- By Melannie Svoboda SND
A little girl named Rachel lived with her parents in a small apartment in New York City. One day, her grandfather came to visit carrying a small paper cup. Rachel hoped there was a treat for her inside the cup, but when she looked inside, all she saw was dirt.
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
It’s National Poetry month. To celebrate, I am offering you four short poems–three by friends and one by me. All the poems have a spring theme. I suggest you read each poem aloud, as poetry is meant to be read. The first poem is by Bishop Robert Morneau of Green
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
Now that we’re celebrating the hope-filled feast of Easter, it is only fitting that we include a little humor in our festivities. For I believe that wholesome laughter can feed our virtue of hope. But I’ll say more about that on another day. For today, I hope these jokes, puns,
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
(Eight years ago I posted a true story about a turtle, written by Barbara Brown Taylor. It’s from her book Learning to Walk in the Dark. Here is that story again with a few minor changes. I still believe this story is very fitting for what we celebrate in our
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
One of the most important questions we can ask in life is this: Is there a God? But another more important question is this: What is God like? These are two questions we have to ponder for a lifetime as life presents new experiences for us that can deepen, challenge,
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
Last week I presented a summary of the first part of John Mark Comer’s book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. Comer maintains that our current frenetic pace of daily living is having a detrimental effect on our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Continual busyness and hurry can harm our health,
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
I just finished reading a fascinating book entitled “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.” (I want to thank Jen for her enthusiastic recommendation.) The book was so good, I had to exert great self-control NOT to hurry through it! The author, John Mark Comer, was the pastor of a huge mega-church
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
The show “60 Minutes” aired a program a couple of weeks ago that touched me deeply. It was entitled, “Three Holocaust Babies.” Leslie Stahl was the narrator. The 26-minute segment tells the incredible story of three pregnant Jewish women who were shipped to Auschwitz. The camp was so huge and
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
Today we’re going to have a short lesson on a phrase found many times in the Bible: “Gird your loins.” Before sending Jeremiah to be a prophet, God tells him, “Gird your loins” (Jer. 1:17). God also tells Job, “Gird your loins like a man” (Job 38:3). These examples are
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, so I wanted to do something with a Lenten theme. That’s when I decided to reach out to my friend, Sister Kathleen Glavich, SND, a well-known writer and fellow blogger. A while ago she posted a reflection on her blog (“Catholic Faith Corner”) about the
