When I was growing up, we had a little calendar sitting in the kitchen window with a quote from Catherine Doherty for every day of the year. I remember my parents telling me to do the "duty of the moment". Her small snippets of wisdom blessed my childhood and continue to inspire and challenge me to this day. When I was asked to do a portrait of her, I felt no hesitation!
"Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them."
{ Romans 12:6a }
I have a confession to make.
I don't enjoy drawing.
Reading the lives of the saints is so inspiring... and bloody frustrating.
Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.
— St. Augustine
Captivenia is an incredible Catholic medieval adventure camp for girls, with exciting theatrics, forest missions, medieval crafts, archery, tournaments, and a magnificent banquet. Throughout the week, the girls receive formation talks and the sacraments through Mass and confession.
Dear pro-choice advocates,
The other day I attended the funeral of a beautiful baby girl. I watched as the grieving family prepared to say goodbye to their tiny daughter, and I know that everyone present was weeping with them.
And yet, none of us, not even her own mother, had ever seen her alive. She had passed away inexplicably just a few hours before she was born. Yet somehow, we all felt her loss as keenly as though we had known her.
Later that day I attended a pro-life banquet, of all things. There was a special guest in attendance: a little girl who had been scheduled for termination by abortion and had been spared because her mother found the counselling and support she needed from the ministry across the street from the clinic. I burst into tears when they introduced her, and when I looked around the hall I could see that I wasn't the only one.
In both these cases, I saw not just a baby, a cluster of cells, or the "product of conception", but a story, a whole life meant to be lived. I felt the excruciating loss of the first and glimpsed the spectacular blossoming of the second.
And this... this is why I am pro-life.
Well, we've already seen our first blizzard of the year here in Alberta. I know I'm not the only one who feels a little cheated by autumn getting cut so short. Ah, but maybe the leaves will hold on and we will get one final burst of warmth before winter digs its heels in. (To all my American followers: please go sit in the sun today on my behalf.)
