Everyday Beauty V: Tidiness is a result of aesthetics

An empty desk is functional but is it beautiful? A cup holding pens is functional, but a pen cup made from cut glass in a metal frame is beautiful beyond its function. So it is with all things pertaining to beauty including the art of tidying. Marie Kondo, in her book, THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP, writes of taking an object into one’s hands and asking, “Does this object bring me joy?”  That action is about aesthetics, not about function.  An object may be beautiful due to its function but what causes you joy is not merely function–it is aesthetics. … Continue reading

Everyday Beauty II

People in our culture are starving for beauty.  I remember when Trudy Krise, a wonderful woman, would bring her deserts to class for the snack.  Those days we had standing room only! People stood around the table exclaiming over the beauty of her deserts. They were indeed a work of art, and what is more, they tasted BETTER than they looked! People are so starved for beauty that knowing her art would be at the next class was all it took to get standing room only. Why the popularity of the Extraordinary form of the Mass? We often call it … Continue reading

Patron Saints for Writers

I saw a wonderful blog post about Patron Saints of Writing Professionals which lists 7 excellent patron saints and tells a bit about each one. Noting that not one of my favorite Saints were on the list, I decided that I needed to do my own blog post about my “7” patron saints for writers. Each of these Saints were writers who left behind a body of work that has had a deep impact on me. Their books are cherished volumes on my shelves and their prayers I request every day. Saint John the Evangelist: writer credited with the gospel I … Continue reading

I Am My Own Kind of Proverbs 31 Woman

The last two blog entries on vocation (Progressing In My Vocation and Unsticking My Vocation) have led to my thinking about the woman of Proverbs 31. She is, in the ideals of her time period, a very capable woman whose thrift and hard work make it possible for her husband to join the important elders of the community. “There are so many ways!” you told me dejectedly. There need to be many, so that each soul can find its own in that wonderful variety. Bewildered? Make your choice once and for all: and the confusion will turn into certainty. (THE … Continue reading

Progressing In My Vocation

I used to wonder how I would ever know what to do with my life. Many persons have asked this question. It is a huge struggle because each of us has many possible paths we could take and are generally young and inexperienced when we make some pretty major choices. I remember looking at the wide range of my interests and abilities and despairing of ever figuring out what I was expected to do with all of that!  Which way did God want me to go? Which way did I want to go?  Were they the same?  Were all decisions … Continue reading

Wolves “reared among sheep” and the Catholic Vote

If the current Culture of Death sitting president of the USA is re-elected it will be due to Catholic voters and the blame for their votes sits soundly on the shoulders of the Bishops of the USA. “If someone thought that wolves could be reared among sheep, imagine what chance the sheep would have.” –St. Josemaria Escriva, Furrow #967 The Bishops claim they are being pastoral because they care about the souls of these dissidents who keep repeating heresies; but I think they have missed a serious point I found here by a poor little priest: “The conversion of a … Continue reading

June 26 Feastday of St. Josemaria Escriva

Drew Mariani show with Fr. Rocky talking about St. Josemaria Escriva on his feast day, June 26. Just look down the calendar to June 26th and click on the first hour of the show.  It is a wonderful conversation about this marvelous and beloved Saint. All are called to be saints.  There is no room in the Church for slackers. People underestimate their vocation, they think they must do famously great things, but the truth is sanctity can be found anywhere and in any task.  You become a saint exactly where you happen to be. (paraphrase from the audio). I … Continue reading

Baptism on the Feast of St. Josemaria Escriva

St. Josemaria Escriva is a favorite of many people I know, especially me.  So it is a wonderful joy to me that we are celebrating the Baptism of our newest family member on June 26th, Feast of St. Josemaria Escriva, who passed into the hands of God on this day in 1975. The prelate of Opus Dei writes a letter each month to the members of Opus Dei, and I find it highly edifying.  Bishop Javier Echevarría is eloquent: The whole month of June is filled with significant dates, for the history of Opus Dei as well: the ordination of … Continue reading

Facing Myself

“You go on being worldly, frivolous and giddy because you are a coward. What is it, if not cowardice, to refuse to face yourself?”                               (St Josemaria Escriva, The Way #18) Oh the busyness of modern life.  We MUST answer that phone; we MUST return that text; we MUST see that sitcom or ballgame.  There is so much that is not essential to life that we think essential and Lent is the perfect time to go about learning to avoid those non-essentials. St. Escriva calls the result of non-essential things and activities, “worldly, frivolous and giddy” and states emphatically that the … Continue reading

Willful Holiness: Saintly Examples

Saintly Examples The Saints were people who used their freedom to choose a path for themselves that the secular world and even the Church of their time found incomprehensible. These movers and shakers of the spiritual life were so willfully determined on the pursuit of holiness that they disturbed the people with whom they came into contact.  Their success in living heroic virtue can be credited to God’s grace guaranteeing their freedom to use their free will and reason to decide what they wanted.  In each case, their decisions led to lives of heroic virtue worthy of emulation. I read … Continue reading