Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 84

Returning Catholics FAQs: About IVF

O n 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.

If the Church is against birth control, why does it oppose in vitro and other forms of artificial insemination and surrogate births?

Catholics acknowledge the heartache and griev...

On the Nightstand: August 2015

As someone who didn’t have a faith life for decades (and coauthor of a book for parish leaders on setting up programs to help back “away” Catholics), I’m always interested in hearing or reading about others who left the Church, why they came back, and what the Lord has set them on fire to do in His name. That’s how I came to “know” on social media Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, who was raised as a Catholic, became an atheist and who, well, obviously, has found her way back.

Her“Pursued by Tru...

Being Christ in Our Lives: Jenna Guizar

I’ve been following Jenna Guizar, founder of Blessed Is She, on social media for some time, and it was a gift to meet her in person at the Edel Gathering in Charleston lastmonth. Blessed Is She is a marvelous ministry for Catholic women of all ages, featuring daily devotions, regional communities, a book club, and cool things to buy.

Besides this ministry, Jenna is a wife and mom of three daughters. It makes me tired just thinking about how much is on her plate! She inspires me in the way she...

It Just Made Him Whole

There is a vulnerability that never goes away if you are a writer, or I suspect a singer, painter, sculptor, or anyone else who creates. We hope you like it. Actually, we hope you love it–and us. And if you don’t, well, sometimes we listen to that inner voice that told us all along that we are frauds and need to hang up our dream, as painful as that may be.

For many years, I’ve cited master storyteller Harry Chapin’s song “Mr. Tanner,” the fact-inspired saga of a Midwestern dry cleaner who lo...

Wednesday’s Woman: St. Serapia

The Basics:Born in the second century in Turkey; died about 120 in Italy; canonized pre-congregation; feast day,July 29. Martyr.

The Story:Persecution in Christ’s name marked Serapia’s life from start to finish. She and her parents left Antioch, where she was born, due to persecution and moved to Rome. Serapia received several marriage proposals, but opted against them and offered herself to a wealthy widow, Sabina, as a servant. As time went on, the two became friends and Sabina became a Chr...

“Claim Us As Your Own”

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.

It’s quite the intimate relationship the Lord and Moses have as described in Exodus 33 and 34. The two of them speak face to face, “as one man speaks to another,” we’re told. The Lord does just a bit a whining about the people, and Moses acknowledges their flaws and in essence says, love us anyway. And of course, the Lord does. And really, who co...

Returning Catholics FAQs: About Sexual Orientation

O n 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.

Why does the Church hate gays?

The Church doesn’t hate gays and lesbians. Rather, it instructs acceptance with “respect, compassion, and sensitivity” and calls for no discriminat...

The Five-Dollar Lesson

You might say I’m a bit hyper-responsible. My ex-husband often called me, and not always in a joking way, “Super Cop of the World.” For twenty-five years, my desk has featured a Nicole Hollander cartoon about the obligations of those in the First-Born

Copyright Oleg Stepanov via Shutterstock

Club. In the same vein, when people ask why I never had children, I typically answer, “I’m the oldest daughter of an oldest daughter of an oldest daughter. It had to end!”

So, when recently I was in charg...

Wednesday’s Woman: St. Kinga of Poland

The Basics:March 5, 1224, in Hungary; died July 24, 1292, in Poland; canonized June 16, 1999, by John Paul II; feast day, July 24. Queen and woman religious.

The Story:Legend has it that when Kinga prepared to leave her native Hungary to be married to a Polish prince, her father offered gold and silver to take to her new home. The practical Kinga said the Poles needed salt more, and her father agreed to her request. But before she left, she secretly dropped her engagement ring into a Hungaria...

Stretching

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.

Moses stretched out his hand, and Pharaoh’s army was wiped out, today’s lectionary first reading from Exodus tells us.

Jesus stretched out his hand, and in Matthew 12, the disciples learned that the Lord’s family is about more than blood and shared DNA.

We stretch out our hands, and… what?

We acknowledge a stranger’s existence, maybe for the fir...