JOYCE CORONEL

No matter how grim the news, no matter how appalling the latest trend in the culture, we trust in His tender care to see us through every storm.

Years ago, a wise friend offered up this little nugget: “I want my kids to experience disappointment. They might as well learn now while they’re young!”

There’s a change in the air and I’m not talking about those sub-112-degree temps as we head into fall.

If there’s one thing this rancorous political season has revealed, it’s that America is in a battle for its soul. Who are we and what do we stand for?

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but giving thanks to the Lord for our many blessings should be a way of life, not just a fleeting thought on the fourth Thursday of November.

I’ve been blessed to write for The Catholic Sun since 2002, and last year, I was asked to write for a small community newspaper. Many of my articles have had a Christian focus to them and recently, I approached the owner of the publication about establishing a special section in the paper devoted to local churches (something newspapers used to do once upon a time.)

Ah, January. From sales on treadmills and exercise equipment to late-night commercials hawking weight-loss schemes, the country, it seems, is determined to get in shape after indulging in too many Christmas cookies.

They finished praying the Rosary and then started in on the singing of hymns. We sat there in the little mission church, waiting for Mass to begin. But would it?

Years ago I met a man from the former Soviet Union who had grown up in a family of atheists. He was living with his girlfriend when I first got to know him, but a few weeks later, he had moved out.

Hope is a concept we can speak about blithely until everything falls apart. It’s when troubles abound that we find out how much we need the unshakeable hope that’s rooted in Christ and His triumph over sin and death.