Do you remember what it was like to be a teenager? I ask myself this question at least once a week. My oldest is only one year from entering her teens, and already I find myself trying, and often failing, to remember my own experiences at that age—maybe, it’s because …

In English, the word “suffer” has at least two different but related meanings, both of which are important for contemplating how suffering affects our spiritual and moral development. In the first, suffering imposes itself upon us, against our will or consent. In the second sense, we consent to suffering as …

Whenever I think of Mary’s joy, I’m instantly reminded of the Joyful Mysteries: the Annunciation, Visitation, Birth of Jesus, Presentation in the Temple and Finding Jesus in the Temple. As I meditated on these events, however, I noticed a pattern: her joyful moments were also surrounded by suffering. This is, …

But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them (Lk. 24:29). The two disciples’ request for Jesus to remain with them when they arrived at Emmaus was the theme of …

It was 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning and our son, Carson, was starting to wake up. As a 15-year-old teenage boy, he slept late every now and then, but that Saturday morning was different. Carson had been dealing with a severe eye abrasion, like a paper cut, from three …

People who struggle with depression and anxiety walk around casually carrying emotional wounds that if they were physical would probably require emergency surgery! Yet, they often act as if they are not injured. Somehow this feels easier than acknowledging the reality of the wound. Perhaps because deep down there is …

1) Donations from Saint Ursula Academy This year’s DRIVE (Donate, Respond, Invest, Value, Educate) at Saint Ursula Academy benefited the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Students collected nutritious, shelf- stable food, laundry detergent, and cleaning supplies for our neighbors in need. 2) Science Fair Winners at Lehman Lehman Catholic …

I have had to face many trials; however, my greatest suffering came from the one I brought upon myself, when I took the life of my own child. A senior in high school with an unplanned pregnancy, I believed the lie that if I had an abortion, my parents would …

Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” (TOB). In recent articles, we have explored the emergence of shame in our first parents and all subsequent human beings after Original Sin. We saw how the emergence of concupiscence, particularly …

Joy and humility. These words describe high school senior Lizzy Huwer, who discovered Christ during her freshman year at St. Henry High School in St. Henry, OH, and who now leads her peers to Him. It all started at a Life in the Spirit retreat. “It took a lot of …