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Ghislaine Howard, “Give Drink to the Thirsty” (photo: Ghislaine Howard) Since my daughter was young, whenever she would get upset I would say, “I think you are thirsty”. This may seem silly but my goodness does it work. She readily accepts a glass of water and calms down. “My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God” The responsorial Psalm reminds me of these constant interactions with my daughter. When my daughter gets upset it is often just needing a redirection to somethi

Rembrandt van Rijn, Christ and St Mary Magdalen at the Tomb. 1638, Royal Collection. It is not often that we see Jesus represented as a gardener. Actually, one of the only times we see it painted is in certain images of the Resurrection. Many of these images can even strike a weird chord in our hearts, as some artists portray Jesus as a literal gardener - hat over his head and a shovel in his hand. I think I have always taken Mary Magdalen mistaking Jesus for the gardener mor

The Apparition of Mary to Alphonse Ratisbonne, Domenico Bartolini, 1870. Chapel of the Madonna of the Miracle, Basilica of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, Rome, Italy. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.” “Lord, help me.” These two sentences in which the Canaanite woman reveals her great faith in who Jesus is and that He can help her. She knew her neediness and did not hesitate to exclaim this to the Lord when she encountered Him. The two feasts that precede today celebrate

Transfiguration, Fra Angelico, 1440-1442. Museum of San Marco, Cell 6, Florence, Italy. Fra Angelico was a Dominican friar who painted marvelous scenes of Christ’s life in the early Renaissance period. The monastery where he lived, San Marco, is now a museum in Florence to help preserve these amazing artworks. Several of his paintings were in the cells that brothers and priests lived in, which I think is a great call upon our lives. Do you have beautiful art in your room and

The Penitent Magdalen, Georges de La Tour, 1640. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York. “Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark” - John 20:1 I can imagine that Mary Magdalene had quite a restless night before she went to the tomb. A night of tossing and turning, thinking about what happened to Jesus and the whereabouts of the rest of his followers. The horrific images were plaguing her to the point where she could not stay in bed any

The Descent into Hell, Tintoretto, 1568. San Cassiano, Venice, Italy. “Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” - Matthew 10:31 What is often missed in this verse is that sparrows are not just any bird. They are known for being quite aggressive - stealing nests, destroying eggs, killing other birds of all ages. They do not take over what is unoccupied and unused, they actively disturb and evict other birds. They are highly competitive and break down the

Feuerstein, Martin. The Sacred Heart of Christ, Oil on canvas, private gallery. Public Domain. Often when we think of Jesus, the first image that comes to mind is one of the Sacred Heart. Some of us grew up seeing a painting of it on our parents' walls and others in our parish church. I know for myself, it can be a nostalgic reminder of when times were simpler…I can visualize walking through the front door of my Catholic grade school and seeing the Sacred and Immaculate Heart

Pietà, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1876. Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas. A beautiful tradition that my parish does is the traveling chalice. Families at the parish sign up to have a chalice in their home for one week at a time during the summer to offer up their prayers and fasting for holy vocations to come to the parish. This week, starting on this solemnity, my family has the chalice. As a mother of two young children, praying for vocations can be a bit emotional to t

The Descent of the Holy Spirit, Jacques Blancard, 1634. Notre Dame, Paris, France. Dynamic. That is the word that comes to mind when I think about Pentecost. The third person of the Trinity serves as a witness to the action and will of God here on Earth, sent by Jesus Christ to dwell with us forever. The Holy Spirit is just that - a person. Personal and near to us, wanting to be in a relationship with us. This relationship is constantly in activity, evolving, and energetic.

Moses and the Burning Bush, Sébastien Bourdon, 17th century. Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is about this time that Easter starts to feel a bit exhausting. Anyone else? So often I work in the extremes, either extremely feasting or extremely penitential. The virtue is in the middle and that is often zoomed over in my quest for being deeply invested in what I am doing. The first verse of the Gospel today really hit me, “If you love me, you will keep my commandm

Saint Catherine of Siena, Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, 1919. The Golden Book of Famous Women, Eleanor Foretescue-Brickdale. I recently heard in a podcast something that went like this “There are some topics about the Catholic faith that should not be talked about in OCIA until the very end. That includes relics and Saint Catherine of Siena”. Now when I tell you this makes me continually laugh about the truthfulness to it, it would be an understatement. From levitating to a my

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio, 1601-1602. We have been in this blessed Easter season for one whole week. Can you feel the grace? Can you feel the mercy? This Divine Mercy Sunday was put into place to remind us of how supernatural, how awe-inspiring, how deep, how wide is the mercy of God. The mercy that He extends to us is His body, blood, soul and divinity raised from the dead. What a thing that we are allowed to celebrate and partake in. This painting is o

March 29, 2026 By Madeline Larson Rending of the Veil, William Bell Scott, 1869. The readings on Palm Sunday take us on an emotional whirlwind. We begin mass with the extreme joy of welcoming our King. The people welcome Jesus into Jerusalem with such clarity of who He is - the Son of David, the Messiah, the one who comes in the name of the Lord. The first and second readings give us further understanding of how Jesus saw His ministry and sacrifice, looking forward to the u

“Oh then, my daughters, let there be no neglect: but when obedience calls you to exterior employments (as, for example, into the kitchen,...

“The centurion said in reply, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.’”...

A devotion I feel more and more called to is that of the Child Jesus. This devotion celebrates the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation, the...

I visited the National Shrine somewhat by chance. I was in Washington, DC early for a concert, and a friend recommended we spend time...

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Hebrews 13: 1-2 Most of us...