I just finished reading a very riveting book entitled The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The book , published in 2010, is written by Rebecca Skloot, a science writer. Though it was her first book, it won dozens of awards and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for six years. It was even […]
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The Book of Lamentations was written after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Its author, who remains nameless, laments the terrible destruction of the Temple, the city, and God’s Chosen People. The book’s tone is bleak, its descriptions vivid. The depictions of overwhelming suffering are coupled with an admission of the people’s sinfulness, that […]
I spotted a book on display as I was passing through our library here the other day: Tales of the Weird by David Braun, editor in chief of National Geographic Daily News. Now, before I entered the library, I had told myself, “Don’t take out any more books, Melannie! You have two books already lined […]
Let us give thanks to our Good God for all the blessings of this past year, 2020. Wait a second. Blessings? for 2020? The year that will go down in history as the year of the raging COVID-19 pandemic? The year that saw over 80 million cases of the coronavirus worldwide–and over 1.76 million deaths–and […]
Introduction: Christmas puts me in a pensive mood. As we continue to live during the dark days of this pandemic, I took some time to ponder some of the unearned blessings, the taken-for-granted gifts I received in my early life. I concluded that in many ways, I was a princess—although I didn’t know it. In […]
For me, one of the saddest phrases in the English language is this: It’s too late. The words exude powerlessness, hopelessness, and perhaps even serious regret. For the truth is, sometimes it is too late. For example, if you forget to take your banana bread out of the oven and you don’t remember until it […]
There’s a large book on my shelf (608 pages) that I’ve had for a number of years (the copyright is 2006). It’s entitled Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life. The authors are Frederick and Mary Ann Brussat, a couple in New York who have devoted their lives to discovering resources to aid people […]
Recently I read an article entitled “One of Us” in the December 2020 issue of U.S. Catholic. The author, Father Bryan Massingale, tells of a homily he once gave for the feast of Epiphany. In it he suggested that the magi’s gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were not very practical. Maybe they should have […]
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 […]
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. 