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Continue reading →: The Bittersweet Hope of Christmas
Fr. Mike Schmitz has a thoughtful video about the song I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day the text of which comes from a poem written by Longfellow during the Civil War. It seems like a perfect reflection for late Advent. Here is the original poem by Longfellow: Christmas Bells…
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Continue reading →: Celebrating Advent with the FamilyThese are some simple things we’ve done in our family to help make Advent a thoughtful, prayerful time for preparing our hearts and homes for Christmas. Now that our “children” are all young adults and mostly out of the house, things change more from year to year than when they…
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Continue reading →: Participation at MassIt seems that this word “participation”, apparently a key word in the conversations at Vatican II, has been much confused and abused. The document Sacrosanctum Concilium has this to say about participation: 14. Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active…
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Continue reading →: A Marian Playlist for Advent
Revised and updated from my original post in 2006. Advent is a beautiful time to emphasize Our Lady and hymns about her fiat and her pregnancy can be especially thoughtful and prayerful. Here are a few of our family favorites. Maria Walks Amid the Thorn Lyrics and a midi file can be found…
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Continue reading →: God & Littleness & Van HalenRecently, I’ve been enjoying the musings of a Christian pastor named Ian Simkins over on Instagram. This one particularly struck me, so I’m going to quote the entire thing… I recently learned the wild and fascinating origins of the “only green M&M’s in the green room” request… Apparently the practice…
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Continue reading →: Living in a Political WorldI’m a few days into my new “retirement” and haven’t written anything new (though I have lots of ideas), but decided to share a piece I wrote eight years ago (during election week 2016) which still seems entirely applicable to me. It’s from an old project of mine. (It needed…
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Continue reading →: Embarking on a New AdventureI’ve been working as director of religious education at our local parish for the last seven years. Next month I’ll be stepping down in order to pursue further studies in theology and educational theory for the sake of writing about the faith for children and families.
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Continue reading →: Holy Saturday and BridgesI’ve loved bridges for as long as I can remember. I think because I grew up near the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, I experienced them first as objects of great beauty and wonder rather than just functional devices that make it more efficient to get from point A to point…
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Continue reading →: Hello There!
Thanks so much for dropping by. Just getting started here, will be back soon. 🙂
Hello,
Welcome to Small Catholic
I’m fascinated by contrasts and have long enjoyed the concept of smallness, perhaps especially in the context of the wonder that comes from gazing up into the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica or enjoying the vastness of a starry sky.
I’m a Catholic, deacon-candidate-wife, mom/mom-in-law to 7; retired homeschool mom & parish DRE; ADHD, Celiac, HSP; I love learning and writing.
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