Today we celebrate the Visitation of Mary. The Visitation is when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John (the baptizer). I like to think about this holy friendship—this time of mutual support and love for each other.
Maybe it’s the pandemic talking, but the spicy chicken sandwich from Popeye’s is tears-to-the-eyes good. I tried it once and now I’ve had it…more than once.
Do you remember observing Maundy Thursday at home last year? It felt like a quaint, one-time experience to share with our households, then years later share as a story with future generations of the family. Except of course, it wasn’t a one-time experience. We’re here again a year later with another Maundy Thursday at home.
I grew up in a “Christian” home with “Christian” parents. I put the word Christian in quotes because it was anything but Christian.
As the coronavirus pandemic stretches longer and longer, figuring out how to parent in this time of uncertainty adds new challenges each and every day.
The voices in my head were getting louder. The ones that all mothers know. My daughter whispered tentatively through my closed bedroom door, “Mama. I’m hungry.” Again? I thought, “Just a minute.”
Our two older sons, ages 7 and 9, expressed some curiosity regarding Leap Year and this “extra day” it brings.
How do we observe Advent?
As members of a community devoted to growing Christians, I hope we don’t need to be reminded about turning our hearts towards our children whether they are biological, adopted, or spiritual. But actually, there are times when I do need to repent, to turn my heart away from what is distracting me, and to turn it towards my children.
Today, we honor the feast day of Hildegard of Bingen, a twelfth-century Benedictine abbess who was not elevated to sainthood until 2012. She was a prolific writer and composer, leaving us dozens of songs and poems, and nine books, including works on medicine and pharmacology.