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After visiting St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in NYC, my husband, son, and I took a walk in the nearby park--Fort Tyron Park. We found a quaint cafe to have lunch in and afterwards went to explore the rest of the park. We came to an enchanting area with stone nooks to read in, yellow leaves were falling, and we could look out over the Hudson River. This four-seasons gal drank it in. Have I ever told you about how I'm not a desert dweller? Anyway... All my life, I've heard people talk about the Palisades, but I was too lazy to figure out what they were. However, I have finally learned. The Palisades are the shear bluffs that line the Hudson River on the New Jersey side. Rockefeller purchased this land long ago to keep it from being developed and eventually donated the land to the state of New Jersey. Today, it is a park with lots of hiking trails. So, as we were looking over at the Palisades (yes, there are some in California, too), we noticed a big building up on the top. You can see it in the picture--the orange-ish building. My husband and I were curious as to what it is, so we looked it up. Well, it's the Holy Name Medical Center and it has the Sister Claire Tynan School of Nursing there. It's a very prestigious nursing school. The plot thickens, though. As you all may remember, I was born in a Catholic hospital--St. Joseph's in Wichita. It was founded by The Sisters of Saint Joseph. Recently, I found out my paternal grandfather was born in a hospital in his small southeastern Kansas town and, it too, was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Well, I'll give you one guess as to what order Sister Clair Tynan belonged to. That's right! She belonged to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. Just another example of how St. Joseph has been ever present in my life lately. Even the building I'm staring at across the Hudson River has a connection. Hope you enjoyed that history lesson, Catholic Pilgrims. Our Catholic Faith is everywhere. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Wednesday.
Continue ReadingBefore I started reading St. Frances Cabrini's letters on Season Five of my "Journeying with the Saints" podcast, I reached out to the three St. Frances Cabrini shrines here in the States. There is one in NYC, one in Golden, Colorado, and one in Chicago. Wonderful places, all three of them, though I have yet to lay eyes on the Chicago one. Julia from the St. Frances Cabrini Shrine offered to talk to me on the phone about Mother Cabrini and so we connected up. Julia provided me with wonderful information and gave me helpful insight into Mother Cabrini's spiritual life. This past Friday, I got to meet Julia in person when my family visited the shrine in NYC. We talked like old friends, I shared what I learned through reading her letters on my podcast, and she gave my family more interesting facts about Mother Cabrini. All-in-all, it was such a wonderful visit. Julia said to us, "Mother Cabrini had fears. We all do. She shows us that if you focus on doing God's Will, you can overcome your fears. God is not going to call us to a life of comfort. We are meant to get out of our comfort zone. Jesus will never ask you to be comfortable. We are supposed to live boldly and that's what Mother Cabrini did, she lived boldly." That was so impactful to me, because my motto here is "live the faith boldly and travel well." Boldness, courage, and fortitude are all part of the Christian life. Yes, we all have our fears, but we must ask God for the grace to carry on anyway. When we do, Catholic Pilgrims, we will be equipped to do amazing things, just like Mother Cabrini. It won't be exactly in the same way as her, but it will be in our way with our God-given talents and gifts. It was such a pleasure to meet Julia and I had to smile at how St. Frances Cabrini brought us together. That's what the Saints do--they connect those with a love for Jesus in wonderful ways. So, be sure to visit the St. Frances Cabrini Shrine in NYC if ever you are there. Julia and her staff do a great job of honoring the life of the first American citizen to be canonized. St. Frances Cabrini, pray for us!
Continue ReadingHappy Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother! On Saturday, a young man private messaged me to debate the Catholic practice of praying to the Saints. By his own admission, he'd never met a Catholic before, but he continually attempted to tell me what Catholics believe. His understanding of praying to the Saints was the typical, ignorant belief that we are practicing necromancy. Anyway, I asked him lots of questions, sent him an article that I wrote on the praying to the Saints, and debated with him in a civil way. Time and again, he would ask me a question that was addressed in my article and I would say, "Have you read the article yet?" His answer was always, "No, it's too long." I reminded him that he told me from the outset that he was interested in finding the truth and "if you are searching for truth, then read things people offer you. Finding truth takes patience and effort. Don't be lazy and just come at people and not be willing to listen." He ignored what I said and just started in with jumping around from issue to issue, not really considering what I was saying. Then, at one point, he got frustrated and went with this line of attack, "Mary was a mere human woman, yeah Jesus was her son but that makes her no different than any other person." Let's take that in one more time: "Jesus was her son but that makes her no different than any other person." This is the kind of ridiculous thing that gets said when you are intensely bent on being anti-Catholic. No other person on earth has ever been the Mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. That makes her different beyond all imagination and because of her singularly unique role, we should give her honor and our love. Happy Birthday to Our Blessed Mother Mary, Catholic Pilgrims. May we always give Our Lord's Mother right praise and honor.
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