Among Women ReadHER 5.5.12... obedience, grace, May crownings, NFP, tweens online...

Among Women ReadHER 5.5.12

Obedience: The Dirtiest Word in America
By Julie Davis at Happy Catholic
Take and read and consider it carefully.

Credo: Mary Eberstadt
By Liz Essley at Washington Examiner
Mary Eberstadt briefly gives a history lesson on why women are not as happy as they once were, a premise from her new book Adam and Eve After the Pill.

Brandon Vogt's Interview with author Dawn Eden on healing from sexual abuse. 
Posted at The Thin Veil
(Blog post and video) Speaking of books, Dawn's latest book, My Peace I Give You, is addressed in this interview (15 mins.)

Kristen Walker: Fearless, Funny, and Pro-Life

By Jennifer Fulwiler at National Catholic Register

So good to hear clear voices in the pro-life cause.


How to Plan a May Crowning for Kids
By Lacy Robideau at Catholic Icing
Great activity! Every Catholic child should have a memory of a May crowning in their life. 


If You've Been Looking for a Sign
By Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience
Christian author Ann Voskamp talks grace, graffiti, gifts.


How to Ruin Your Marriage Using NFP
By Simcha Fisher at her blog National Catholic Register
Seriously fun and very worthwhile.


The Endearing Name of Mommy
By Susan Terbay at Catholic Mom
Oh. Wow. This is so me... the Mom of young adults looking back on the Mommy years.


A Rose for My Mother
By Bishop Libasci of Manchester, NH
Funny, sweet, and serious memoir and tribute to the Blessed Mother. (Elsewhere, I'm doing some talking of my own about Mary and the Hail Mary here, and about my varied nicknames for Mary here.)


Tweens Secret Lives Online
By Katherine Rossman at the Wall Street Journal
Got tweens? Teens? Pre-tweens? Don't miss this.


Legal Scholar Helen Alvare gives a great talk on Religious Freedom and Sexual Liberation. I highly recommend your listening and digesting this content. Please share this video link with others. 





And finally, one of the coolest events in the Archdiocese of Boston every year that is touching our young adults...

This makes me think...

The manager of a local supermarket, in an effort to increase sales, advised his employees to personalize his or her service. No one did much about that suggestion, except for a young man with Down's syndrome who worked as a bagger. With the help of his father, he made hundreds of business-size cards with inspirational thoughts. He dropped a card in each order of groceries he bagged. 

Two weeks later the manager noticed that "John's line" stretched clear down the aisle to frozen foods. The manager opened another register and welcomed people to his line. No one moved. Puzzled, the manager asked individual customers to come to his open line. "No," they replied, "we want John's cards."

Sales in the store increased significantly. Other workers were inspired. The flower department decided to give away flowers at the end of the day to the elderly, widows, and to children.

We can build the kingdom by small, steady acts of kindness.

---Sr Ann Sheilds SGL, Deeper Conversion: Extraordinary Grace for Ordinary Times.

A Mother in the Order of Grace

I'm happy to announce that I'll be contributing to the Catholic portal over at Patheos.  You'll find me at the "Summa This, Summa That" blog... "where ancient faith meets modern life."

(As you might expect from the likes of me, I must credit Our Lady for her influence and for every writing gig that comes my way... and so my first post is all about her!  Thanks, too, to Elizabeth Scalia for the vote of confidence.)

Here's a snippet:

She stands out in my garden, hands open wide to transmit love and grace to the world.  In this posture she is known as “Our Lady of Grace.”  My 3-foot statue depicts Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother, through whom God did some of his greatest work.

To some of my neighbors, she represents “old school” Catholicism – a relic from bygone days. To others, she may be nothing more than outdoor décor – somewhat taller than a garden gnome, but more dainty than an animal cast in stone.

To me, her graceful motherly image reminds me that this ancient faith is, indeed, ever new, intersecting with my modern life. The Blessed Virgin Mother’s influence still holds sway in my life, and in the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Read the rest here.