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‘The Art of Loving God’

St. Francis de Sales has done it again. And by “it,” I mean “proven himself brilliant via a book.” Yesterday, I finished The Art of Loving God: Simple Virtues for the Christian Life, which is a series of talks he gave to a bunch of nuns, edited a little so what’s in it is relevant for laity.

De Sales discusses tough stuff: Humility. Obedience. Mortification. Holding ourselves to higher standards than we have before. Cutting ourselves slack where we should. Lots of it resonated (which means I underlined lots of it while I read). Here are 10 of my favorite excerpts: Continue reading “‘The Art of Loving God’”

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NUNS ARE COOL! | Sr. Miriam James edition.

[callout]This post is part of a monthly series called PRIESTS & NUNS ARE COOL! in which I interview a priest or a nun about his or her vocation — and about how adults who haven’t discerned a vocation yet can discover their own. This edition features Sr. Miriam James, a sister in the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), a missionary community that serves global areas of deepest apostolic need. She is the author of Loved as I Am (Ave Maria Press, Nov. 2014.)[/callout]

Sr. Miriam Promo Pic 1

Sr. Miriam James’s Twitter handle kids you not: She is one groovy nun. She’s got a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Nevada-Reno, where she played volleyball on a scholarship.

Now, lives at a convent in Texas, and travels to speak at conferences, retreats, and parish missions. She’s working on a master’s degree in theology from the Augustine Institute, and believes deeply in the power of authentic love and in the redemption that Jesus brings.

Sr. Miriam likes reading, drinking coffee, sports and power walks, and is gracious today to discuss her vocation for this series, and to tell us how an adult who doesn’t know his or hers yet might discover it: Continue reading “NUNS ARE COOL! | Sr. Miriam James edition.”

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Thoughts on becoming an author.

my and my book

The moment I learned I would become an author is vivid, even now, almost two years later:

11:12 a.m. on February 28, 2013.

I sat beneath the bright bulbs of the chandelier that floats over the kitchen table and grabbed my phone while a notification buzzed: an email from Patrick, the editor who that morning, had presented my book proposal to his colleagues at Ave Maria Press.

“So, I was wondering,” he had written. “How would you like to write a book for us? :)” Continue reading “Thoughts on becoming an author.”

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PRIESTS ARE COOL! | Fr. Mike Schmitz edition.

[callout]This post is part of a monthly series called PRIESTS & NUNS ARE COOL! in which I interview a priest or a nun about his or her vocation — and about how adults who haven’t discerned a vocation yet can discover their own. This edition features Fr. Mike Schmitz, the chaplain for Newman Catholic Campus Ministries at the University of Minnesota Duluth and the Director of the Office of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth.[/callout]

father mike

I almost met Fr. Mike Schmitz once. He was a keynote speaker where I was a chaperone: at a Steubenville ATL youth conference.

Our paths crossed but neither my schedule nor his provided the time for us to chat, which, let’s face it, was a bummer. But Fr. Mike and I have connected since, because the Internet.

Fr. Mike — a killer homilist (my words, not his) who aims to be a better man, priest, friend and relative, and to find new ways to share who Jesus Christ is and to help people encounter Him — is gracious to discuss his vocation for this series, and to tell us how an adult who doesn’t know his or hers yet might discover it: Continue reading “PRIESTS ARE COOL! | Fr. Mike Schmitz edition.”