My father and I were never close. He worked in the diplomatic service and was away from home—or so it seemed—more than he was with his family. But even when he was physically present, he was not a person who showed or shared emotions easily. We were estranged when he died and there is not a day that goes by—but especially on Father’s Day!—that I don’t feel regret.I know I am not alone. I know that there are fathers separated from their children for a myriad of...

These past 12 days we, as many of you, have been overcome with sorrow at the death of George Floyd. In those eight minutes in which he couldn’t breathe, the ugly horror of racism that exists in our country was exposed for the world to see, for each of us to see. How heavy the burden of fear, pain and suffering our black brothers and sisters have borne and continue to carry!In this country, where we are blessed with so much, we still have not learned that we are all equal in God’s eye...

In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that when the Spirit came upon the disciples in wind and fire, they proclaimed the Word in languages they didn’t even know, so that everyone who heard them would understand.Understanding and connectedness: those are two of the gifts of Pentecost, and two that we need sorely today. Division has been a theme in politics for a long time, but these last few months of the coronavirus pandemic have brought our polarization of thought into sharp focus, forcing...

With the creation of smartphones and the advent of social media, our lives now have digital extensions as we share who we are, what we do, and what we hope to be, all on our social media feeds. We spend hours a day checking our email, viewing apps, and often playing digital games as time-fillers throughout the day. What is all this time on our screens doing to us as human beings? How does it affect our relationships and connection to society as a whole? What is it doing to our brains? How are ou...

If you are at all like me, your life has changed dramatically over these past few months. This pandemic is like nothing we have ever experienced before. Our lives have been brought to a screeching halt, and have been turned upside down—literally! For many of us, there has been no Mass for over two months! To help ourselves hold it all together, we’ve been looking for pathways to peace and serenity…Even though our Pauline Book Centers have been physically closed to our wal...

Yes, that is how I meant to spell “mourning”!Please don’t think I’m making fun of mourning, especially in this time of pandemic when all of our mourning traditions have been upended. We may all have lost someone in these months and been unable to give them a proper funeral. It doesn’t matter whether they died of the coronavirus or of more natural causes. We’ve had to let them go so quietly that it seems almost sacrilegious. Fortunately, God is such a loving Fa...

Whenever we’re forced to stay still, as we are while sheltering in place during these days of the coronavirus pandemic, many of us turn to reading in order to escape the confines of our homes—and, occasionally, of reality itself! There’s nothing quite like losing yourself in a book. But how to choose what to read?Here’s a story that might inspire you with options in these stay-at-home, sometimes boring days.On May 20, 1531, the youngest son of a noble and wealthy fam...

Two days ago I exited our temporarily closed Pauline Book & Media Center and a twenty-something-year-old woman bounded up to me excitedly and asked, “Do you work at the Catholic bookstore?” I responded with a big smile, “Yes!” She asked, “Are you hiring?” I replied that we weren’t, and she quickly rejoined, “Do you know anyone who is?”Promising prayers was all I could do, though I wished I could do more. And once again, I was reminded of ...

Reflection by Sr Margaret Charles Kerry, FSPAt first, the thought of closing our Pauline Books and Media Center here in Charleston for a few weeks didn’t seem that it would be a daunting task. My sisters and I thought that we might get some cleaning and painting done, the work we usually never have time to do. After the first week we had completed inventory. All the books and items in our book center were counted and the numbers entered into the computer. Finished. We could check it off th...

May 3 is the 57th World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In these days when young women can't come to stay with us, to "come and see" as the Lord first invited his apostles and continues to invite women and men throughout the centuries, we Daughters of St Paul have moved our vocation retreats online. Just as in other ways the Lord has surprised us with his presence in the pandemic, so our accompanying of women interested in religious life through online events has been amazingly b...