I’ve been a bit distracted over the past few weeks with the loss of an old friend. It wasn’t a person or even a pet for that matter, but I’d spent as much time in its company as with probably anyone outside of my immediate family – and possibly even more...

As you can tell by my sarcasm, I am annoyed.  You see, for as long as I can remember I have felt that I just do not measure up to society’s standards of beauty. And, believe it or not, being raised in a culture where the “fixed” pictures of saints were more common than the actual ones made me feel like I didn’t add up to God’s standard of beauty either.

I love hearing about all the different family traditions that surround all the great feast days! This year especially, I feel we need to share the encouragement and witness of joy in our own lives with each other. As we cannot gather in ways that we once did, it is good for the soul to remember we are not celebrating in isolation, but still as one community in the Lord...