Joy to the World: Advent Activities for your Family seeks to help families find a balance between the fun, but let’s face it, crazy stuff that fills December, and the event we’re supposed to be celebrating in the first place. Read more about the genesis of this project here.

 

 

 

 

 

Lent is a difficult season for an entirely different reason. Bring Lent to Life invites families to look at Lent, not as a season to be endured with wailing and gnashing of teeth, but as an opportunity for renewal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our call as Christians is not just to know the faith, but to evangelize by living it. This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes offers reflections for both adults and children on familiar topics like the Ten Commandments and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy–but with a focus on living them out in practical, everyday ways.

 

 

 

 

 

I returned to the Beatitudes, focusing specifically on them for adults, with this book:

 

OSV contacted me about writing The Beatitudes at the same time I was starting up Intentional Catholic. I’m particularly happy with how it turned out, because it gave me a chance to clearly articulate what I mean when I talk about living the faith intentionally in the real world. This is a very short book meant to pray and reflect with over the course of around a month. Each Beatitude is addressed by focusing inward, on my own heart and attitudes, then focusing outward on how it applies in the way I interact with others. Finally, I synthesize my reflections and journaling to identify what God might be calling me to do in my real life, in light of this Beatitude.

 

Selected Short Nonfiction:

• Contributor to Fathers For Good, Knights of Columbus
• Midwest contributor for Pit Stops For Kids family travel site
• “From Beauty Queen to NFP Mom” (interview with Angela Baraquio, Miss America 2001), in Family Foundations, vol. 40, Number 1, July-Aug. 2013
• “Religious Vocations: How the NFP Lifestyle Opens The Door,” (2nd place, 2012 Catholic Press Association, Best Coverage of Religious Vocations to the Priesthood, Diaconate & Religious Life)
• “Just Live It,” column for Liguorian magazine. (Winner: 2012 Catholic Press Association Best Regular Column – Spiritual Life)
• Contributions to Chicken Soup For The Soul: The Power of Gratitude (2016); Chicken Soup For the Soul: Here Comes the Bride (2012); and Chicken Soup For The Soul: New Moms (2011).
• “Resourceful by nature,” in Family Foundations, vol. 38, No. 2 September/October 2011. Reprinted in The Catholic Missourian, vol. 55 no. 13, Oct. 28, 2011. (Honorable Mention, 2012 Catholic Press Association Best Feature Article category for Professional and Special Interest magazines)
• “Dairy Genius” (profile), in Family Foundations, Vol. 38, no. 2, September-October 2011.
• “Full Immersion Baptism” (essay), in Family Foundations, Vol. 38, no. 1, July-August 2011. (2nd place, 2012 Catholic Press Association Best Essay in a Professional & Special Interest Magazine)
• “Getting It Done When There’s No Time To Do It,” WOW! Women on Writing, June 2011.
• “The Advent of Christmas: A Holiday and a Holy Day Blend Sacred and Secular,” in Liguorian, vol. 98, no. 10 (Dec. 2010).
• “Working For Dad,” on NPR’s All Things Considered, June 18, 2010.
• “From Hallmark to Reality,” Family Foundations, Vol. 36, No. 4 (January/February 2010).
• “An Open Letter to New Mothers,” Family Foundations, Vol. 36, No. 3 (November/December 2009).
• “Not My Plan,” The Family Digest, Vol. 61 No. 2, January/February 2009
• “What the O Antiphons Teach Us About Our Faith,” Religion Teacher’s Journal, Vol. 42:6, November/December 2008.
• “Source and Summit of Frustration,” AIM Liturgy Resources, Fall 2008. Published by World Library Publications (www.wlpmusic.com)