As we Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day, I would like to offer a few thoughts on thanksgiving itself. In doing so, I am going to refer to a homily sent to me by my good friend, Sister Marlene Vigna, a Mercy Sister from Rochester, NY who attended Indiana University with me many, many years ago. (Each […]
Today let’s reflect on cooking. We’ll begin with a few facts about cooking and end with some thoughts on cooking as a spiritual practice. The precise origin of cooking is not known. But researchers say that roughly 2 million years ago, early human species tamed fire (a major feat!) and began using it to prepare […]
Jesus gives us three parables about lost things: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Let’s focus on the first two parables. In one, the shepherd loses a sheep. He leaves the 99 others to seek the one that strayed. In the second parable, the woman loses a coin in her house. […]
If someone asked you to describe God, what words would you use? Loving? Powerful? All-knowing? Merciful? Just? Patient? Wise? Would you ever choose the word whimsical? Maybe not. Whimsical is not the first word most people think of when describing God. But isn’t that word perfectly appropriate? I think so. To prove my point, I […]
If I asked you, “What have you been reading lately?” what would you say? I imagine many of you have been reading news about the worsening pandemic, the upcoming election, the plummeting economy. I’m sure many of you also have been reading books or magazines of a religious nature–including this humble little blog. Today I’d […]
(NOTE: As I type this, my blog is still not posting your comments. You can try to respond in case the problem gets resolved during this week. I apologize for the inconvenience. I really miss hearing from you…) The other morning I prayed Psalm 33. I came to these words: “Give thanks to the Lord […]
NOTE: I’m having a problem with my blog. This week’s post will not accept any of your comments. I’m so sorry. The tech people are looking into it. I apologize for the inconvenience…Melannie Recently, I’ve started carrying a penny in my pocket. Why? Because inscribed on every penny (and, indeed, on our other coins and […]
Earth tilts. She leans 23.4 degrees on her axis. In his book, My Story as Told by Water, David James Duncan describes Planet Earth in these words: “…like a long-ago-injured woman who’s learned to walk gracefully with a cane, Earth leans ever so slightly on her axis, inclining now toward the sun, now away from […]
As you know, I made a major move on September 3. I went from a convent with two other sisters to Notre Dame Education Center where about 171 sisters live. Although I kept the same zip code, just about everything else in my life changed. In my August 10th post, I wrote about leaving our […]
Sister of Notre Dame, teacher, student, author, speaker, listener, friend, poet, farm girl. 
The Sisters of Notre Dame of Chardon, Ohio, belong to an international congregation of more than two thousand apostolic women religious. We are one in mind and one in heart for the transformation of the world in Christ. 