Catholic Faith Corner

• Pier Giorgio Frassati, A New Young Saint
  Pier Giorgio is the subject of a book I just read. I’m glad I did because I hadn’t been acquainted with this young man. What an appealing model for young people today! He was born in Turin, Italy, on April 6, 1901. Pier’s mother was a painter and practiced the minimum of faith. His father, […]
• Silence Is Precious
  Silence is easy to come by for me lately—now that Ohio is wrapped in a thick blanket of snow. The other day I sat mesmerized, watching the large, lacy flakes dance their way down from the sky. Silence, God’s First Language God speaks in silence. Remember how the prophet Elijah waited for the Lord to […]
• Saints for Fun
  Because joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, naturally saints have a sense of humor. They are not the solemn, dour people as sometimes assumed to be. This quality makes them attractive. Arguably the prime example of a saint who loved to have fun was St. Philip Neri. He walked around in shoes too […]
• Children and Prayer Anecdotes
  We all have memories of learning how to pray. I remember my mother practicing the Our Father and other prayers with me as I swung in our basement. This was for my Wednesday catechism classes. My friend’s Italian mother used the Hail Mary, which speaks of “fruit of thy womb,” to teach her about the […]
• Cheers for a New Year
  Every morning one of the first things I do is post a cartoon on Facebook. Surprisingly, I receive more positive feedback from this “ministry” than from books I’ve written! Where is the source of my cartoons? On the first day when my sister Nancy and I were in Hawaii in 2004, we met a Japanese […]