The grandparent effect
Everyone needs a grandparent. When my son started college in a distant state, he prioritized finding “his people.” He found them, or maybe I should say her, at the church. She was a kind older woman, sitting in the pew, who smiled at him with quiet encouragement. Over the coming year, she became a surrogate grandmother, and when I visited at the end of the year, she was one of the people he was most excited for me to meet. My children have the rare blessing of knowing all of their grandparents, and a few honorary ones as well. They’ve benefited greatly from what researchers now refer to as “The Grandparenting Effect.”
Ministry of accompaniment ignites faith and friendship
When Jeannie Buggle walks through the door, it’s the highlight of Marilyn Grimaldi’s week. Marilyn, 89, is bedridden and unable to attend Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (OLMC) in Tempe, Ariz., where she’s been a faithful parishioner since the early 1960s. She watches the weekly TV Mass broadcast from Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral on CW 7, but it’s just not the same as being at her beloved parish. That’s where a soft-spoken, cheerful Buggle comes in. She’s been leading the Ministry of Care at OLMC for the last two years, bringing the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist to hospital patients and the homebound every week. People like Marilyn.
God has plans that we cannot see
I’ll never forget the day I yelled at God. I was in seminary, and I had recently lost my sister, Therese, and my brother-in-law, Joe, to death by suicide on the same day. This came years after my brother, Tom, had died by suicide when I was in eighth grade. I was hurting, I was angry and I had no idea why God let all of this suffering take place. At the time, I was studying at the University of San Diego. I went for a walk in my unrest and found myself at a large, empty field that overlooks Mission Bay.
Leaving a Legacy
I had the opportunity recently to attend a very powerful ceremony: the consecration of the new altar in the chapel of St. Mary’s House, located next door to St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix — one of the four houses that make up Nazareth Seminary here in the Diocese of Phoenix. It was an intimate and moving experience.
During his homily, Bishop John reminded us that while altars and chapels are important, they are not the Church. We are. The living, breathing Body of Christ, the communion of saints and our loved ones who have gone before us. It’s a reminder of why we are here on this earth, and that the life we live doesn’t just touch the lives of those in our immediate vicinity, but the Church as a whole.
Parenting Smarts: Helping children find their purpose
As parents, one of the most important tasks we can undertake is helping our children discover their purpose in life. This is not only about guiding them toward a specific career path or success but about nurturing their understanding of who they are and how their unique gifts fit into God’s plan. Helping children find their purpose involves helping them discern God’s will, recognize their natural gifts and understand that their purpose might be found in both the big and the small things of life.
Find your own Calcutta
Mother Teresa was one of the most well-known figures in the world.
At just under five feet, her small stature and blue-striped sari were recognized across cultures, oceans and belief systems. She’s especially known for spending much of her life serving the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India. It was in these overcrowded, unsanitary and severely underserved neighborhoods that she spent her days accompanying the dying, tending to the wounded and feeding the hungry.
Finding faith and purpose
In this Jubilee Year, one of Pope Francis’ 10 hopes is for youth and young adults to experience the joy and beauty of living the Gospel. Four young adults share the stories of their unique journeys to finding hope and fulfillment in God.
How will you bear fruit?
One day at lunch with colleagues, we were discussing the story of the fig tree. Yes, it’s what we do — working for the Church has its perks!
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a parable about a barren fig tree that hasn’t produced fruit for three years. Now that’s annoying! By definition, a fig tree is created to give forth fruit, that is its purpose. Not only has the fig tree not produced a harvest, but it has likely been actively tended for three years — symbolic for “plenty of time.” The owner of the land is understandably ready to uproot this waste of resources.
Fellowship and vibrant community life brew alongside lattes and americanos at local parish coffee shop
The smell of freshly brewed coffee fills the air and you’re greeted by a warm smile as you walk through the door of the Upper Room coffee shop at Holy Spirit Parish in Tempe—except it feels less like a coffee shop and more like a home, where the smooth granite countertops display a variety of homemade baked goods and the face of the person across the counter lights up with genuine delight that you are here.
The fireplace, gallery wall of sacred art oil paintings, soft color scheme and cozy steel-blue leather couch only enhance the feeling of welcome.
For Gilbert couple, the road to the Catholic Church began in the workplace
It all began with a startlingly frank question David Bates posed to a colleague at work one day. “What religion are you and what do you believe?” Not exactly your standard water-cooler conversation, but that’s when things got interesting. Neither one of them knew it then, but Joe Bashford’s answer would spur a two-year journey that would lead to deeper faith for both men — and their wives. “I told him I was Catholic,” Bashford said. “And then he goes, ‘Oh. So, you’re not saved and you don’t believe in Jesus.’
