Hug a Nun
Celebrating Catholic Sisters Week
I cried when my sister told me she was discerning religious life with the Sisters of Life.
Not because I wasn’t happy for her, mind you. I was thrilled she had heard the Lord’s call and was listening.
But I cried for myself, and my family, because I knew when she entered a religious community, she’d no longer be “ours.”
Over the past few years, as Laura has discerned, and taken the habit and a new name, I’ve come to realize she was never “ours” to begin with. We call her Sister Lilianna Petra now, but she’ll always be our Wawa1. But, and this is key: she was God’s first.
We belong to the Lord, and the great gift of self that religious sisters make is the best reminder of that. We are His, and the yes we give to Him, in big and small ways, is a sign to the world that His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts. They are better.
Their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience allow them to be fully detached from the world so they can be attached to the Lord. And from that secure, spousal attachment, religious sisters serve, love, and give witness to the goodness of God.
And we are all better because of it.
This week is Catholic Sisters Week. Sisters and nuns everywhere (and yes, they’re different) deserve to be celebrated year round, but for a few days in March, we take a moment to proclaim their goodness and remember all they do in, for, and beyond the Church.
I thought it’d be nice to open up the phone lines on SiriusXM for a half hour so that folks could share about the religious sisters they’ve known over the years.
I can’t even begin to capture all the beauty and goodness that was shared live on The Catholic Channel, but I do want to give you the last bit of callers as a free segment of today’s show, because it features a call from a woman in New York, Maureen, who is the mother of a priest and a sister.
Lent with The Chosen
Season 3, Episode 1 - Homecoming
Read Luke 4:16-30 (this was actually yesterday’s Daily Mass Gospel, so if you were a little ahead on the watching, then lucky you!)
Jesus returns to Nazareth and is rejected. No one, not even Jesus, wants to be rejected.
Where have you experienced rejection, maybe even because of your faith? How did that feel?
Familiarity seems to blind Jesus’s peers, friends, and neighbors.
Have you too perhaps grown overly familiar/comfortable with Jesus, not realizing what He can do in your life? Have you relegated him to something manageable?
What would courageous fidelity look like in your life?
Almsgiving this Lent
Our friends at Catholic Relief Services do remarkable work around the world, and every year give you a little cardboard bowl to set on your counter or kitchen table that you hopefully fill with spare change.
This year, CRS has a great “giving calendar” that offers advice on ways to be creative with your giving (like putting 50 cents in for every electronic item in your house, which nearly broke the bank in the McGrady home).
Hear about their great work and consider making a donation to CRS this Lent.
some may think we have a weird attachment to a gas station chain, but I assure you “Wawa” is simply short for “Laura”
I hope it won’t be too much longer before you’ll be able to see her again
Thanks for this, Katie! We always love and welcome hugs.