pneumonia, asthma, allergies, sinusitis, and so on. But the body adjusts, right? We learn to live congested. We learn to li...

Simbang Gabi 2017: Visitations

It’s a moving scene that Luke describes in today’s Gospel reading: Mary goes to the hill country to see her relative Elizabeth, who has conceived in old age. The women greet each other… and so do their sons, both still in the womb. Call it, Father Paul Berghout said in his homily, a tale of two visitations.

“John the Baptist was already prophesizing in the womb,” Father Paul said, noting that we are told often in scripture that God knew us in the womb and before, and that He has called us to...

Simbang Gabi 2017: Hump Day

It’s fitting that this year, Simbang Gabi’s fifth day of the novena, fell on Wednesday. Hump days can be hard–intellectually, we know we’re past the beginning of the novena and the week, but we’re still too far away from the end to be excited. So we all came in, most of us a little later than usual.

Tired or no, my day perked up considerably when I realized the celebrant was my weekday parish pastor, Father Andy Gonzalo of St. Vincent de Paul in Washington, DC. Father Andy doesn’t take himsel...

Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (Maria Droste zu Vischering

The Basics: Born  September 8, 1863, in Germany; died June 8, 1899, in Portugal; beatified November 1, 1975; feast day, June 8. Woman religious; mystic.

The Story: Her early life was a mix of seeming contradictions. Maria Droste zu Vischering was born along with a twin brother into a wealthy noble family. Her health was a matter of grave concern, so she was baptized almost immediately. Maria would struggle with health issues all of her short life, but this did not prevent her from gaining a r...

Simbang Gabi 2017: Fitness

The priest at today’s Simbang Gabi Mass talked about John the Baptist’s unique role in history: in some ways, the last of the prophets, yet the first of the evangelists. I’m a fan of John, in particular the John we see near the end of his life and ministry when he tells us his joy has been made complete and thus, “He must increase; I must decrease.” (John 3:30, NAB)

The presider went on to talk of the angel Gabriel’s statement to Zechariah that his son, John, was being sent “to prepare a peop...

Finding the Good News in the Bad

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 the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Although you are barren, having borne no children, you shall conceive and bear a son.” (Judges 13:23, NRSVCE)

Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.”  The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the...

Simbang Gabi 2017: Taking People Into Our Home

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. (Matthew 1:24, NAB)

I remember the first time my friend Mimi told me about Simbang Gabi. Even for an early riser like me, nine days of 5 a.m. Mass sounded like a rather large sacrifice. Mimi was especially animated about the breakfast after each Mass: “Because what else are you going to do at 5:45 a.m. other than eat and talk with friends? And the food’s great!”

Mimi was the initial organizer...

Simbang Gabi 2017: Testifying to the Light

Day two of the 2017 Simbang Gabi novena brought a familiar celebrant–Father Jack O’Hara, who was vicar at the neighborhood parish back in 2005 when I returned to faith. Father Jack’s and my paths have crossed numerous times in the intervening years, most recently at last month’s viewing for his colleague of 13 years and longtime friend, Father Gerry Creedon.

In his homily, Father Jack remarked on the simplicity of John the Baptist’s life. Making the way of the Lord straight involves simplicit...

Simbang Gabi 2017: Being John the Baptist

(John the Baptist) said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’”  as the prophet Isaiah said. (John 1:23)

“Who is our John the Baptist, and how do we treat them?” the priest asked at the opening Mass of the 2017 Simbang Gabi novena at a parish near me. (Simbang Gabi has its roots in the Philippines, and the novena Masses, starting at 5 a.m. on December 16, have been a big part of my Advent for the past ten years or so.)

The celebrant suggested...

Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Catalina de Maria Rodriguez

The Basics: Born November 27, 1823, in Argentina; died April 5, 1896, in Argentina; beatified November 25, 2017; feast day, November 27. Wife; woman religious.

The Story: This newly beatified woman was born Saturnina Rodriguez, into a politically prominent family. When she was still in her teens, she took a course in Jesuit spirituality and discerned the need for women religious in Argentina to serve

By Yamile Nieto y Jazmin Vallejo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licens...