Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 86
June 30, 2015
Walking the Walk
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 good old days, the glory days, if you will. Life was easier then, when we were younger, healthier, prettier or more handsome. The weather was better, and so was 
the music. And maybe, so were the people.
Change is hard, in the world and in our relationship with the Lord. Sometimes, we see the lesson on the other side, as the apostles did when...
June 29, 2015
Returning Catholics FAQs: Recurring Sins
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 I know I’m going to go home and do the same thing that I just confessed, what’s the point?
What’s the point, indeed?
If we’re talking about a venial sin, a slight to God, part...
June 28, 2015
Of Abundance and Need
Note: Every six weeks or so, I’ll be writing on Sundays as well as Tuesdays at Your Daily Tripod , owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
When we pray over and contemplate today’s second reading from 2 Corinthians 8:14 (… As a matter of equality, your abundance at the present time should supply their needs, so that their abundance may also supply your needs, so that there may be equality),there’s a temptation to take it literally. It’s easy to leave the less...
June 24, 2015
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Vincenza Gerosa
The Basics:Born October 29, 1784, in Italy; died June 20, 1847, in Italy; canonized May 18, 1950, by Pius XII; feast day, June 28. Social worker, woman religious.
The Story:They were different, Caterina Genosa and Bartolomea Capitanio. When they met in 1824, Caterina was 
forty, blessed with wealth but with no immediate family members still alive. She liked to work in the background, helping those in poverty who were sick. Bartolomea, a teacher, was just seventeen. The women met at an organiza...
June 23, 2015
About That Narrow Gate
Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod , owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
You kind of wonder about God sometimes. In today’s first reading from Genesis 13, He tells Abram all about how blessed he’s going to be and
Alexandru Logel/Shutterstock
numerous his descendants will be. Read that in tandem with the Gospel reading today from Matthew 7 about how constricted the road to life is, and your first reaction might be, for what? Seriously,...
June 22, 2015
Returning Catholics FAQs: Divorce and Annulment
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.
I’m divorced and I remarried in another faith or a civil ceremony. Can I still come back? Am I still Catholic?
The Church still wants you! The Church still needs you! You are Cat...
June 17, 2015
Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Teresa of Portugal
The Basics:Born October 4, 1178, in Portugal; died June 18, 1260, in Portugal; beatified December 12, 1705, by Clement XI; feast day, June 17. Mother, wife, queen, woman religious.
The Story:It’s a story of regal and papal intrigue… and, ultimately, of peace. Teresa had what appears to have been a happy marriage to King Alfonso IX of Leon, with three children born in three years. However, shortly after the marriage, the pope became concerned that no special dispensation had been requested, si...
June 16, 2015
Love and “Those People”
Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod , owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
“For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not
the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?”(Matthew 5:46-47, NAB)
Without giving too much away, because that would defeat the purpose, of course, suffice it to say this passage of Matthew’s Gospel has been...
June 15, 2015
Returning Catholics FAQs: About Sacramentals
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.
What’s a sacramental? Do I need to be in state of grace to receive one? What about my other friends who are away from the Church?
Whilesacramentals aren’t sacraments, they help p...
June 10, 2015
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Melania the Elder
The Basics:Born 341 or 342 in Spain; died circa 439 in what is now Israel; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, June 8. Mother, widow, desert mother.
The Story:Melania’s story is complicated. She lost her husband and two sons when she was in her early twenties and living in Rome and its environs. It was after these deaths that she converted to Christianity. A few years later, she named a guardian for her remaining son, who was about ten at the time, and left for Alexandria, where she joined...
