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| Discover Hope With Us
Spring Is in the Air!
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Despite
the fact that it is snowing outside here in Boston (again!), there are
definite signs that spring is in the air! We have spent a fruitful Lent
together contemplating Jesus on the cross through the lens of his seven
last words. Within two weeks we will be living the Great Triduum and celebrating Easter.
There
are other indications that it is spring. Brave flowers are pushing
their way up through the ground. Birds are singing outside my window.
And there is just that special spring feel everywhere in nature.
Finally,
this spring we have had some changes here in the newsletter as well. So
today I'd like to introduce you to Maureen Quinlan who is our new
Marketing Associate and Publicist at Pauline Books and Media.
Maureen
is a Colorado native who has lived in Boston for nearly seven years.
She has a background in journalism, in-house and agency marketing, and
loves to read books of all kinds. She’s excited to join her love of
reading with her skills in marketing by working with our wonderful
authors.
Know
that you are in our prayers as we all experience the newness that
spring will bring and the sacredness of the celebration of Jesus' death
and resurrection!
Sr. Kathryn J. Hermes, FSP
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| Wedding Bells Are Ringing |
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Just
when it feels like winter will never end, spring arrives. Just when it
feels like Lent is endless, Easter is around the corner. And just when I
think I won’t get to eat wedding cake and cut loose on a dance floor
this summer, the invitations appear in my mailbox.
If
you’re anything like me, the “Save the Dates” and wedding invitations
have probably started arriving in your mailbox. This is always a sure
sign wedding season is about to begin. However, having been a bridesmaid
and a wedding guest more times than I can count, I know it isn’t all
delicate envelopes and elegant fonts. I’ve watched brides and their
grooms take an especially careful attention to detail to get this
precious mail to my doorstep.
For the engaged couple,
bridesmaid, groomsman, or other wedding planner type, knowing how to
assemble these details and ensure they make it to the right place at the
right time takes an immense amount of planning. There are so many
sources that help with secular wedding planning, and I know the church
can help with planning the marriage liturgy celebration, but rarely have
I seen a source that combines the two.
Many of the weddings I’ve attended felt disjointed in their balance of the holy and the party. If only those couples had used Invited: The Ultimate Catholic Wedding Planner.
In this book, author Stephanie Calis weaves personal narrative with
practical advice on how to plan your ideal Catholic wedding.
In honor of the book’s one-year anniversary, we are offering a 20% discount this week. Readers will also receive a bookmark outlining the new Catholic rite of marriage.
Invited makes
the perfect gift or resource for any couple hoping to gain a deeper
understanding of what it means to have and plan a Catholic wedding.
Maureen Quinlan
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by Sr Mary Martha Moss, FSP
I
have many delightful memories of living in San Diego, at the corner of
5th and Cedar streets in the downtown area, between 1988 and 1995. And
living there, just 30 minutes from Mexico, I also have my own exciting
border-crossing story—though it might not be the kind you’re accustomed
to hearing!
The sun was not yet up, but Trinidad Keating was
already knocking at our back door. We were expecting her, so I answered
the door quietly and greeted her, then all four of the sisters and I
followed the elderly Mexican woman out into the darkness. We drove out
of the city to the barren area of San Ysidro and there we crossed the
border with no trouble at all. We headed to a poor area of Tijuana,
Mexico, maneuvering our way through the bumpy dirt roads. Following
Trinidad's instructions, we turned a corner, drove a little farther,
then parked next to a simple low structure. Entering the building, we
were greeted with a nod at the door by one of the Missionaries of
Charity who showed us the way to their chapel. It was perhaps 20 by 20
feet inside, and we joined the sisters there in praying in preparation
for Mass. We took our place in the very back and I noticed that the
frail, kneeling sister one row in front of me was indeed Mother Teresa
of Kolkata. She was kneeling on the floor, rapt in prayer, her gnarled
bare feet giving evidence of a life of sacrifice and hardship.
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Mother
Teresa was a young girl living in Macedonia who joined a convent in
Ireland and was later sent to India; and she didn’t know all that God
had in store for her. But she did know this: Jesus wanted her to quench
his thirst.
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Once
the Mass was over, we prayed some more, then our dear friend Trinidad
introduced us to the saintly woman. Mother greeted us warmly, murmuring
words of encouragement about loving Jesus totally and about caring for
the poor. To this day, I cannot see the words I Thirst without thinking
of that day and of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity, women
who have taken those words as their life guide. Their official website
notes that they are "called by Jesus to quench his thirst for love and
souls." How do they do that? By “remaining at the foot of the
‘calvaries’ of today's world,” which especially means those persons who
are poor, sick, lonely or rejected.
But these sisters aren’t
alone! Today, you and I meditate on the words of John's gospel and turn
over in our hearts and minds these same words: "I am thirsty" (Jn 19:28 NRSV).
We treasure them, for they are among the last words that Jesus left us. How can they guide us in our everyday lives? |
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MOVIE REVIEW
The Heart of Nuba - Authentically Lived Christianity
Horror of Greed
Did
you know there is an ongoing genocide perpetrated by President Omar
Al-Bashir upon the mountain people of southeastern Sudan? This
relatively unreported atrocity persists for the 1 million residents of
the Nuba Mountains. Their territory is bombed multiple times daily by
their government’s supersonic fighter planes with the express purpose of
killing the civilian population. Why? Because their indicted war
criminal president desires the rich soil and natural resources available
on their land.
Selfless Service
Entering
into this horrific massacre is an American medical doctor, Thomas
Catena, a native of Amsterdam, New York and graduate of Brown
University. While doing medical work in Kenya he came to the Nuba
Mountains to help out for one year at the Catholic Church’s Mother of
Mercy Hospital. He is the only doctor for the entire territory, roughly
the size of Austria. Nine years later he continues to give his life for the love of the Nuba people.
Film
and television writer, producer and director, Ken Carlson, heard about
his old classmate from Brown and the work he was doing in Sudan, but
only recently started examining Catena’s missionary work. This led him
on a journey to make an amazing documentary, The Heart of Nuba,
executively produced by Maria Shriver.
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