Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 66

And There Was Great Calm

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

Point to it. You know you can.

Point to that time of incredible grief or sorrow or pain or suffering in your life. Perhaps it was the diagnosis of an incurable disease, for yourself or someone you love. Perhaps it was a senseless death, the result of a mechanical failure or a careless but not malicious act. Or perhaps it was malicious. Or perhaps...

Returning Catholics FAQs: What Happens When I Don’t Fit In?

On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.

I’ve started going to Mass at the parish close to my house… but I just don’t fit in. Nobody looks like me… age, dress, ethnicity. It’s not that people are jerks–they say hi and so...

Wednesday’s Woman: Marie-Leonie Paradis

Note: For the next several weeks, I’m featuring women with a connection to the Americas.

The Basics:Born May 12, 1840, in Canada; died May 3, 1912, in Canada; feast day, May 3; beatified September 11, 1984, by John Paul II; woman religious.

The Story:The woman who would become known in religious life as Marie-Leonie had a deep spiritual life even at an early age. Her family lived in a rural area and so at age nine, she was sent to board with the Sisters of Notre-Dame. She was not quite fourte...

Of Roads–Broad and Narrow, Long and Dark

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

So humor me. It’s my birthday, one of those big ones that ends in a zero and gets you savings at restaurants, grocery stores, theaters and more.

For me, almost every song ever written, especially pop and rock songs from the 1970s, are God songs. The lyricists and performers may not have realized this at the time, and might scoff even today at thi...

Returning Catholics FAQs: Welcoming Parishes

On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.

I’ve been going to the nearest parish a few months, and I don’t really have a problem with any of the rules. But the reason I quit going to Mass a few years ago was because the pa...

Requiem for a Southern Belle

It was almost exactly thirty years ago.I would turn thirty the next day, and it would mark the first time in recorded history that I would be working on my birthday. Never mind that it would be in the wooded beauty of central Wisconsin.I was not happy about it.

For reasons lost to the mists of time, my colleague Mona and I took a flight out of O’Hare that even with the seven-mile drive from the airport got us to the meeting site by ten or so in the morning. Given that nothing was going to hap...

Create Your Own Happiness

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

I love this one.

I’m probably like many of you… a people pleaser. And while that can have its own problems, the difficulty I have in saying no has led me on some adventures that brought so much joy. I probably wouldn’t be writing devotionals today if I hadn’t been looking for a way to give back to the community after my Cursillo Weekend in 2006, and TonyD suggested I write occasionally for his blog. I’ve had some of my ha...

Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Albertina Berkenbrock

Note: For the next several weeks, I’m featuring women with a connection to the Americas.

The Basics:Born April 11, 1919, in Brazil; died June 15, 1931, in Brazil; feast day, June 15; beatified October 20, 2007, by Benedict XVI; feast day, June 4; laywoman.

The Story:Albertina was faithful throughout her short life. She grew up on a farm, part of a large family,

City Seal for Albertina’s Hometown

and her brothers were not always kind, teasing her and sometimes being physical abusive. Through i...

Called to Love

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

I once saw a video in which the speaker asked who attendees thought was the best person of the twentieth century. Many said Teresa of Calcutta. Then he asked who the evilest person of the century was. Many said Hitler; a few said Stalin. Finally, he asked where the audience members would put themselves. The consensus was somewhere in between.

The...

Returning Catholics FAQs: Written and Oral Traditions

On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.

Some of my Protestant friends say they believe in the Bible but Catholics don’t. Is that true?

Nope. Think about it. At Mass, we hear at least three (and on most Sundays, four) r...